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NINJA
(1986) |
REVIEW
by AtariGrub
The
Ninja of Ancient Japan were trained in the martial arts and experts in assassination,
infiltration and sabotage. In this game from Mastertronic, you play a Ninja
in search of the kidnapped Princess Di-Di and must gather all seven idols dropped
by the Princess in order to prove your worth.
You begin the game in the location titled 'Torii by the Sea' and find three random weapons strewn about the screen. These items are either spinning death stars, throwing daggers or a combination of both, and should be collected, as they prove useful in the battles ahead. From here you have the option of moving off the left or right hand side of the screen, where you will come into contact with your first opponent!
Each
new location you enter will begin by displaying a caption, briefly describing
the scene, such as "Hallway", "Rainbow Room" or "Shijo
Entrance". There are 21 locations that scale up over 6 levels. On the ground
level you will only face one opponent per screen, but this increases per floor
level, until the final room where you will face five opponents, although only
two will ever attack at any one time.
There are three
different enemies that will hinder your quest for idols - The Thug, who is the
easiest opponent, will only lay weak punches into your hero; Karateka is tougher
and can both punch and kick with greater strength; finally the Evil Ninja is
the most difficult foe to defeat, as he/she has the same moves and weapons as
you, at their disposal.
To
fight back, your Ninja can punch and kick while standing, kneeling and jumping.
All your actions, including the deadly sword move are performed by holding the
joystick button down and moving the stick in a particular direction. For example,
holding down the fire button and pulling the joystick in the opposite direction
to which your Ninja is facing will throw the death star and dagger weapons.
As you progress through the levels you'll come across the glowing idols, which when collected will increase your health to maximum. The highest level 'Akuma's Chamber', can only be reached after six of the seven idols have been collected and once at this final screen you will find the last idol guarded by 5 opponents. However, your mission doesn't end there, as once you are in possession of all seven idols, you'll need to return to 'Torii in the Sea' before the game is over. Upon your escape through the levels, you'll find all the previously defeated enemies have returned, though most can be avoided by simply slipping quickly through the holes in the floor.
Overall Ninja is
a great, but flawed game. Due to the randomness of the idol locations, some
games can start with three idols in the very first few locations. This may seem
like a lucky break, but you'll soon realise the lost benefit of these health
replenishing items later in the game. The controls are responsive and the graphical
animation is good with funky oriental music that only plays on screens that
are free of enemies, allowing you to concentrate on the task at hand.
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"Hiii-yaaa!"
(8/10) |
 Main Music |
Game Over Music |
GAME
TIPS
Throw the spinning death stars and daggers while you are still at a distance
from your opponent/s. This way you can deplete their health before moving in
for close combat.
The throwing dagger will only damage an opponent if the blade makes contact (only 37.5% of the time) and is totally useless when it strikes handle-side round.
Three spinning death stars will kill any one opponent and although a single star will do only a little damage, they are more reliable than the daggers. When you begin the game, collect all the death stars and leave any remaining daggers. Continually exit and return to the same location until the dagger/s become death stars.
The Evil Ninja is
definitely the hardest challenge as he has exactly the same abilities as you
do, including the deadly sword attack and the use of throwing daggers and spinning
death stars. Be careful when using either of these two weapons at this enemy
as they can be turned against you!
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OPPONENTS
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NINJA
ACTION!
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 Normal Punch |
 Jump Punch |
 Low Punch |
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 Body Kick |
 High Kick |
 Low Body Kick |
Other Versions:
Ninja was also released on a number of other computer formats including graphically superior versions on the Atari ST and Amiga, under the new title Ninja Mission.
 NINJA MISSION (Atari ST) |
The Ninja of Ancient
Japan
(A History of the Japanese Ninja)
www.cisl.ie/mars/rory/ninja.htm
Ninjai - The Little
Ninja
(Excellent Flash cartoon - voted #1 Film of 2003 by Atomfilms)
www.ninjai.com
The Official Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles website
(Information and pictures on the Comics, TV Series, Films, Toys and Games)
www.ninjaturtles.com
The Last Ninja
Archives
(The Last Ninja series of computer games, which unfortunately didn't make it
to the Atari 8-bit)
lastninja.lemon64.com
