Shurican

Shurican is a ridiculously cute game that features a little ninja dude who has taken it upon himself to defeat every demon that has made its way into his world. It’s a side scrolling 2D game that uses the button-tapping mechanic for jumping and fighting, and it’s by far one of the best implementations for it so far.

In Shurican your homeland is slowly turning into Hell because you are surrounded by flames, spikes, sawblade traps and fat imps that don’t play nice. You must use your ninja clicking skills to evade the traps and kill all the evil beings that want to wreak havoc into your world.

Visually, Shurican looks harmless with its Flash-like graphics and cute ninja character who swings a sword that’s twice his size. Boy is it a deceptive little creation. You’ll have to perfectly time jumps between tons of traps while avoiding floating flames, falling face-eating squids and demons that casually float around waiting to burn you to a crisp.

A lot happens on-screen while playing Shurican and dying is something you’ll be doing a lot of. Gameplay isn’t brutal, it’s just the right kind of tough that can be overcome by means of practice because each level you do a little better, and that’s how you become addicted.

There wouldn’t really be much charm to Shurican if it wasn't also a rewarding game. Performing a number of kills or skilled moves earns you in-game currency which can be used to purchase new weapons and skins for the little guy.

Seeing a ninja go from a ninjato to a chainsaw is something every gamer wants to see and Shurican offers you this privilege. And in case you didn’t find if obvious, Shurican comes from the fact that you can throw shurikens at your enemies. Yes, ranged combat is available, difficulty level increased, gameplay made more interesting.

If you like cute games that make you rage but keep playing, Shurican is perfect. It’s just too fun and challenging to pass by, especially since some good laughs are guaranteed.