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Post by Ex on Nov 6, 2020 22:47:56 GMT -5
the real trouble is that it's kinda boring because it's an auto-scroller Yep, and that was the only auto-scroller section of the whole game, IIRC. Another disingenuous thing tacked on to the end. I'll admit that flipping up and down the platform made it easier though. You still have to jump off the thing to get the spell ammo however. Well, if you care about using the Fire Wheel against the last boss anyway. It helped me take down his final form.
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Post by Sarge on Nov 7, 2020 0:51:41 GMT -5
I'm sure the first time through, it's fine. It does keep you on your toes. But repeating it too many times definitely leads to some boredom once you've got it down. Even if you get sloppy, though, there's a life restorative at the top to prep for the final boss, so at least there's that.
Funnily enough, I didn't even use the flip beneath, I just jumped everything. Timing is pretty tight that way, but not too bad. I was definitely grabbing all the Ninpo on the way up, too.
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Post by Ex on Nov 7, 2020 2:25:28 GMT -5
Return of the Ninja is an action-platformer for Game Boy Color, developed by Act Japan, and published by Natsume, in 2001. Although developed and published by Japanese businesses, this game was never released in Japan, only USA and Europe. Return of the Ninja is considered a spiritual successor to Natsume's Shadow of the Ninja (1990 NES). As with that game, in this one the player can choose between a male and female ninja to play as. The plot sees both ninja protagonists working to avenge an attack on their home village by an evil ninja clan.
The basic gameplay revolves around running, jumping, and slashing. The player has a katana and endless shurikens. The beginning moves also include a somersault slash, and a back-flip for evasion. In addition various magic offensive spells are available. These basic moves increase considerably as the player collects "Shinobi Gear". These are various items that add many more moves to the player's capabilities. Such as crawling on walls, floating from a fall, jumping incredibly high, or tunneling beneath dirt, to name a few. The player will need all of these moves to survive Return of the Ninja's six stages. Especially the latter stages which become maze-like and filled with dangerous enemies.
Stealth is also a considerable aspect of the gameplay. It behooves the player to sneak up on enemies and take them by surprise, for swift killing and defense. Alerted enemies become aggressive and dangerous when they detect the player. After each stage, the player is awarded a ranking based on how quickly they completed the stage, how many enemies were killed, and how many times they were detected. Additionally, bonus artwork cards are awarded, to encourage the player to replay stages. Players can trade these artwork cards between Game Boy Color units via its infrared sensor.
+Captures the feudal Japan theme very well.
+Detailed backgrounds, and well crafted sprites. +Very diverse moveset once all Shinobi Gear is collected. +Rewards the player for playing methodically (like a ninja).
+Has a password system, thankfully.
-Cheap hits galore.
-Stages 4 and 5 are annoying mazes.
-The camera doesn't track true center, there's edge blind zones as a result.
-The OST is kinda crap. -Stage design is rough sometimes. One thing I would not accuse Return of the Ninja of, is a lack of ambition. This game oozes inspiration. But for all its effort to add complexity and player agency, there's also a consistent lack of polish. Mainly in the realm of enemy placement and stage design. The first three stages are pretty good, but once you hit stages four and five, it's crappy maze time. Mazes full of annoying enemies that hit fast and hard, coupled with very little health points, and one life. And when you die, there's no checkpoints, so you have to start the whole stage over again. That puts the player in the position of constantly farming enemies for life drops (rice balls). Some of this can be mitigated by playing very slowly, and actually trying to sneak up on enemies - but you'll get tired of that soon enough. Especially while listening to the bland OST.
However, Return of the Ninja still offers merit. It approximates the feeling of being a ninja as well as a GBC game could hope for. Certainly more convincingly than say, Ninja Gaiden Shadow did. There is fun to be had in using the Shinobi Gear, and defeating the myriad bosses. (I found the boss fights to all be enjoyable.) And the periodic plot cutscenes help involve the player's interest. I also consistently enjoyed the theme appropriate environment/enemy design. So for all it lacks in polish and fairness, Return of the Ninja makes up for with gusto. This old ninja's got plenty of heart to go with its deadly moves.
Ex's time to beat: 1 hour 20 minutes Ex's rating: 7/10
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Post by Sarge on Nov 7, 2020 14:45:53 GMT -5
Oh, I remember this one - I've got a partial playthrough somewhere, I think. Gonna have to look around and see where.
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Post by Sarge on Nov 7, 2020 18:55:06 GMT -5
Finished Super Ninja-kun. This is one of Jaleco's Jajamaru games, and this one basically goes all the way back to the original Ninja-kun and updates it a bit. To be sure, it looks fantastic, and expands on that game in some meaningful ways... but it's not really enough to make it much more than decent. Jumping still has that mostly-vertical oddness to it, and dash-jumping happens too quickly. Still, neat that it gives you a few different weapons, and I didn't hate it. I'd say it took about an hour to beat. 6/10.
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Post by toei on Nov 7, 2020 19:23:44 GMT -5
They pushed the cutesy a little far with that cover. Ninja-kun looks like he's about to cry.
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Post by Sarge on Nov 8, 2020 14:12:20 GMT -5
I beat Zen: Intergalactic Ninja on Game Boy. Unlike the NES game, which really mixes up the structure (side-scrolling plus isometric stages, with some varied goals), this one stays purely side-scrolling action. To be honest, it feels a bit like a cross between TMNT II: Back From the Sewers and Castlevania: Belmont's Revenge, which makes sense given the release window and the staff, two of which worked on Belmont's Revenge (Toru Hagihara credited as "Staff" here was a programmer for BR, and Hidehiro Funauchi was the composer). Overall, I like the stage design here, but the engine creaks and strains if much is going on - the action slows to an absolute crawl. The game itself looks mighty fine for a Game Boy title, though. It's not a terribly difficult game, although you will take a few deaths learning the patterns, and in an unfortunate turn, the game forces you to replay the previous section before the boss if you lose there.
Regardless, pretty fun times here. It's probably a 6.5/10 for me. Maaaaaybe a 7/10, but that feels like it's pushing it a bit given the crippling slowdown. But even with the speed drop, I always enjoy games that have really tight controls, and this has that for sure. Oh, and the story is full-on Captain Planet dumb. That's probably important to mention.
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Post by Ex on Nov 9, 2020 3:14:47 GMT -5
Super Ninja-kun has nice graphics, and Zen: Intergalactic Ninja looks funner than the NES version at least. - Tonight I beat this: I don't think Shinobi needs much of an introduction, or a review really. Everyone here likely knows what this is. So I'll briefly say this is an action-platformer developed and published by SEGA for the Master System in 1988. The Master System version was based on the 1987 arcade original. In 1988 I received a SEGA Master System for my 9th birthday. That was a direct present request, not something my parents bought me on a whim. The SMS wasn't my first console though, because in 1987 I received an Atari 2600 for my 8th birthday (also a request). But anyway, one of the very first games I owned for SMS was Shinobi. I don't recall exactly how I got it, but it was probably via my uncle at the time. He owned an SMS as well, was constantly buying games, and was kind enough to send me his SMS games after he beat them. I ended up with over two dozen SMS games in 1988 as a result. I played all of those games fervently to say the least. But I beat very few of them. Many were quite difficult, at least to a 9 year old who'd only played Atari 2600 beforehand. Actually, the only SMS games I owned at the time, that I can definitely remember beating, were Quartet, Double Dragon, Zillion, Pro Wrestling, and Phantasy Star. Shinobi was one I definitely didn't beat, way back then. I have distinct childhood memories of playing it, on Saturday mornings or lazy summer days. I also recall Shinobi being the very first game I ever knew a cheat code for. There's a level select cheat (press and hold button 1 when Shinobi appears completely on the title screen). A neighborhood kid on my school bus told me about that code. He didn't even own Shinobi or an SMS, but he read game magazines, and remembered seeing that code in one of them. (Such was the mystique of video games back then, that even something as rudimentary as a cheat code would be memorable.) Despite being able to warp to the final level of Shinobi, I still couldn't beat it as a kid. Honestly, I hadn't played past the first level of SMS Shinobi since I received a NES in 1988. So here we are thirty two years later, and I finally beat SMS Shinobi this evening. In doing so, I can see how this game was so hard for me back then. But with decades of playing video games under my belt since, I found the experience much more manageable now. There's still plenty of cheap hits and BS enemy placement, a few really tricky jumps, but it's not impossible. Memorization and practice is all it takes, as with so many old 8-bit action games. I even found the last boss to be really easy, surprisingly. +A cover shooter before cover shooters were cool. +Being able to jump between elevation planes was neat. +Controls are tight, and the physics feel right. +No level timer is appreciated given the release year. +Memorable (though limited) OST. -The latter two stages have very cheap enemy placement. -I hate the blue ninjas. Especially the flying ones in the bamboo thicket! -The ultimate weapon upgrade is a firearm, not a magic katana or anything, no... a gun! -Maybe this was a Rolling Thunder ripoff. -There's no ending. When you beat the final boss, you just see GAME OVER. Shinobi on Master System remains a competent, if quaint, ninja action-platformer. It doesn't hold a candle to say Ninja Gaiden, no not whatsoever. But for a nine year old kid, living in the middle of nowhere Georgia, back in the late '80s... Shinobi was an impressive, moody challenge. My opinion of this antique piece of entertainment is tainted positively as a result. Yes, it's very difficult to be objective about this one folks. I'd only recommend playing this as a scholarly endeavor, if you'd never played it before. we ate neon dreams watch Alf! die in Shinobi! faded phosphor ghosts Ex's time to beat: 1 hour or so Ex's rating: 7/10 (nostalgia biased admittedly)
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Post by Sarge on Nov 10, 2020 1:22:02 GMT -5
This month's theme gave me the excuse I needed to finally play through Hagane. One of the reasons I've bounced off this game so many times is that the game often overwhelms you with choices. You have a ton of moves and weapons, and in particular, traversal isn't quite like you'd expect it to be. You get this weird forward somersault that you really have to get used to or you'll never beat the game. That move also lets you vault off of walls. You can grab the undersides of some platforms, and you can even use your grapple to climb in spots.
I save-stated through this pretty heavily, but once you figure out the trouble spots, I can see this being a game that wouldn't be awful to legit clear. That's not saying it's easy! That final boss in particular gave me fits - you have to climb up a shaft chasing it, and if you get left behind, you're screwed. I found really fast movements (don't even try to kill any enemies) and unloading bombs when you get him in range works best. I tested this and pulled it off three times with no issue.
Graphically, this one blew me away. The spritework is masterful, with loads of great detail all over the place, cool backgrounds, just a game that you could just sit and look at. The sound was fitting, although not the sort of music I'd throw in the rotation - it's a bit of a mix of traditional Japanese and electronic stuff.
I'd probably give this a 7.5/10. With practice, I'd probably like it even more - it seems like the sort of game I'd cotton to with more practice. I see where it cribs from Shinobi III, but it also very much has its own flavor.
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Post by Ex on Nov 10, 2020 2:43:59 GMT -5
When I think about Hagane, I think good looking and hard. We're in agreement on that one. I came across a Game Boy Color entry I think you'd like today, Sarge : Samurai KidAn action-platformer, with a bit of non-linearity and lite puzzle solving: I didn't see an English fan translation available (?). If not, it's a prime candidate. Probably simple enough to play in Japanese though.
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