Mark of the Ninja takes a refreshing look into stealth games. It’s a 2D sidescroller where the noise and lighting of the environment dictates what you can perceive and what the enemies can see and hear of you. This doesn’t sound that groundbreaking but the art style is what makes it work.

I love the gameplay here, simple to get into but tough to master. Each level has a good amount of stuff going on such as scrolls you have to collect, challenges to complete and an overall score where you’ll be rewarded if you’re as invisible as possible and punished if you make a big mess and the alarm sounds off or they detect you.

However, the game might as well not have any story because it’s so bland. You’re in a clan of ninjas bla bla have to kill this bad guy bla bla… The only somewhat interesting stuff happens by the end of the game but I feel like there’s zero narrative or character study. I understand that the story is just an extra to the game but its quite impressive to make such a boring story about ninjas.

I can’t really say that I loved Mark of the Ninja as a whole as after a couple of levels it does feel a bit repetive and one-dimensional in what you can do. The variety of items you can use to distract guards and costumes each with its own pros and cons, along with the beauty of the environments still makes it a great game. I would recommend to anyone even if they aren’t into stealth games as it is definitely something different in the genre and it has stunning visuals throughout it all.

Mark Of The Ninja (Remastered)
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Graphics: 3/5

Story: 3.2/5

Gameplay: 3.7/5

Soundtrack: 2/5

Bugs(0= None ; 5= Unplayable): 0

Fun factor: 4/5

Characters: 2.5/5

Final thoughts: 2.7/5 (3/5 backlogged) An overall good ninja game, the stealth is one of the best i've seen and the animations are pretty smooth, the story is ok, nothing too insane, but wouldnt say it is skippable.

What initially a great, focused and polished arcade-ey stealth game, is elevated into something incredible with its badass story and replay value.

Its so snappy and creative, its one of the more active stealth experiences around.

Genuinely one of the sickest games about ninjas, wich is category with some fierce competition. Do Not Skip out on this.

Sights & Sounds
- I never played the original, so I can't really compare the remastered visuals the old ones. What I can say is that the game looks fantastic and has a very inviting comic book style. Then again, I like the way most Klei games look
- The animations are fluid and natural looking, particularly the stealth kills
- The music is excellent throughout. The ending sequence song is especially nice
- The voice acting is serviceable, but there weren't any performances that blew me away

Story & Vibes
- The early part of the narrative is pretty ho-hum. Your clan is attacked and it's up to you to go get revenge. You do get a pretty cool tattoo that grants you powers, at least
- Without dropping any spoilers, things take a turn as soon as you finish that plotline. There's lots of interesting ambiguity and questioning of your own sanity culminating in an important final choice
- Unfortunately, after making that choice, the game ends kind of abruptly. It's a little bit of a let down
- Being a stealth game, you'd expect the mood to be a little more tense. However, the ease with which you can slip away and hide even when spotted helps to keep things generally less stressful

Playability & Replayability
- If you like side-scrolling stealth games, it's hard to imagine one that nails the mechanics as well as Mark of the Ninja. All of your tools and powers are interesting and feel unique. There's even different "paths" you can choose that completely alter how you approach most scenarios
- The game also excels in level design. In most cases, there's multiple ways to get through any given room or building. You'll have to sneak around, get the lay of the land, and execute your plan carefully to not get spotted or raise an alarm. You won't get very far in the game trying to barge right through every scenario
- The game introduces different challenges and collectibles within each level. Completing these will grant additional points, which translates to more skill and equipment upgrades
- I really wouldn't mind revisiting this game some day to grab more achievements and maybe do an NG+ run

Overall Impressions & Performance
- I haven't played a huge number of 2D stealth games, but this one has certainly piqued my interest in the genre
- The game kept crashing every 30 or so minutes on the Steam Deck until switching to Proton Experimental. No issues after that

Final Verdict
- 9/10. The excellent stealth gameplay combined with the slowly unfolding story and excellent presentation make this an easy game to recommend

Splinter Cell, Metal Gear Solid, Hitman, Thief. They are all great stealth franchises with each of them having one thing in common. They all have 3D graphics. A stealth game in a 2D environment is not a strange concept, but it is rather one that which is not truly explored, with only Indie games that have bravely tried to implement what is usually more suited to a 3D environment into a 2D landscape. Mark of the Ninja: Remastered is a remaster of 2012 Klei’s stealth game, Mark of the Ninja. It improves graphics and resolution, with FPS that can go beyond 30 frames and visuals that can upscales to 4K. It is more of a graphical repackaging if anything else, but this remaster also arrives to pull those who may have not heard of this title back in 2012.

Me personally, I didn’t get the chance to play the original back in 2012, so playing this remaster is a new experience for me. I have heard nothing but good feedback before playing and fortunately, I was not disappointed. Mark of the Ninja may be one of the best stealth games, and one of the most fun I had with games in this genre. So, what does this stealth title have to offer that differs it from the rest?

Mark of the Ninja: Remastered is a perfectly tuned 2D stealth game with excellent level design, offering a great balance of challenge and difficulty for stealth lovers while still being a fun video game for those who are not . This game is not the first game to use a 2D landscape for a stealth gameplay, but I daresay it is probably one of the best of executing it. The levels are pretty open, offering players the freedom to tackle the objectives. Do you want to sneak in through the grates? Or perhaps you rather climb the roof instead and infiltrate a building from above? It’s all up to you, and the game never severly punishes you for being reckless. Where other stealth games penalize you for killing enemies, Mark of the Ninja encourages you to play the stabby stabby ninja that you are. There are bonus score for finishing a mission non-lethally, but you can make up for that lost score by doing other stealth-related objectives, such as being undetected or making distractions. The game itself is not that long, only clocking in at an average of 7 hours on my first playthrough. But New Game+, unlockable ninja suits and some great challenge “puzzle rooms” improves the length of the game.

Are there any bad things to say about this game? Well, I mentioned that the game somewhat encourages you to be more reckless and kill more enemies in the levels, but there is a sense of inconsistency with the challenges provided where you will get bonus marks for killing enemies in a certain way, yet the game also will provide you with bonus points if you finish the level non-lethally. This make the first play through quite difficult, albeit impossible to do everything with some goals contradict with each other, but thankfully, after completing certain challenges the game will record it as complete and does not force you to do the same challenges twice. Another thing to mention is that there are specific moments in the game where I found the frame rate will drop to the low 30s, when the rest of the game runs in 60fps. This sudden drop in frame rate is very noticeable, and can be quite distracting. It doesn’t really break the game, but I feel it’s worth mentioning, since every part of the game runs without a hitch.

All in all, if you’re a fan of the genre, hurry and pick up this game. And if you’re not a fan but still curious about it, this is an excellent title to sink your teeth into. The control is responsive and it’s not too particularly difficult, and who knows. You may find yourself drawn to more games in this genre

Recommended by @DeltaWDunn

This is my first ever stealth game. Never been that interested in them as I've never liked all those forced stealth sections in non-sneaky games. At most I used stealth a lot in the Elder Scrolls and Fallout series, so I at least had some OK experience with the pacing of sneaks and stabs.

Sooooo, are stealth games really just puzzle games?

I mean, the puzzle can require strict timing, or the solution can change if you make a mistake; but this game gave me "I R SMART" feeling of a good puzzle game, which I was not expecting. It's all about watching enemy patterns, taking note where light is and if you can disable them, sources of sound, the kind of guards that are in the way and their positions, what ninja tools you have at your disposal, the location of grapple points and vents, and so forth. You process this information and then create a plan of action.
Lure a guard with broken light, kill them while stuffing their body in a closet, but do it fast before his buddy sees you. Not fast enough? Kill the guard and quickly hang their body from a grappling spot which will cause terror to all who see the corpse. And as you'd expect from a stealth game, going through every level without killing or being spotted is a valid tactic, though it often requires more effort then being "Sir Stabs-A-Lot". Maybe it's symbolic, "It's easier to destroy then it is to save."
I don't know how I feel about the generous checkpoint system. I think its necessary as it's very easy to die (never attempt to fight anyone head-on) but I sometimes feel like I'm cheating when I'm constantly rewinding time for every mistake I make. It's like quicksaving in any game, less stressful but very exploitable and tempting at that. I mean, if you have the tool to fix any mistake, what's stopping you from doing that? Maybe checkpoints placed further apart would make it more of a interesting decision on whether you want to re-do a portion of a level for a better score or to live with your mistakes, but again this would make failure pretty frustrating for more casual players. Despite my grievances, I think they made the better decision in being forgiving to the player.
Even with that said, the game still isn't too challenging despite the deadly enemies and insta-death traps. Going back to the analogy, a puzzle game with more then one solution is inherently easier then a puzzle with a single correct solution. You have a lot of tools and methods to tackle each problem, and till the last three or four levels enemies are fairly easy to exploit and abuse. Terrifying enemies to panic shoot all their allies is maybe a bit too strong, and there's several methods of making them go insane that aren't too much of a nuisance to pull off. When you have a rock solid plan, all you need to is execute it and your pretty much set... bearing a guard you missed that caught you red-handed (as in you're now red in blood :] ) but as mentioned restarting is a non-issue. A short term hurdle.
This game does have a fantastic presentation that always shows all the information a player needs. Sound plays a critical role in being a ninja, and you will always know how much sound something produces at any point while playing. You'll know when a guard hears something, you'll know where a guard is going to investigate, you'll know whose in shadow or not, you'll know a guard's line of sight; almost nothing is hidden from the player. Maybe the only big U.I. problem I've had is some annoying context sensitivity issues. Sometimes I press X to kill a guard but they move slightly too far and I end up smacking his head instead. Other times I'm trying to pick-up a body in order to hide it, but Mr. Ninja thought I wanted to hide behind the vase and now somebody that just spotted the body triggered the alarm. Got a few unfair deaths, but nothing to ruin the game for me.

Despite some faults I have with the game, one thing I can't deny is just how smooth the ride was. I was going through the motions at points sure, but there's something to be said about a game that you play for a few minutes and your just like "Yeah I get it!" You quickly download the rules and can then execute with precision like a real ninja... till you run right into your fifth spike trap like a dumbass
(Also, happy 250th game).