I am making this simple guide because there was no way for me to learn how to do the certain moves aside from the basic ones in Shadow of the Ninja Reborn. So if you want to avoid that frustration, read on to what I’ve learned and what they’re useful for.

The basic attack will default be the sword attack, if you happen to have energy, it can also throw some sort of sonic boom, which makes it pretty useful for the extra damage. Otherwise it’s a rather useful tool for deflecting most projectiles. You can also equip other items instead of the sword to make use of them here, I suggest testing any new tools you find immediately to know what they do, unless of course you’re trying to carry a healing item to the end of the stage.

The chain claw attack (I’m just calling it this) is your most useful attack in the game. It reaches far, hits multiple times, used in the air, and can even pointed in 8 separate directions. Learning how to use this is going to be key to beating even bosses rather comfortably, so try practicing how to use it!

You’ll at some point find yourself up against a jump you can’t reach normally, and it took me forever to figure this out. But if you hold the down button while in the air, then spam the jump button, your character will start spinning for extended air time. Ideally, you’ll want to be heading towards the direction that you’re trying to jump over, which gives lets you cover a much further distance. This can get tricky since if you lose the rhythm the spin can suddenly stop, so make sure you press at a consistent pace. This is also good for dodging ground-based attacks that may be hard to time.

There will be areas where you can’t seem to reach the ledge or it’s just out of reach, by jumping into a wall, and hold the respective direction against that wall, you should be able to start a wall run that lets you scale upward. If it can’t seem to stick, try holding the up button while doing it as well. If done correctly you will just stop at the ledge where your ninja has grabbed hold of it, and jumping again will let you vault on top of it.

Discovered this by accident, but by holding the attack button, you start charging a lightning attack that covers a wide area around your character. Letting go of the button triggers the attack itself. Considering that it uses 2 life, I pretty much avoid using this, but should be useful against a large amount of enemies or ones that for some reason, are hard to reach.

Here’s a few more extra things that I didn’t make a graphic for

Right Trigger – BACK SLIDE  – What happens here is similar to Castlevania slides, where your ninja quickly dashes backwards. It’s used the most for dodging boss attacks, but I don’t even think it’s that necessary to learn.

Left Trigger – Swap Item  – By tapping the left trigger you quickly swap to the immediate item on the leftmost part of the inventory, holding it will let you pick other items by using the directional buttons.

Pogo Stick Attack – I suddenly remembered this move when I was making the thumbnail. Simply press the Down + Attack button while in the air. It lets you poke something from above and make another jump if you’re quick enough, ideally making possible to do this infinitely if you’re dexterous enough. Not that I’d recommend to do this against bosses like I did.

Well, that’s it. Now you know what some of the controls are, it’s time for you to learn how to actually beat the game by yourself, good luck!