 Steam Drunk Super House of Dead Ninjas is a sequel to House of Dead Ninjas, but I chose to get this one because, well, it's got super in the title. Of course, I'm gonna play it. Also, it was put out by Adult Swim Games, and being a gigantic space coast-to-coast fanboy, I'm always gonna be eager to check out any original content from those guys. The appeal of Super House of Dead Ninjas isn't just the retro-styled gameplay and graphics complete with the interlaced TV scan lines. It's that you have so many capabilities. There's so, so many things your character can do. There's swords, shurikens, bombs, double jumps, climbing walls, downward thrusts, special items, special power-ups. I mean, if you can think of something a ninja would do, it's in here. One touch I like is that if you use a shuriken, you can get it back and use it again. That always used to annoy me about the Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden games, so I appreciate that they did that here. You earn more abilities as you play, and you pick and choose what you want to use based on how you want to play. It reminds me of choosing your weapons in Gradius 3. Are you more of a melee power player, or do you prefer projectiles, or maybe just sheer speed? This is really well done, and it's a blast to just mow through each level. A game like this demands that the controls be tight, precise, and responsive, and Super House of Dead Ninjas delivers big time. The game rewards you for how fast you eliminate enemies without getting hit, and making sure you pick up every item. By activating a Berserker Rage run where everything dies in one hit, and that's super satisfying to play. So yeah, no emphasis on stealth or dodging stuff here, it's just straight ahead mayhem, I like it. There are different gameplay modes, however, like a straight boss run, or a speed run, for example. My only criticism with the game is I wish the level design got a little more creative to match the variety of abilities, like in Hagane, for example, the runaway level with the flames chasing you, or maybe having a vehicle here and there or something, I don't know, I'm just spitballing ideas, but the levels have kind of a sameness to them. I can't blame the developers for that though, I mean, this was developed as a flash game for Christ's sake, so it'd be silly to rag on the game for something it isn't. Still, it would have been nice to see some variety here or there. As it is, the game isn't that difficult, it's not Hagane or Ninja Gaiden, but it's not easy either. Your biggest obstacle is the time limit more than anything, or at least it was for me. That's a pain in the ass. The story is told through a comic, and is totally optional for you to read, and I appreciate that touch as well, because if you're all about the gameplay, you're not subjected to a big annoying cutscene or whatever. But as it is, the comic is nicely done. I really enjoy that it explains the gameplay too, I get a kick out of that. Anyway, I highly recommend Superhouse of Dead Ninjas. It's listed as $7 on Steam right now, but add it to your wishlist and jump on it the second it goes on sale, which I've noticed it does pretty often. Or if you notice this game in a bundle, jump on that too.