Nothing says stealth like the eternally cool ninja, and Klei Entertainment's Mark of the Ninja is one of the more pure examples of the stealth genre that there's ever been. Taking place from a delightful side-scrolling viewpoint, clearly influenced by the likes of Shinobi and the early Ninja Gaiden games, Mark of the Ninja approximates everything about the genre into one fantastic little package. It's less action-heavy than the ninja games that inspired it, trading in a rack of kill combos with deadly precision from the shadows and some of the most legitimate tension you'll ever feel in a game. It's something that you can obviously get very good at, but it always takes just enough for you to feel like it challenges you every single time. From the exquisite animation to the flawless mission design, Mark of the Ninja is a game that defines what the stealth genre is all about.
