Shovel Knight devs drop gorgeous trailer for Ninja Gaiden-like Cyber Shadow

8-bit ninjas are really in style.

The developers behind Shovel Knight, Yacht Club Games, have announced that they will be publishing Cyber Shadow, a ninja extravaganza to rival The Messenger. Cyber Shadow has been developed by solo-dev Aarne “MekaSkull” Hunziker, who has been working on the title for the best part of a decade. The title has been with Yacht Club Games for the last year, and in this time the publishers have ‘polished‘ it up for release.

In the world of ninjas and neon, synthetic lifeforms rule. The people need your help and you, as the protagonist Shadow, are the perfect person to slash the way for humanities salvation. When Aarne pitched the game to Yacht Club Games he ”described [it] as a NES-style game that had the level design principles of Mario, the skills and action of Ninja Gaiden, the enemy designs of Contra, and the dark visual aesthetic of Batman.” That’s quite a list of influences.

Every pixel of the game has been hand-crafted, and the sci-fi environments are varied and beautifully in a harsh, mechanical sort of way. Shadow’s fighting animations as he hacks and dashes through the levels are fluid and graceful, making flowing through each level look like a real speedy joy. We can’t wait to learn more about the title.

The game will be releasing onto the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PS4 and PC at a yet to be disclosed date. Don’t worry, as always, we’ll keep you updated. To find out more about Cyber Shadow, you can also check out their Steam page.