Sasuke vs. Commander is an early arcade game by SNK and featured on the SNK 40th Anniversary Collection. It takes the standard space shooter gameplay that was popular at the time, and shifts it to ancient Japan. Here you are Sasuke, tasked with defending your shogun from ninjas. The mechanics are exactly like a shooter, you control Sasuke at the base of the screen and move horizontally dodging ninja stars and dead ninjas (the ones you kill) while throwing daggers. There are waves of red and green ninjas and then a boss battle...which is a highlight being one of the first games to have bosses. The game is an interesting twist on the shooter formula of the time. However, a big frustration I had was the fact that you are penalized by killing the ninjas. After killing one they fall towards you and the dead ninja acts as a projectile itself, killing you if it hits you and soaking up any other projectiles you send in its path. The difficulty is also really tough, although that was more standard for the time (to make sure to eat more of your quarters)! Overall, if you enjoy retro shooters it is probably worth checking out, but if not you can probably skip this one.
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