Ninja Spirit
System: TG-16
Release Date: October 1990
Developer: Irem
Publisher: NEC
Genre: Action
Fight your way through enemies and avenge your father in Ninja Spirit! Evil ninjas have killed your father right before your eyes. Luckily, you’ve been trained in the art of ninjitsu and you’re pissed. Travel through seven levels killing every enemy in your path, growing strong, and gaining revenge. Do you have what it takes?
You take the role of Moonlight. You come equipped with four ninja weapons, each with a particular strength. Each weapon can be upgraded for greater range or more projectiles. The sword is short range and can deflect incoming projectiles. The throwing knife is great for rapid fire attacks. The bomb has a ton of explosive power. The sickle and chain has a massive range and can deflect enemy knives and bombs, when powered up, you can swing it around, as well. You can also gain two shadows that follow your movement and attack when you do. Two shadows with powered up throwing knives is completely unfair and my go to weapon.
Levels are straight forward and require you to run to the right or jump to the top of the stage to encounter a boss enemy. If you choose PC Engine mode at the beginning, you get five hit points. Most attacks take one or two hit points away, but some enemies can still kill you in one hit. Arcade mode is a one hit death always, but I didn’t bother playing it that way. Orange ninjas drop the items you need for upgrading weapons and gaining spirits, but also drop screen clearing items and the wheel of fire that makes your body a weapon.
Having to chuck bombs to kill enemies on the other side of a ceiling or floor is an interesting mechanic to have to master. Another level has you moving quickly to avoid a falling ceiling. You have to master climbing the trees and taking out enemies while you’re at it. Some enemies come equipped with guns that can put a quick end to your day if you’re not careful. Having to jump up a cliff face isn’t out of the question.
I found very little problem with the bosses of each stage. If I bombarded them with throwing knives or bombs, they went down pretty quickly. The lousiest part of the game came right before the final boss when you had to jump down a chasm full of ninjas that if you touched, would kill you instantly. Luckily, the final boss was a pushover with bombs, giving us our revenge on who killed poor ol’ dad.
Graphics: 3.0
Everything looks very detailed and explosions look extra nice. There is some slowdown when lots of effects are on screen at once.
Sound: 3.0
Music and sounds complement the action and aren’t overpowering or annoying.
Gameplay: 3.5
Controls are pretty tight, you have options on what your favorite weapon will be, it’s pretty well done.
Difficulty: 3.5
Choose your difficulty and become a ninja master with enough practice. Dying loses all of your upgrades, so stay alive!
Fun Factor: 3.5
I liked playing through this one a lot. I could see myself coming back for a quick enjoyable playthrough.
Overall Rating: 3.3
Ninja Spirit earns a B+. I like when I come across a fun game I’ve never been exposed to. I’ll bet TurboGrafx die hards already know all about it, but if you don’t, now you do.