Ninja Crusaders
System: NES
Release Date: December 1990
Developer: NMK
Publisher: American Sammy
Genre: Action
There is only a certain warrior that can destroy the alien invaders… Ninja Crusaders! That’s right, aliens are back and they’ve overrun all of the globe’s fighting forces. All of them… except the ninja. Talon and Blade have been sent to disrupt the aliens and turn the tide of battle to allow humanity to reign supreme once again. There are ten levels to complete in order to save the world if you have what it takes.
The gameplay is a mix somewhere between Ninja Gaiden and Contra. You’re a ninja, of course, and have the ability to pick up four different weapons. The throwing star and chain and sickle both have range, but aren’t particularly strong. The bo staff and katana are both very strong, but have very short range. Your weapon choice is up to you, but if you collect the weapon icon you already have equipped, you gain an extra life. You can stock up on lives very easily in level 2-2.
You die if anything touches you and are sent back to the beginning of the level. This actually gets really annoying because enemies will jump on screen, shoot projectiles, or respawn when you don’t expect it, leading to death. You’ll die a lot as you learn the enemy patterns and placement in each level. Fortunately, levels are short, so once you learn them, it just takes a perfect run to get through.
There’s a special power that the ninja have and that is transformation into a beast based on the weapon equipped. By holding the B Button, you can achieve this ability. I did not use the transformation very much and don’t really see a whole lot of use from them. The throwing star transforms you into a fast moving tiger that attacks with claws. The bo staff transforms you into a hawk that can fly through the air, but not attack. The chain and sickle allows you to become an armored scorpion that moves slowly and attacks with a long tail, but still dies in one hit. The katana transforms you into a dragon that can fly and breath fire for great damage.
Each stage is split into two levels and at the end of the second is a boss battle. These turn out to be pretty easy if you have the bo or katana. Once you see the movement and attack of the boss, you can get close at the right spot and hit them four or five times to put them down. The only boss that brings difficulty is the final boss, because there are two forms that you have to hit many times each to kill. When you’re done, you get to start all over again from the beginning and try to rack up a high score.
Graphics: 2.0
One of the first things that stood out to me is how not up to date the graphics were. They don’t look bad, but they don’t look good, either.
Sound: 2.5
Music and sound effects are pretty decent, but they could be a lot better.
Gameplay: 3.0
Gameplay is pretty smooth and you have a lot of weapon and transformation options to get through the level your way.
Difficulty: 3.0
Levels are short, enemy placement can be learned quickly, earning lives can be exploited in the easy levels.
Fun Factor: 3.0
I had a decent time playing through this one.
Overall Rating: 2.7
Ninja Crusaders earns a B-. This is actually a pretty good game that I would recommend you give a chance to.