Luckily, the game provides a varied range of tools for any wannabe-ninja. Guards are often blocking your path and a diversion may be required. Adjacent rooms can be scouted by leaning against a door or peeking through a ventilation opening. Most of your time will be spent sneaking through tight ventilation shafts and remaining hidden whenever possible. Surrounding environments can be utilised to conceal your whereabouts you can hide in shadows, behind objects, on walls or ceilings. Mark of the Ninja provides a lot of visual feedback, which helps at planning each and every move. Enemies will proceed to investigate any suspicious activity and their field of view is represented by a front-facing cone. Running, however, will, and any produced noise is emanated by a circular wave if anyone is within this wave they can hear him. Noise is also a consideration an action like jumping won’t produce any sound and Bob can land from almost any height without harm. A greyed-out or colourful portrait within the HUD indicates whether or not the character is currently visible. While controlling the nameless ninja – let’s call him Bob – you will have to make use of shadows and avoid any light sources, such as projectors, and flashlights mounted on enemy weapons. Each level can be traversed in several ways, but no matter how you decide to progress, stealth will play an important part.

Gameplay takes place in multi-layered 2D environments which, albeit gorgeous, can become slightly repetitive due to predominantly dark tones and scarcity of unique landmarks. Though somewhat brief, cutscenes are smooth and beautifully animated, with a distinct art style and an appealing colour palette. The previously mentioned visual improvements – from the original 720p – translate well into the game’s cutscenes, providing a crisp picture. While I didn’t care much about the story, I did enjoy the game’s appearance.

This ruthless magnate has surrounded himself with an army of soldiers, led by Corporal Kelly, and disposing of them all – one by one – will be the game’s main focus. After some initial throat-cutting and prowling through the vents, you, along with a female ninja Orza, set out to take revenge on the organization’s leader – Count Karajan. Now, what exactly is Mark of the Ninja about? Taking on the role of a nameless ninja, whose body is covered by an empowering tattoo, you must save your master, as well as your comrades, from an attack by the organization called Hessian.

Mark of the ninja remastered trainer