Shadow of the Ninja (Nintendo, 1991)

I bought the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) Cart Game "Shadow of the Ninja" because the 'Buy It Now' price is attractive and the title catches one's attention easily, especially if you like classic old-school ninja stuff like me.
Like all other NES cart, they suffer from poor-contact syndrome since these cartridges are easily over 15 years-old. Some can be 'fixed' by cleaning the pins with methyl spirit or other types of safe solvent for cleansing electronics. Others suffer from more severe issues and even the most intense cleaning does not help.
One has to insert the cart in a specific manner for the game to load. This cart that I won, had to be partially-inserted to make it work; a purple or green screen would appear if the cart is fully inserted.

I filed the pcb board when the pins are, and shortened it by about 4mm (4mm is probably the max as anything more and the file would be shredding the important copper contacts). After the fix, I inserted the game properly (full-insert) in the 1985 NES Console and it worked like new. I tested it on my hand-held RetroMiniX NES console and it worked too.

This is a great game, the game play is better than Ninja Gaiden and it even supports co-op mode (2 players). It has a good sound track like Ninja Gaiden and all the enemies in the screen don't stupidly re-appear like in Ninja Gaiden just because you take a few steps back.

Hope the 'fixing' tips in this review help. Don't trash the cart you bought just because a blank screen shows up. And save the cursing and swearing of the Ebay Seller for later, ie, if the game still don't work after applying the fixes I mentioned. :p

The product is great. I have been looking for it foever, and I found it at a great price on here, and decided to buy it. I am very happy that I made the decision to buy it :)