Playing a bit like the love child of Shinobi, and TurboGrafx-16 pack-in game “Keith Courage in Alpha Zones” (still possibly the best ever pack-in game in the history of gaming), we have “Akane the Kunoichi”. This game boasts tight controls, nicely drawn and animated scenes, and good level design. To get all that for 80 Microsoft Points, why are you even still here?
If you absolutely must know more, then know that the game has several context-sensitive special attacks/moves. The game is no pushover, getting progressively more challenging, to the point that it’s pretty dang hard by the end of the game. If there’s a downside, it’s that there aren’t a lot of collectibles, unlockables, or hidden areas to encourage replay value. But since the game has about 15 levels and plays very well on its first run through, that’s not a major criticism of an 80 MSP game.
Here’s what the developer (Haruneko) has to say about the game:
“You are Akane, a Kunoichi ninja secretely loving her master Goro, a noble samurai. One day Goro is kidnapped by the evil Hiromi and her minions – you have to rescue him, but it won’t be an easy task! Many enemies will try to stop you, and you’ll have to be brave to fight against the evil ninjas and huge monsters loyal to Hiromi.”
Writings of Mass Deduction 