Ninja Spirit

[Melf]

Title: Ninja Spirit
Platform: PC-Engine/Turbo Grafx (HuCard)
Publisher: NEC
Developer: IREM
Difficulty: Adjustable
No. of Players: 1 or 2 (alternating)
Released: 7/06/90

Back in the '80s, ninjas were all the rage. They were on TV, in movies, and video games everywhere you looked. Some games were good (Shinobi, Shadow of the Ninja), and some were not so good (NES Wrath of the Black Manta, SMS The Ninja), but everyone wanted to don a mask and kill something. The Turbo Grafx 16 was lacking in the hooded assassin department, so NEC ported IREM's 1988 arcade hit to their new console. The result is one of the best home action games ever released.

Your father was killed by a rival ninja who took the shape of a wolf and now you must seek vengeance through seven stages of intense side scrolling action. Sounds pretty much like your standard ninja plot, doesn't it? Just be glad ninjas never learned to turn the other cheek or games like this would never exist.



Arcade Sword slashing

I'm sure that many of you are thinking "a TG-16 game that's 13 years old? That can't look good." If you're expecting tons of parallax and huge scrolling backgrounds, you may be a bit disappointed. However, Ninja Spirit is a very faithful port, considering the limitations of the TG-16 hardware. There is some nice shading on the character sprites and in the backgrounds, and some stages, like stage 3, do have scrolling backgrounds. They don't look as sexy as the arcade original but they're still pretty sharp.

Your character and his foes have some fairly simple animation, consisting mostly of their attack movements and running motions. I don't really expect much from these early arcade action games in terms of animation, and I wasn't surprised at how everything moved. It gets the job done and looks clean, and that's basically all you need.

As with most TG-16 titles, NS is fairly colorful, sticking to dark shades and mostly pastel tones. This is a good thing, although I still don't like the idea of orange ninjas.



The Sounds of the East

I really like the music in Ninja Spirit. It's fast paced and very reminiscent of other games in the genre, such as Shinobi and The Legend of Kage. The lack of bass does hurt the overall quality of the music, but then the TG-16 isn't known for moving many subwoofers. The soundtrack is well composed and worth a trip to the sound test to hear, though.

The sound effects are probably the one area of the game that has not aged well. They sound overly simple and I'm sure the system is capable of better. The wolf's howl at the beginning is laughable and an exploding enemy tends to sound more like Chinese New Year than someone suffering a horrible death. Again, the lack of bass really hurts the impact the effects have in the game and is sorely missed.



Moving Faster Than the Eye Can See

Aside from choosing to play alone or alternate with a friend, you can select two mode of play: arcade and PC-Engine mode. Arcade allows you only one hit before dying, while the latter gives you three hits. The game is a lot less frustrating towards the end if you're playing in PC-Engine mode, but ninja gamers (hah!) and arcade purists will appreciate the inclusion of the original mode of play.

The levels aren't all that long but can tend to rise very sharply in difficulty as you progress, especially if you find yourself without upgraded weapons. The game is pretty short (about 20 minutes overall) but is a lot of fun to go through, especially if you have someone to compete with for score.

Armed to the Teeth

What's a ninja without weapons? You have a total of four in your arsenal: a sword, throwing knives, bombs, and a sickle and chain. Each can be upgraded by killing the cleverly disguised orange ninja. Having your weapons at their maximum level is key to dispatching bosses quickly, so you will have to make sure you've powered them up beforehand. The sword attacks in four directions and can be upgraded to have greater range, while your throwing knife barrage can be raised to three. The sickle and chain is a bit unwieldy but once upgraded can be gyrated to kill everything around you. I found that the bombs are far and away the most powerful weapon in the game and make short work of all foes, including the bosses.

In addition to the weapon upgrades, there are other powerups that will aid you in your quest, such as a pink orb that annihilates everything on screen and a yellow flame barrier that protects you for a limited time. The blue orbs give you up to two shadow alter egos that increase your firepower. Having two shadows and the upgraded bombs makes you practically unstoppable.



So, You Want to Be A Ninja?

Yes, Ninja Spirit is short; very short. However, once you begin to play, you won't mind the game's length at all. Having the option to play in arcade mode adds greatly to its play life. I like to compare it to trying to beat Contra or Ikaruga on one credit. The challenge is a large part of the fun, and this title has that "play it until it's owned" ambience that such classics like Ghouls 'N Ghosts and Super Mario Bros. had.

The game can be had fairly cheap and is quite common on ebay and in gaming stores. If you're looking for a solid action title to spend an afternoon with, you can't go wrong with Ninja Spirit.

SCORE: 9/10

[Jeremy]

Yet another solid review, Melf. I'm loving the names for the score area, very cool touch. Also, excellent use of pics as well.

[Nash]

man, ninja spirit rocks, hard. i picked it up when i first got my turbo duo because it was cheap and i like ninjas. i expected a mediocre title i could waste half an hour on when i was really bored. little did i know that it's, in my opinion, one of the top ninja games ever made, right behind the first two ninja gaidens and shinobi 3. gaming fans, ninja fans, ninja gaming fans, check it out.

[Survival Kid]

Hey, I have fond memories of Wrath of the Black Manta...

Good review, by the way. I may have to track this game down.

[Diff-chan]

But does it support OGG?