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Forget Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [Who? - Ed]. Here comes the Ninja Dog. You want animals with attitude? The canine sidekick to the eponymous hero of Shadow Dancer has more attitude than a sewer full of half-shelled heroes. Talk about man's best friend; this faithful creature will risk his own life to save his master's. Just a pull on the joystick and a tap of the Fire button turns a normally harmless pet into a frenzied attack machine which will delay any opponent for at least a few seconds.

Shadow Dancer is split into five missions, each with three levels. On each level there's a number of bombs you have to disarm before you move on to the next. The only problem is that the terrorists that put them there aren't to keen on the idea of anyone ruining all their hard work. They're so not keen, in fact, that they're hanging around to make sure that no-one interferes with their bombs until they go boom.

The ninja hero under your control in Shadow Dancer is so cool that he totally refuses to run anywhere. His attack strategy consists of ambling calmly into a room and killing everyone in sight. He's got two methods of despatching enemies - not an immense variety, sure, but if they work, why knock 'em? First, there's his infinite supply of throwing stars [They're called shurikens, you know - Dave] which he throws at a press of the Fire button. Then you have a limited supply of 'ninja magic' - one touch of the Space bar will destroy everyone in view.

There are no restart points in any of the levels. Get killed once and you're whisked back to the beginning of the level. Lose all three lives and you'll find it's a one-way express ticket back to the very beginning of the game. It doesn't matter if your mutt is still alive and kicking - if you snuff it, he won't battle on alone. Well, there's no-one to whistle at him to tell him who to savage, is there?

If you persevere and finish all three levels in a mission you're whisked away to a bonus level in which ninjas jump/leap on you from the ledges of some awfully weird buildings. Beating these levels seems quite simple at first because all you have to do is blast 'em before they hit the ground. But then the enemies start falling thick and fast. And sooner, rather than later, you'll be beaten.

So the game consists of horizontally-scrolling rooms of platforms full of hairy terrorists and ticking bombs, all of which need disposing of pretty swiftish. The baddies can be shurikened, magicked or mauled by your dog into non-existence but the bombs have to be defused by hand.

The classy parallax scrolling looks dead smart, adding loads of atmosphere, and the bonus levels are great. Shadow Dancer is an enjoyable arcade beat-'em-up, not stunningly different to loads of others out there I'll admit, but great fun and very addictive. Darned daft name, though.

Er, make that five missions actually.

1. Mission 1: Obstruct the enemy's deadly mission
   Your first mission takes you and your canine pal on a slugfest journey through the airport concourse, then through the cargo area, ultimately ending up at the enemy's aircraft.
2. Mission 2: Disrupt the enemy's supply route
   Next you're taken along the railroad, across the main bridge, ending up in a freight station. Y'see these terrorist-types get all their weapons delivered via the Red Star, apparently.
3. Mission 3: Raid the enemy's industrial units
   The third part of the game sends you into the terrorists' bomb making factory unit. You have to sneak down to the basement in order to reach the top secret area buried deep underneath the industrial site.
4. Mission 4: Attack the enemy's underground forces
   Now for the Ninja Turtles bit. You take a tip into the sewers on the fourth mission, where you and your faithful hound must find your way through the maze of caverns to the outside world.
5. Mission 5: Liberate and secure the shuttle base
   Your final mission has you working your way across a waterfall and into a shuttle craft where you'll meet your final foe. Beat him and you can retire to a luxury pagoda with en suite kennel.

Don't waste your hound on situations that look a bit tough but you could actually deal with yourself. Only send him away in the more dire of circumstances because, once he's gone, he's gone for good! This mutt fights 'till the death.

In other words, don't ever, ever, ever send your faithful furry friend to war in hairy situations. What a waste of a loyal pet. Do it yourself!

Graphics 88%
Excellently detailed backgrounds and ever-so-smooth scrolling.

Sound 77%
The effects fit, the tune's cute but there's nothing special here.

Playability 65%
It doesn't look that great at first, I'll admit, and the controls are odd too.

Lastability 86%
But it's soon non-tear-awayable-from, for a fair old while anyway.

Overall 89%