The game you're looking at right now is StarTropics, and not only is it one of the many games on the Nintendo Switch Online service, but it's one of the many games that I have not covered on the Nintendo Switch Online Review Crew. That's because it was released a year or two before I started the series, making it one of the many Nintendo Entertainment System and Super NES games to be completely glossed over. That is, until now. This summer, we're going to go back in time and cover all of the missing games, starting with Journey to Silius, the aforementioned StarTropics and Shadow of the Ninja. These three games were added to Nintendo's online service years ago, but the question still remains: Are any of them worth playing? To answer that question, I decided to flip through the pages of Electronic Gaming Monthly, Video Games & Computer Entertainment, GamePro and more classic magazines to see what the critics said back when these games first came out. So, go and grab your trusty yo-yo, because this is going to be a very polarizing episode of Nintendo Switch Online Review Crew.


If you were a fan of ninjas in the 8-bit era, then you sure had a lot of great action games to choose between. From Ninja Gaiden to Shinobi to Wrath of the Black Manta, this was an era filled to the brim with men in dark pajamas sneaking around the city streets. While the Ninja Gaiden trilogy is hard to top, Shadow of the Ninja comes in a close second. It's an exciting action game that mimics a lot of what Ryu Hayabusa was doing back in the day. In fact, this game was so similar to Tecmo's trilogy, that when it came time to create a Game Boy version of Ninja Gaiden, they opted to port and rename Shadow of the Ninja. That's pretty cool, but this Nintendo Entertainment System version is the one to play, thanks to its color graphics and two-player ninja action. Let's see what the critics had to say about back in 1990.

As you probably expected, Electronic Gaming Monthly's resident fake-ninja, Sushi-X, absolutely loved Shadow of the Ninja: “NOT just another ninja game, but the best one since Gaiden. Two can play, but best as a lone ninja. I really like the character animation and new moves that combine to make this non-stop entertainment.” Steve also loved the game, going as far as to praise the up-and-coming developer: “Shadow of the Ninja is a tremendous first effort from Natsume. The graphics and play action are incredible for this configuration, and have all the action you'd expect in a first-rate title. Expect big things from Natsume!” EGM ended up giving Shadow an average score of 8 out of 10.

That's quite a bit higher than Nintendo Power, who could only muster up a 3.3 out of 5 when they reviewed it. GamePro, on the other hand, matched EGM's score with a 4 out of 5, raving about the graphics and gameplay. “Does the name Natsume ring a bell? This is the first NES cart from that company, whose programming prowess appears in a bunch of other carts, such as Contra and Abadox. Natsume's video game-making experience is certainly in evidence here. This is an exciting adventure cart with excellent graphics and challenging gameplay. The graphics are sharp, with picture perfect stills between levels. The sound effects are great, even the background tunes are catchy.”

The highest score I could find came from Video Games & Computer Entertainment, who gave the game a stellar 9 out of 10. Their biggest criticism was directed at the cliched nature of the martial-arts storyline: “As an entertainment medium, video games are just as legitimate as books or movies, and there's no reason why the subject matter should be limited to spaceships, ninjas and baseball. But Natsume shouldn't be criticized for bringing out ‘another ninja game,' because Shadow of the Ninja is one of the best games of ANY genre.” Now that's a statement I can get behind. If you haven't already, give Shadow of the Ninja a stab.

Journey to Silius is one of those classic games where the backstory is actually better than the finished product. When SunSoft started production in the late 1980s, there was no Silius to journey to. Instead, it was a side-scrolling action game based on the Terminator franchise. Unfortunately, when SunSoft lost the rights to the James Cameron property midway through development, the team was forced to alter the story, enemies and dystopian world, creating a brand-new action game that is probably even better without the movie tie-in. Journey to Silius is a great example of a developer overcoming the odds and creating an 8-bit game that would eventually be considered a cult classic. Let's see if the critics at the time were impressed with this inspiring story.

Electronic Gaming Monthly was real mixed on the game, giving it an average score of 6.25 out of 10. Martin liked it the most, even going as far as to reference the behind-the-scenes drama in his review: “Although they stripped the Terminator title from this game, Silius is going to be one of those sleeper hits this year. Like Batman, while the graphics are small in scale, this allows more variety in the backgrounds and gameplay.” Sushi-X also compared Silius to a licensed property, but not the same one: “Lucy meets Star Wars! A good action adventure game with great music and standard enemy opposition. Typical ‘ROSS' enemies through as well as storyline intermissions. If you can't kill ‘em, make ‘em laugh!” Wait ... Ross? Make ‘em laugh? I'm so confused.

Thankfully, things were a bit more straight-forward over at Nintendo Power, where they gave the game a 3 out of 5. That's the same score we saw in GamePro's sixteenth issue. They concluded that “Journey to Silius features great graphics and a dynamite soundtrack. However, in terms of substance, the game doesn't quite live up to the way it looks. It's likely many gamers will enjoy a Journey to Silius, but the real pros will have to consider if this trip is necessary.” I agree, Journey to Silius is fun, but certainly not one of the top tier titles on the Nintendo Switch Online service.

There's a perception among many gamers that the classics they grew up with were given high marks by the critics. While that's certainly true of some games, I'm here to tell you that there are a lot of much-hyped classics that were trashed when they first came out. One of the greatest examples of this is StarTropics, a weird adventure game from Nintendo that felt like The Legend of Zelda with better weather. While you'll routinely see StarTropics listed as one of the best 8-bit games of all time, this was not the sentiment back in the day. As hard as it is to believe, this tropical adventure game is one of the most polarizing games on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Let's take a look at both sides of the argument.

In this corner is Nintendo Power, who ended up giving StarTropics a score of 4.5 out of 5, making it the magazine's fifth best-reviewed game of 1990. They loved the tropical setting, the extreme challenge and even the storytelling. They called the game a “guaranteed hit,” and then spent month after month after month giving Nintendo loyalists the hard sell. If you were a Nintendo Power subscriber in the early 1990s, there's a chance that you thought StarTropics was bigger than Zelda.

To say that Electronic Gaming Monthly disagreed would be a gross understatement. Giving it an average score of 4.75 out of 10, EGM hated almost everything about the game that Nintendo Power loved. Sushi-X sums it up perfectly: “At first, I thought I was playing Zelda, then Dragon Warrior, then Crystalis, then Ultima Avatar. What amazes me most about StarTropics is the lack of any originality whatsoever!” Steve agreed, arguing that “Somehow, Nintendo managed to create an adventure game out of a boring plot. StarTropics is nothing more than an amalgam of other quest games.” And then there's Ed, who gave the game the highest marks and had what I'm choosing to call a silver-lining: “Somewhat reminiscent of Zelda, but better. Adequate graphics and action, but not exceptional. Still, it is worth buying just for the long quest.”

While I don't think it's anywhere near as bad as a 4.75 out of 10, I'm also not one of those people who thinks StarTropics is an 8-bit classic. Check it out on Nintendo Switch Online and see who you side with – Nintendo Power or EGM.