The Ninja Warriors

In the black-and- blue tradition of side-scrolling gang-beaters like Final Fight and Double Dragon, The Ninja Warriors struts out of the arcades and into the SNES. This bruising beat-em-up has plenty of style and enough substance, but it drops its guard slightly in the challenge department.

Ninja Robotics

A mean little tyrant named Banglar has a once-great nation in his grip, but a determined band of underground freedom fighters is battling desperately to free their homeland. The aces up their sleeves are three untested androids, which have been programmed with the skills of ancient ninja warriors.

As you might surmise, the battlin' 'bots are the stars of the Ninja Warriors show. As with most Final Fight-style games, these hard-wired heroes come in three predictable sizes -- large, medium, and small. Ninja's big and slow, but he packs a powerful punch and nasty nunchakus. Kunoichi's a fast, fierce female with two hand-held daggers. Kumaitachi's all blades and business.

Cut and Waste

The Ninja Warriors borrows a little from fighting games by offering multiple controllable techniques and some defensive strategy. Each robowarrior has an imaginative assortment of 11 individual moves, and all three 'bots share a crouching block that you can turn into a too-cool escape jump. This block-and-flip counter helps set Warriors apart from one-dimensional, offense-only beat-em-ups.

The moves require concentrated practice, but the controls handle all the moves, save one, with ease. The problematic move is called the Quick Cut, which is a great-looking, powerful "cut" but it isn't very quick. To pull it off you must press Y and Up simultaneously like a maniac, while the on-screen maniacs manhandle you.

Warrior Worriers

Warriors whips up a wicked workout, but the long-term challenge is strictly intermediate. The regular rats are an okay mix of the usual suspects -- knife-wielding troops and eye-patched punchers -- and a few unusual characters (monkey-men with metal claws and fire-breathers). The bosses are the best of the bad bunch, especially the impossibly tough bruiser twins and the crafty, invisible boss.

Banglar's gang fights dirty, and the final stage will put you in a murderous mood. However, fighting fanatics should blow this sucker out in a couple of full days... or take a refresher course at the Double Dragon Dojo. Unlimited continues give you more than a fighting chance.

Looks Sharp

If the challenge leaves you cool, the graphics and sound help this game earn a spot in your collection. The character sprites have style, and they look ultraclean. The animation is smooooooth!

As with most beat-em-ups, the combatants approach each other on a direct line, but at least they don't display the moony Moonwalk characteristic of most games in this league. Veteran creep- carvers will dig Kumaitachi's awesome-looking spinning scythe attack! The sounds play hard and work hard with plenty of grunts, groans, and body shots.

Ninjitsu for a New Age

Ninja Warriors is great, but it falls one difficulty level short of GREAT! It takes a lickin' and keeps on kickin' — booty! Not bad for a bunch of 'bots.

Now, you should know us by now. We never make sweeping statements. We think about what we're going to say before we say it. You could say we care. Which we do. But, we'll make an exception this time. Side-scrolling beat-'em-ups don't work on home systems. Fact.

It's a sad state of affairs. Final Fight Tough further proved it last month. Walking from left to right and kicking seven shades out of models from the Freemans Catalogue just doesn't cut the mustard anymore. In the arcades, sure, they're as popular as ever, but that's because you can spend a spare few minutes on them then move onto something else. At home, you want some longevity from your games. And, unfortunately, Ninja Warriors – like Final Fight Tough, last month – is sadly lacking in that department.

To be fair, Ninja Warriors is better than FFT. Technically it's far superior and both difficulty settings offer a substantial challenge. And, thankfully, the enemies look like enemies. Not extras from Carry On Camping. And the intro story is nicely presented as well.

But, too quickly, Ninja Warriors becomes tedious. And it's got nothing to do with the programming. It's just that the genre lacks depth. It lacks originality. And, most of all, it lacks interest.

It seems like you can't keep a good games company down. One minute Titus are busy emulating the dodo and the next they're trying to compete with The Beatles. Not that we're complaining, mind you. In fact, we positively love it. Especially if it means we get to review games like last month's Prehistorik Man, which this month, sees the light of day on the Game Boy.

The conversion is a fairly faithful one. The graphics are still excellent – and the main sprite still sizzles with originality – and there's plenty of barmy sound effects and jolly tunes to keep you whistling. The levels are set out differently but have retained their size and difficulty and the puzzle element of the game hasn't been forgotten either.

There are, however, a number of changes. The Prehistorik Man himself no longer has a roar that acts as a smart bomb – which is a pity as that was one of the cleverest features of the SNES version – and his movement can sometimes become very slow. Too often he seems like he is moonwalking and this can become annoying if you're trying to run away from something and keep getting caught. And whereas the SNES version completely avoided those dreaded leaps of faith, this version has them in abundance.

Which is a shame because, overall, Prehistorik Man has a lot of potential. It's just that on the Game Boy it loses that certain spark of brilliance that set it apart from its competitors on the SNES.

You might recall this one being in the arcades a long time ago-and you're right! Ninja warriors is about to make its debut on the Sega CD! The president has been deposed! Now, a militaristic organization that controls all forms of underground scum is in control. So now, the resistance movement is trying many options, and their best one is to send two android ninjas into the heart of the main base and take out the criminal movement for the good of all!

Even though the arcade was viewed on either a two or three screen view, the CD version is set in a wide-screen format so that the action is not hindered. You can change between the arranged and the arcade music, depending on your preferences. As you would be expecting, there are digitized scenes with live actor voices that will detail the plot out. All fans f of the arcade rejoice!

Straight out of ancient Japan, ninjas return as bio-mechanic cyborgs in the modern day to take on an evil organization bent on world domination. They must use strength and skill to survive the many rigors. As the sequel to the arcade hit, this new version gives you the choice of three ninjas, a hooded semi-cybernetic guy, a blonde-haired Kunoichi woman and an almost fully mechanized being. This cart contains some of the best graphics around. The challenge of all the levels and nasty enemies make this game much better than the arcade original. With lots of moves, and big characters, this wicked game is a real treat.

Taito has quite possibly produced the most exciting, intense and lethal action game for the Super NES. Weighing in at a hefty 12 Megs, this eight stage adventure lets you choose from one of three cybernetic attack robots, who have been programmed to defeat Banglar and his massive military machine. Each one features a unique set of four fighting and finishing moves! You'll need all their speed and power to counter the wide array of defenses that protect Banglar from the oppressed masses. Prepare for an adventure with fantastic animation, detailed backgrounds, impressive music and solid sound effects.

THE GOOD

Good graphics, killer sound and music, great game play, awesome characters, huge Bosses, etc...

THE BAD

The only bad part about this cart is that it is not a two-player simultaneous game.

THE UGLY

Check out the mug on Banglar. It must be pretty easy for him to get dates. STUD!

Another arcade translation is coming to the Mega CD! The Ninja Warriors puts you in control of robotic ninjas as they battle hordes of enemy military forces! Although using three screens isn't possible, the game will be done in a wide-screen style to mimic the arcade!

Having the same musical tracks and voice, this Mega CD version is an absolute perfect translation. Recommended!

The Ninja Warriors was a side-scrolling arcade game about ninjas. The game was created by Taito and released in 1988 and has 3 contiguous screens (one screen in the usual place for an arcade game, and two more screens in the cabinet below, reflected by mirrors on either side of the middle screen) which created the effect of a single, "triple-wide" screen, depicting ninjas.