Nightshade, also known as Kunoichi in Japan, is a 2003 game for the PlayStation 2. It's a sequel to the previous year's Shinobi (2002), a 3D installment in Sega's Shinobi ninja franchise, and plays in a similar way.
Hibana is a government-employed ninja, out to assassinate the members of the Nakatomi Corporation. In a near-future Tokyo, Nakatomi has unleashed a series of demons upon the city, and Hibana must eliminate both them and Nakatomi's rival ninja.
Nightshade is notoriously difficult, mostly due to its later levels requiring increasingly high levels of precision and timing.
12 years later, Hibana reappeared as a solo unit in VideoGame/ProjectXZone2, while Kurohagane appears as a recurring mid boss. Hibana would reappear again in 2018’s Sega Heroes.
This game contains examples of:
- Action Girl: Hibana. She actually has a few fans who've never played the game, owing largely to her striking visual design.
- Amen break: Several tracks have sampled the Amen Break.
- And Your Reward Is Clothes: Like many PlayStation 2 era female characters, Hibana has a couple of risque outfits you can unlock after completing the game.
- Bishōnen Line: Kurohagane gets bulkier and bulkier in each appearance until his last one, where his "armour" explodes, turning him into a slick swordsman who looks, for all accounts, human. He doesn't even look like a robot except for his helmet.
- Blow You Away: Kazaguruma
- Bookends: Kurohagane is the first and last boss fought in the game, with him assuming a new form after collecting all the shards of Akujiki.
- The Cameo: Hotsuma, Moritsune, Kagari, and Hiruko appear in the intro in flashbacks. Hotsuma himself is an unlockable character.
- Catchphrase: "Today's just isn't my day" for Hibana.
- Compressed Hair: Hibana has long hair and keeps it underneath a skin-tight helmet.
- Death Seeker: Onibi wants Hibana to kill him.
- Disc-One Final Boss: Jimushi is the primary villain for Hibana to fight, being her former mentor who taught her everything about being a shinobi and is fought at the end of Stage 9, the Tokyo Harbor. After his defeat, Kurohagane kills him to retake Akujiki and becomes the primary antagonist for the rest of the game.
- Flash Step: She's a ninja. What do you want?
- The Goomba: The Kyoukashinobi Kusas, first encountered and fought in the first level, are easy enemies for Hibana to slaughter and rake up combos with if more enemies are present.
- Good All Along: Jimushi is initially a villain who's collecting the shards of Akujiki, with Hibana in opposition to him. After the boss fight, he reveals that the government Hibana serves is not all noble and wants her to have Akujiki to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. Unfortunately, Kurohagane has other plans...
- Highly-Visible Ninja: Hibana wears bright white and kills everyone she sees. Her outfit could be described as a cross between the Soul Series ninja character Taki and Joe Musashi of the original games.
- Karmic Death: Jimushi betrays and blows up Kurohagane (With Hisui's help), taking Akujiki from him. Come the end of Jimushi's boss fight, Kurohagane steals back Akujiki and then kills Jimushi as payback.
- Making a Splash: Hisui.
- MegaCorp: Nakatomi in Nightshade have gone from simply having a preposterously laid-out factory used by Hiruko to being a full-on evil company with their own B-2 Spirit bomber, F-117 Nighthawks and ballistic missile submarine.
- Multi-Melee Master: Hibana has dual short blades and singular long blade.
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Nintendo Hard: The combat's comparatively forgiving, but the platforming is what stops most players in their tracks. To elaborate, you will be required to navigate between platforms using enemies as a bridge with a combination of Locked-On Stealth Dashes and Homing Kicks. Keep in mind that this often takes place around environmental hazards or pits. Something like the sections in the Sonic Adventure games with a set of midair enemies to Homing Attack, but done more manually, so to speak. - No Celebrities Were Harmed:
- Hibana strongly resembles actress Chiaki Kuriyama, who would've been fresh off her One-Scene Wonder star-making role in Battle Royale at the time Nightshade was in development. Coincidentally, Kuriyama also appeared in Kill Bill Vol. 1, which arrived in theaters shortly before Nightshade debuted in Japan.
- Hibana's rival Hisui vaguely resembles fellow Battle Royale co-star Kou Shibasaki, who was the first choice to portray Kuriyama's character, Gogo Yubari).
- Hibana strongly resembles actress Chiaki Kuriyama, who would've been fresh off her
- Parasol of Pain: Hisui wields one in combat.
- Playing with Fire: Onibi's shtick, via fireworks and flame attacks.
- Rule of Cool: The short cutscene at the end of every Tate combo, although sometimes it does give the player a useful little break.
- Scarf of Asskicking: They even tack one on Hibana — although hers isn't quite as epic, it does leave a rather cool "ghost trail" effect.
- Starter Villain: Kurohagane is fought as the first boss of the game, appearing at the end of the first level. However...
- Starter Villain Stays: He shows up as a Recurring Boss throughout the game, with each upgrade giving him deadlier weapons and even becomes the Final Boss of the game.
- We Can Rule Together: Kurohagane offers this to Hibana, asking that she be his, and Akujiki's, master. She refuses.
- You Are Already Dead: One of the primary ways to take down enemies throughout the game is the "Tate" system, where you run around stunning every enemy in a room so they all fall over dead at once.
