Tenchu sneaks on to 360

Among the Japanese support pledged for Xbox 360 recently was old faithful ninja sim Tenchu - and we've stealthed away two movies of Tenchu Senran, due for a Japanese release next month. Hit the Movies tab above to see six minutes of solo stealth killing.

The good news for Tenchu fans is that, apart from some more stylish moves (we love the through-the-screen-door execution), it's pretty much business as usual. Of course, if you're not a fan, the bad news is that it's much the same game as it was in 1998.

Above: This video grab shows our ninja assassin preparing to impale a screen door... and the unsuspecting flesh behind it.

In that case, you may be tempted by the second movie, showing off multiplayer. In Senran, it's now possible to bring a four-player ninja clan into a level, flipping and rolling around the place performing multi-kills on the still reliably gormless guards. With fully customizable characters in both solo and multiplayer modes, we expect a small but ferocious Xbox Live community to form - and a Western release can't be far behind.

September 12, 2006