TriforceBun said:

Pocky and Rocky has a great little sequely-remake on the Switch! Would recommend.

The very podcast I listened to which had me questioning UFO 50's merits recommended the Shadow of Ninja sequely-remake as an example of arcade design refined by decades of knowledge. I had never heard of Natsume outside of people comparing Sin & Punishment to Wild Arms, but the story of "Project Tendo" now is fascinating. Three devs from back in the day are in their 50s, still making games, and on a mission to remake all their old classics. Shadow of the Ninja Reborn is their latest one.

Someone commented on said podcast saying that we need to raid Japanese retirement homes for their talent, and it's great to see that this is actually being done! I have half a mind to hunt down Suginami and convince him to kickstart his dream 100-boss version of Alien Soldier. (We've got the connections, right?)

As for Shadow of the Ninja Reborn itself... it's fun! Gorgeous, gorgeous pixel art. I need to play more. I expect to enjoy it as a standard fun-enough action-platformer. It seems like whenever I look up one of these new retro games on here though, there's already a thread for it, and I was surprised to see there wasn't one for this! Has anyone else tried it?

I have! I really like Project Tendo and actually have all 4 their games on the Switch. All are quite good; I'd probably go 4) Ninja Warriors, 3) Wild Guns, 2) Shadow of the Ninja, 1) Pocky & Rocky. But your mileage may vary depending on how much you enjoy each genre.

I feel like this game got a bit of a bad rap since people wanted the ninja action to be more immediate, flowy, and...like, indie? You know what I mean, all the super-quick, super-responsive stuff. But as a major fan of the very first Castlevania, I've got no problem with games that have you commit a little more to your moveset, as long as they're designed fairly. (I think this is my issue with Ghosts n Goblins)

I beat Shadow of the Ninja a while back but I wouldn't mind revisiting it sometime.

@TriforceBun I think my complaint wasn't exactly that there were delays with jumping or attacking or anything like that. Things like that can be important in a game to help you create decisions and commit to actions. That being said, the original wasn't like this, so that's where I find the change a little confusing. I'm not a huge fan of the original or anything, but I almost thought they just played so differently to the point where it almost didn't really feel like the same game.

Graphics/art are craaaazy good in this game.