16 days 16 bit: Day 5 - The Ninja Warriors

16 days 16 bit

My name is Chris, I'm an editor at PC Games and I use the current Saure-Gurken time to catch up on games I missed back then, to return to favorites from the past and to give games that were too crazy for me a second chance. I let you share my experiences with 16 days 16 bit.

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Day 5: The Ninja Warriors

When I think of my favorite games of the 90s, I quickly end up with the genre of brawlers. No matter if Final Fight, Streets of Rage, Cadillacs & Dinosaurs or Turtles in Time - I love sidescroll beating! However, I was still a school kid at the time and didn't read gaming magazines. I chose games by name or cover in the shop or in the brochure from Theo-Kranz-Versand. Some brawler pearls have escaped me and now have to be made up for. This also includes The Ninja Warriors developed by Natsume.

The title takes place in a dystopian future in which the mutant cyborg Banglar, the tyrant, rules the world with the help of his brainwashed army of soldiers and mutants. Since the resistance itself does not succeed against the overpowering regime, they build three ninja cyborgs that are supposed to bring down Banglar and his hordes in a suicide squad. Of course, the player takes over one of these ninja cyborgs.

16 days 16 bit: Day 5 - The Ninja Warriors (4) Source: PC Games As a fan of Cannon trash films, I already put Ninja Warriors in my fat nerd after explaining the story. Heart. More 90s nonsense is simply not possible! However, I have to adjust the gameplay a bit, because Ninja Warriors does some things differently than most of the Brawlers from that time. In contrast to Streets of Rage or Turtles in Time, you cannot orientate yourself up and down, but only walk from left to right. So it is not that easy to avoid enemy attacks.

Although only three action buttons are used, it is more important to use the different abilities of the characters. With Kamaitachi or Kunoichi, for example, you can perform a kick attack over a longer distance. However, I mainly opt for the somewhat slower, but powerful ninja, as its special attacks are best for me. So I can briefly fly into the air, dash forward with the jet pack or perform a jump-stomp attack.

Another special feature of Ninja Warriors is the special display directly below the life energy. In contrast to many other sidescroll beat-em-ups, carrying out a special attack is not tied to life energy. If the special bar is full, you can let go of a devastating attack. The bar fills up again if you are not hit and deal properly yourself. If the bar is full, it will not be reset by a simple hit, but it will be reset if you are knocked to the ground.

Since the opponents often come from both sides and grapple with you, the special attack should be tactical use it wisely. After all, the boss's bar should be full again.

The normal ranks of opponents range from soldiers to ninjas, snipers and monkey fighters with blades to huge bugs. But above all the bosses convince with varied design and heat you up on the normal of two levels of difficulty.

16 days 16 bit: Day 5 - The Ninja Warriors (8) Source: PC Games Although Ninja Warriors is sometimes quite tough, it never really gets unfair. You only have one life, but you have infinite continues and there are one or even two checkpoints depending on the level. Nevertheless, the title remains crisper than, for example, a Streets of Rage. Sometimes it is better to memorize the sections.

I really liked my first foray into the world of Ninja Warriors. I have to admit that I haven't quite played it through because at some point my patience ran out, but just like I've been doing it for years with my brawler favorites Streets of Rage 2 or Turtles in Time, I always become Ninja Warriors come back.

The sound is great, the game looks good, the action is fun, the presentation is great, and it's just wonderfully satisfying to pound pixel bastards in the face. If you are still looking for a cool beater for your retro collection, you should get Ninja Warriors. For everyone else, the remake The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors has been available for PS4 and Nintendo Switch for some time. But first I'll play through the original.