Konami is re-releasing one of the rarest Game Boy Advance games
Get your hands on a copy of Ninja Five-O the Game Boy Advance would normally cost you hundreds of dollars in 2024. And that’s just for a single cartridge; full copies of Ninja Five-O have been selling for $700 (or more) on eBay in recent months. But there will soon be a much cheaper way to play Konami and Hudson Soft’s beloved GBA action side-scroller, thanks to a re-release from Limited Run Games.
Konami and Limited Run Games announced this on Wednesday That Ninja Five-O coming to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 later this year. Ninja Five-O runs on Limited Run’s Carbon Engine, the same technology that will power Konami’s Felix the Cat and Rocket Knight Adventures collections – which, by the way, are up for pre-order from March 3 to 10.
Limited Run has not indicated when we can expect it Ninja Five-O‘s digital and physical versions, nor what extras players can expect with the re-release beyond a rewind feature. But for budget-conscious fans of action arcade games like Bionic commando, Rolling thunderAnd Shinobia legit copy could be all they need.
Ninja Five-O (known as Ninja cop in other territories) was originally released for the Game Boy Advance in 2003. Players take on the role of ninja agent Joe Osugi, who is tasked with taking down a terrorist organization made super-powered by artifacts known as the MadMasks. According to the game’s original description, “Ninja Five-O features authentic ninja swords, shuriken throwing stars, ninjutsu magic and a unique Kaginawa grappling hook system to create spectacular acrobatic moves and an innovative fighting style. That’s right: authentic ninja swords.
Ninja Five-O was well received by fans and critics upon launch. GameSpot’s Ryan Davis said the game featured “faux-nostalgic fun (with) good, challenging ninja action”, while IGN’s Craig Harris praised Ninja Five-O as a “surprisingly great game that almost came out of nowhere.” The game’s “quiet” release “with relatively no previous hype,” Harris notes in his review, likely has something to do with the game’s current rarity. It seems like the Konami of the early years didn’t have much faith in the game, which may explain why Ninja Five-O never received a release in Japan.
Either way, someone at Konami seems to have more confidence in it Ninja Five-O now, and thanks to the involvement of Limited Run Games, it will finally find a wider audience.
Limited Run Games’ physical edition of Ninja Five-O will be revealed and available for pre-order in March.