One of the best, if not the best. 2D Stealth Platformer out there. Not only is it possible to approach obstacles and situations how you see fit, it also rewards to do so as 'ninja' as you can to achieve a higher score, which definitely bumps up the replay value. To give an example: In my playthrough of the first mission where you get introduced with the controls i was zipping around with my grappling hook breaking lights to distract guards and eventually sneak up on them to stealh kill them and hide their bodies. This gave me quite a few points. But when i finished up the mission and i got my score, which wasn't bad, i saw that i could get a much higher score by not killing enemies. So i replayed the mission to try and go for a stealthier approach and get a higher score, plus i enjoyed the gameplay so i didn't mind redoing it at all. Not killing my enemies this time around actually made me have to rethink a lot of situations and find a different way to tackle them without being detected. Not only was it more challenging, it also made me experience the level in a new way and that is quite admirable for a 2D platformer.

As far as visuals and gameplay go it's all very well done. The controls feel intuitive and responsive, which is important because while being stealthy you also need to be quick and resourceful, while not being too difficult to master.
The storyline is pretty basic as far as stories go but who cares, you get to be a bad-ass ninja and the whole ninja athmosphere seems to hit the right note. And don't be fooled by the cartoony look because just like Shack there is plenty of blood splashing around.

Mark of the Ninja is nothing short of a master piece and makes for a very injoyable game with replay value to boot.
The asking price might seem a bit steep but i will say it's worth it. Of course you could also wait for it to come by on sale, which it occasionally does, and pick it up for 60 or 70%. I would also recommend to get the Special Edition to extend fun with extra challenges and tools.

One of the best, if not the best. 2D Stealth Platformer out there. Not only is it possible to approach obstacles and situations how you see fit, it also rewards to do so as 'ninja' as you can to achieve a higher score, which definitely bumps up the replay value. To give an example: In my playthrough of the first mission where you get introduced with the controls i was zipping around with my grappling hook breaking lights to distract guards and eventually sneak up on them to stealh kill them and hide their bodies. This gave me quite a few points. But when i finished up the mission and i got my score, which wasn't bad, i saw that i could get a much higher score by not killing enemies. So i replayed the mission to try and go for a stealthier approach and get a higher score, plus i enjoyed the gameplay so i didn't mind redoing it at all. Not killing my enemies this time around actually made me have to rethink a lot of situations and find a different way to tackle them without being detected. Not only was it more challenging, it also made me experience the level in a new way and that is quite admirable for a 2D platformer. As far as visuals and gameplay go it's all very well done. The controls feel intuitive and responsive, which is important because while being stealthy you also need to be quick and resourceful, while not being too difficult to master. The storyline is pretty basic as far as stories go but who cares, you get to be a bad-ass ninja and the whole ninja athmosphere seems to hit the right note. And don't be fooled by the cartoony look because just like Shack there is plenty of blood splashing around. Mark of the Ninja is nothing short of a master piece and makes for a very injoyable game with replay value to boot. The asking price might seem a bit steep but i will say it's worth it. Of course you could also wait for it to come by on sale, which it occasionally does, and pick it up for 60 or 70%. I would also recommend to get the Special Edition to extend fun with extra challenges and tools.