How spirited about Ninja Spirit are you?

[grolt]

I've been sampling a few of the new games I've been getting on the system, but today went full in to finish a couple great ones. The first was NINJA SPIRIT.  What a blast that game was, with just the right difficulty spike.  I probably should have read the manual first, but I basically got to the second last level without even using any weapon other than the default sword.  Pretty cool how there were the other 3 weapons, and how each one had a different strategy and use.  There was an amazing sense of freedom in the game, and it was a ton of fun being able to jump a good 10 times your height (SEGA did this a few years earlier with the similarly fun KUNG FU KID) as you eviscerated everything on the screen.  Getting the two spirits to fight along with you was impressive, although you see the limitations of the system with all the slow down when multiple baddies are on screen at the same time.

I'd love to see a sequel or a remake to this game on a newer console that could expand on the spirit idea and have up to say 4-8 spirits on screen at once to really make things frenzied.  My only major complaint (other than the beyond frustrating falling ninja pit before the last boss) is that the game is a little short.  I beat the game in a little over an hour, and I'm not all that good at video games.  The second level boss actually gave me a lot more difficulty than the last one, as well.  The collision detection on those bigger guys in the later levels with the long swords was pretty frustrating, too.  You'd die and the sword hadn't even come close to hitting you.  Still, I had a ton of fun with this, and you really feel like a pro by the end of it, slashing and deflecting everything in sight from all directions with your weapons.

The endless continues (and the fact that even at a continue you'll still start at a mid-level checkpoint close to where you died) and limited amount of levels make the game easy, but it's still a game I can see myself picking up for a quick playthrough every now and again.

There hadn't been a thread dedicated to the game in years, so I figured I'd fire up a new one to elicit some new reactions and opinions about Ye Olde Spirit of Ninja.  What do you think?


Question for any of you from the Far East...what does all the Kanji text say in between levels?  There's zero translation in the game.

[thesteve]

i beat it the first time i played, back about 92, and play through it again every year or 2
only complaint is it is too short

[escarioth]

played for the first time this year.
after watching the episode from retro game master

i found a copy and played until the end very good

[WoodyXP]

One of the best games on the system, IMO.  I prefer this version to the arcade.

[T2KFreeker]

Ninja Spirit is awesome. Easily one of the best Arcade Ports on the Turbografx 16, if not one of the best of it's era. It's so close to the arcade version, you are hard pressed to show me the differences. It was easily one of my favorites when I was a kid and still one of my favorites now. It's all good. I wish there were more games like it, actually. Just awesome. It ranks up there with R-Type as a great, almost Arcade Perfect port on the system.

[NightWolve]

Yeah, it is a great Arcade port. I was happy it was apart of my Turbo Duo's 5 pack-in games bonus which I scored for $99 a year or so after TTi's going-out-of-business sale. I played it many times! The system could've used more games like it to showcase its full potential!

An aside, I believe the one pack-in HuCard varied, some got Ninja Spirit, others might've gotten Legendary Axe if I recall correctly. So all in all mine came with the 4-in-1 Gate of Thunder CD, Ys Book I & II CD, and Ninja Spirit and of course Ys Book I & II wound up changing me forever from the opening cinema with Alan Oppenheimer's narration to its blindingly awesome soundtrack, one of the greatest in videogame history! Gate of Thunder's soundtrack is just as awesome as well!

[johnnykonami]

My duo pack in card was Ninja Spirit, too.  I was waiting for the Duo to get released though, so I got it right as soon as it came out.  I wonder if the first batch was all Ninja Spirit.   I had heard some others got a different hu-card game.  Legendary Axe would have sucked for me because I still had it from my TG-16, plus somewhere along the like I acquired a second copy ala the "Keith Courage" effect.

Can you post the kanji screens?  I'm only from the far east coast (usa) but I don't remember them.  Probably stage titles?

[ccovell]

Yeah, the Japanese has the stage/boss names.

[SuperDeadite]

Great game, if you think it's too easy put it on arcade mode where it's one hit death.  Makes things a lot harder for sure.

The closest Irem ever got to a sequel was Ken-go.  It plays totally differently, but still a very good game.  Has never been ported to a console though.

[EmperorIng]

I agree in that it's a great game, although like all Irem games its bosses usually have a "kill me instantly" strategy... In R-Type there is at least a question of "where do I shoot the Force Pod?" whereas in Ninja Spirit it's "spam dynamite, lol."

The only thing it really lacks is the arcade version's far superior-sounding music; Irem games on the system sound all fairly weak to me compared to the originals.

One thing to point out is that the game drips with a wonderfully dark atmosphere, a highlight being the dire moonlit stage 3. The juxtaposition of the open sky and your impaired movement in the marsh is beautiful. The creepy surreality of the ninja pit also ranks high in my book - it's really like you are descending into ninja hell.

[o.pwuaioc]

The only thing it really lacks is the arcade version's far superior-sounding music; Irem games on the system sound all fairly weak to me compared to the originals.

Compared to the original? Yes. On its own. I enjoy it well enough.

One thing to point out is that the game drips with a wonderfully dark atmosphere, a highlight being the dire moonlit stage 3. The juxtaposition of the open sky and your impaired movement in the marsh is beautiful. The creepy surreality of the ninja pit also ranks high in my book - it's really like you are descending into ninja hell.

Man, seconded! I just love this atmosphere.  Great atmosphere is the difference between a great game and a masterpiece.

I also just love the "shoot em up" feel it gives off. More than any other platformer except run n guns, Ninja Spirit really captures the feeling of space shooters, but with swords and ancient Japan. I think it's that superior "firepower" that just destroys all. Although maybe it's ninja platformers in general, because Ninja Gaiden and Shinobi  kind of give off that feeling, too, but Ninja Spirit encapsulates it perfectly.

[ccovell]

The only thing it really lacks is the arcade version's far superior-sounding music; Irem games on the system sound all fairly weak to me compared to the originals.

No, way.  The weakest thing about almost all of IREM's '80s arcade games is the sound quality.  The compositions might be good, but every game has a horrible, metallic, table-saw like sound to it.

Ninja Spirit's sound quality on the PCE disappointed me at first, but I've grown to like it.

[lukester]

The only thing it really lacks is the arcade version's far superior-sounding music; Irem games on the system sound all fairly weak to me compared to the originals.

Compared to the original? Yes. On its own. I enjoy it well enough.

One thing to point out is that the game drips with a wonderfully dark atmosphere, a highlight being the dire moonlit stage 3. The juxtaposition of the open sky and your impaired movement in the marsh is beautiful. The creepy surreality of the ninja pit also ranks high in my book - it's really like you are descending into ninja hell.

Man, seconded! I just love this atmosphere.  Great atmosphere is the difference between a great game and a masterpiece.

I also just love the "shoot em up" feel it gives off. More than any other platformer except run n guns, Ninja Spirit really captures the feeling of space shooters, but with swords and ancient Japan. I think it's that superior "firepower" that just destroys all. Although maybe it's ninja platformers in general, because Ninja Gaiden and Shinobi  kind of give off that feeling, too, but Ninja Spirit encapsulates it perfectly.

Do you like Tonma? I play that one more than Ninja Spirit. It's an Irem platformer that is pretty similar in the shmup feel.

Ninja Spirit is an all-time classic though. I think I beat Arcade mode once, but the extra ending wasn't worth it.

[PolygonDaily]

I have this game, going to play it this weekend. Played it for 10 minutes and liked it, aiming to complete it soon

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

[esteban]

Great game, if you think it's too easy put it on arcade mode where it's one hit death.  Makes things a lot harder for sure.

The closest Irem ever got to a sequel was Ken-go.  It plays totally differently, but still a very good game.  Has never been ported to a console though.

Yes (I believe it is called "PCE Mode"), and you can find this setting on the same screen that has a music jukebox with 80's style green/red LED displaying channel output.

ProTip: STOP PLAYING ON THE DEFAULT PUSÉ MODÉ.