Some secrets are best left alone.

Tenchu has certainly developed a name for itself with many hardcore PlayStation gamers since it made its debut on Sony’s grey box back in 1998. The series has seldom left its Playstation niche, so it’s first foray unto a Nintendo platform was a bold move. And despite being part of a familiar brand, published by Nintendo, with a series of strong-selling predecessors, Tenchu: Dark Secret has become a mockery of the franchise.

Tenchu is regarded as a fairly decent brand on the consoles it has graced, but the same cannot be said about the DS outing, Tenchu: Dark Secret. Instead of a similar design like past games, From Software decided to throw all that out the window and develop an almost 2D title that feels more at home on the Game Boy Advance – for those who’ve tried a stealth game in 2D, it shouldn’t be difficult to see how impossible the concept becomes.

Playing Tenchu: Dark Secret really is akin to getting a Game Boy Advance title and retooling it to the DS while downgrading the gameplay substantially. That certainly comes as a disappointment seeing as the Nintendo DS is more than capable of managing better-than-PlayStation visuals on a regular basis. If we can find any casing point for not taking a 3D game and directly converting it to 2D, then From Software’s is the foremost example. Seriously, there are no positives with this transition.

Many popular games are based in current and futuristic environments, but the Tenchu series is different takes us back to Japan, where heroes are equipped with swords, shrukens, and many other weapons from the era – that’s about the most it does to stand out. The story itself follows two highly skilled ninjas on their peacekeeping duties in their homeland, and while it is not the most original of stories, it works for the most part.

Right from the start, you’ll have to choose between the male ninja with slow speeds and powerful attacks, or the female hero who possesses slightly faster movement and a weaker defence. Once that’s out of the way, you set off on one of the game’s many missions that prove to be more frustrating than enjoyable. While the objective of each level is pretty clear and sounds entertaining – kill every single enemy you encounter – combat is anything but fun. For one, you can’t just charge at enemies head-on because they’ll yell out to enlist help from their allies, so you must use stealth. Being outnumbered in nearly every mission cements the need to find craftier ways of killing foes undetected – a process usually consisting of examining an enemy’s movements, sneaking up behind him, and then finishing him off with some classic ninja moves. Sounds cool, right?

Well, maybe. But there’s one huge problem with all this: the game is just way too easy; beating the missions requires little to no thinking whatsoever. Almost all of the enemies in the game are incredibly small and slow, and have extremely predictable movement patterns. Besides this, they’re all rather weak and can be killed with a single slash in the back ¬– not quite the difficulty level most people would expect from a stealth game aimed towards the older audience.

Ignoring the simplistic ease of the game, many of the problems with Tenchu: Dark Secret stem from the level designs. Not only are most levels extremely repetitive in terms of appearance and objectives, but the few that do decide to break the mould are flawed to the point where they almost become unplayable. In one mission players must defend their fortress before enemies infiltrate it. By wandering the area and wiping out enemies you encounter you’d think that you’re doing the right thing, but, all of a sudden, the level ends because an enemy got to a place where he shouldn’t have, with no prior warning. While fine to test a player’s abilities, games need have some degree of coherency – getting overwhelmed due to design flaws is not fun.

Tenchu: Dark Secret attempts to make up for its shortcomings by using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to try and extend its replay value – unsurprisingly, it falls short. Once you finally establish a connection with another player, you’ll quickly realize that the game lacks any kind of multiplayer whatsoever. Instead it’s replaced by a bartering system, which allows you and the other gamer to view and purchase personally customized weapons and traps. Again, not quite what many would come to expect with this type of game – Tenchu Trader is a concept we just couldn’t buy in to.

Tenchu: Dark Secret does have a 3D environment, but since the camera pretty much locks itself into a top-down perspective, you never really get to witness the three-dimensional look; you can never bring the view down to the character level to see how close or far away enemies are. And, to top off the transgressions, one of the coolest elements of the classic Tenchu design – the grappling hook – is nowhere to be seen in this instalment. Although even if they included it, Tenchu: Dark Secret would still be an absolute mess of a game with an overabundance of muddy texture work – there are brown and greys everywhere. Everywhere!

Tenchu: Dark Secret is a complete mockery of the Tenchu brand. Unlike its console predecessors, the Nintendo DS instalment lacks engaging gameplay and a great visual style. Simply put, the game is to be avoided at all costs. Even if you should find this at a bargain price, it’d be best to just walk away and pretend it never happened.