Ninja Spirit
Reviewed by Inkhands
Moonlight's father has just been murdered right before his
very eyes. So, he does what other ninjas seem to do in these
types of situations - he seeks revenge against the culprit.
First he must make his way through seven side scrolling
levels, filled with an incredibly high amount of other
ninjas as enemies. Sometimes I just have to wonder where
they are all coming from. Possibly a convention was being
held nearby... The other types of enemies include wolves,
monks, fireballs, ogres, and more.
Moonlight has four types of weapons. He has a sword, that he
can attack with in all directions, including overhead and
below wherever he is standing. He has bombs and knives that
he can throw. He also has a sickle and chain that he can
throw out for a reasonable length, and it will pull back
automatically. As you play the game, you can pick up items
after killing enemies, which will increase the strength of
the weapon you are currently using. You can also pick up
other items that will either kill everything on screen, put
a flaming fire field around your body, or grant you a ninja spirit.
You can only have two ninja spirits at once. They basically
follow you around and do whatever you do. They jump when you
do and they attack when you do. They also use the same
weapon that you are using. You can usually position these
spirits by moving around Moonlight and it gives you a better
chance against the final stage enemies. The regular enemies
of the game are rather small. There is an occasional
exception, such as the guy with the sword that looks like
William Shakespeare. However, the main enemies are usually
incredibly large. Especially, the one at the end of the
first level. He looks like a large statue that rises out of
the ground.
There are basically two modes in this game. You can play the
Arcade mode. In this mode, anything that hits you will kill
you instantly. The other mode is the default mode and you
have 5 energy units in this mode. Each hit you take drops
the number of units you have by one. When it gets to zero
you lose a life. Some of the regular enemies can kill you
with one hit, no matter how many energy units you have. If
one of your ninja spirits are hit, but you aren't, you won't
lose any life. The only one that can take damage is
Moonlight himself. You get three lives in either mode and
you have continues that allow you to begin on the stage you
left off on.
I wish I had Moonlight's vertical jump. He can take off and
jump nearly the full height of the screen and he can jump
for distance as well. The control is very good in this game.
You hit Button II to jump, Button I to attack, and the
Select button to change between your weapons. You can press
down to attack down to attack down with your sword and you
can also swing your sword around in the air over Moonlight
by pressing Up and attack. You can position the spirits by
jumping, because they will stay in the air, unless you move
Moonlight. Moving Moonlight will better position the spirts
while they remain floating around in the air. Plus, if you
mess up, all you have to do is jump again and then try to
reposition them.
The challenge isn't exactly high in this game. Most of the
levels are fairly short. Some of the final enemies are
difficult though. It's mostly just is a matter of using the
correct weapons and placing your spirits in key positions.
The game can be played with two players, but it's an
alternating style of play. The arcade mode is harder than
the regular mode, naturally, because you die if you are hit
only once. Some of those enemies will kill you instantly, as
I already said. The monk in the first stage looks rather
insane and if he hits you with the stick he likes to throw,
Moonlight will turn into a black shadow and die. The
Shakespeare look a likes on the third stage also has a large
sword to swing around and kill you instantly with. The first
stage enemy is fairly easy, even though you have to
encounter ninja popping up out of the ground first. Those
ninjas are easy, but I don't know where they came from. The
second enemy boss is an ogre with a couple of axes. If he
hits you at all, you die. He likes to jump off the tree and
then back on it. He usually moves very quickly and in a
straight path, but he does it frequently. Overall, this is
still not a very challenging game.
Personally, I love the graphics in this game. The
backgrounds are usually really nice looking, but I was
particularly impressed with the foregrounds. Moonlight
starts out in the ruins of an old temple. The building is
very worn down, but perhaps that's why I like the ancient
look this stage has. The second stage is within a forest and
it features some very large trees for Moonlight to jump
around on. These all have a night looking backdrop. The
third stage features the moon though and very desolate
looking trees. Some of the other stages are set underground,
a cliff, and a cave.
Before you begin the game you see a force come from the sky,
kill Moonlight's father, and a white wolf, or something
similar, runs to the dead man and howls. It has the same
background as the one in stage three. The wolves you
actually encounter as enemies are gray and they can't seem
to be still, because they jump around a lot and in all
directions. Moonlight's spirits look like he does, which
would be small, with brown clothes, a green vest, and green
sandals. His hair is brownish red and tied back into one of
those ponytail things, very practical for a ninja on the
move. His enemies are usually dressed in orange or green.
Overall, the game features some nice looking visuals.
The music is as equally pleasant to listen to as the
graphics are to look at. Before you begin each stage you
hear a couple of notes, it has an Oriental sound to it, but
for some reason it reminds me of something I've heard on an
episode of Charlie's Angels. The other music within the
levels are tense, mysterious, and very moody. The title
theme is also really well done. The sound effects are mostly
just a lot of swinging swords around and killing enemies.
You do hear the wolf at the very beginning of the game and
it's a very pained howl. Moonlight also howls when he dies
and this accompanied by some very well done music, that also
has some Oriental theme to it as well. Overall, the sound is
very much a high point of the game.
The game has good replay value, because it's so fast paced
and fun to play. Of course you do have the two different
modes, though it's the same game, but one is decidedly more
difficult. The game features some really nice visual and
audio aspects as well. There are a good number of video
games that feature ninjas as the protagonist, but none of
them I have played has ever been as fun to play as this one.
Plus, if I could jump like he did, I wouldn't mind if my
name was Moonlight. This game is on the edge of me giving it
a 10, but I'll just give it a 9, since I've set my standards
higher for what games I actually give a 10. Overall, an
action game that is not to be missed. It's a shame it
probably will be though...
Graphics - 9/10
Sound - 9/10
Control - 8/10
Challenge - 6/10
Appeal - 9/10
Game Play - 9/10
Replay Value - 7/10
Overall: 9 out of 10
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