The Ninja Warriors (1987 video game)
{{short description|1987 video game}}
{{redirect|Ninja Warriors|the 1994 Super NES game|The Ninja Warriors (1994 video game)|the TV series known as Ninja Warrior|Sasuke (TV series)|the martial arts discipline|Ninja|other uses|Ninja Warrior (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox video game
|title = The Ninja Warriors
|image =The Ninja Warriors arcade flyer.jpg
|caption =Arcade flyer
|developer = Taito
|publisher = {{vgrelease|JP|Taito|NA|Romstar{{cite book |last1=Akagi |first1=Masumi |title=アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005) |trans-title=Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971-2005) |date=13 October 2006 |publisher=Amusement News Agency |language=ja |location=Japan |isbn=978-4990251215 |pages=136–7 |url=https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005/page/n137/mode/2up}}|EU|Electrocoin{{cite web |title=Video Game Flyers: Ninja Warriors, The, Electrocoin (UK) |url=https://flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=wide-flyer&db=videodb&id=4223&image=1 |website=The Arcade Flyer Archive |access-date=12 April 2021}}}}
|producer = Yojiro Suekado
|director = Masaki Ogata
|programmer = Daisuke Sasaki
|designer = Hiroshi Tsujino
Yukiwo Ishikawa
|writer = Hiroshi Tsujino
|composer = Hisayoshi Ogura
|platforms = Arcade, Amiga, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, PC Engine, Mega-CD, Sega Genesis Mini 2
|released = {{vgrelease|JP|Late 1987|EU|January 1988|NA|March 1988}}
|genre = Beat 'em up
|modes = Single-player
}}
{{nihongo|The Ninja Warriors|ニンジャウォーリアーズ}} is a side-scrolling beat 'em up video game developed and released by Taito in 1987. The original arcade game situated one display in between projected images of two other displays, creating the appearance of a triple-wide screen. Ports were released for home systems including the Amiga, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, PC Engine, and Sega Mega-CD.
A sequel with the same name, The Ninja Warriors, was developed by Natsume and released in 1994, followed by its enhanced remaster The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors released in 2019.
Gameplay
File:ARC The Ninja Warriors.png
The Ninja Warriors presents side-scrolling hand-to-hand combat. Players take control of Kunoichi (player 1) or Ninja (player 2) and fight wave after wave of Banglar forces across six levels. Button 1 attacks with a short-range kunai slash, while button 2 fires long-range shurikens that are limited in supply.
Plot
The game is set in a dystopian future where Banglar, the President of the United States in 1993, has declared martial law nationwide.[http://www.worldofspectrum.org/showmag.cgi?mag=Crash/Issue72/Pages/Crash7200052.jpg Crash, Issue 1.90, page 52.] A group of anarchist scientists led by Mulk decide that it is time to revolt against the government. Knowing full well that fighting the military themselves would be suicidal, the scientists create two powerful androids to carry out the mission for them. The robots, code-named "Kunoichi" (red female) and "Ninja" (blue male), are sent by the scientists to end Banglar's tyranny once and for all.
Development and release
The game's arcade cabinet is unique due to its three 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 4:1 screen akin to the Polyvision fomat used in Abel Gance's Napoléon (1927), depicting ninjas.[http://www.worldofspectrum.org/showmag.cgi?mag=YourSinclair/Issue49/Pages/YourSinclair4900091.jpg Your Sinclair, Issue 1.90, page 91.] The same cabinet was also used for Darius and Darius II and Konami used a similar format for its X-Men arcade release (six players). The music was composed by Hisayoshi Ogura and Taito's in-house band Zuntata. Pony Canyon and Scitron released the two soundtracks for the game in 1988 and 1991,{{cite web|url=http://vgmdb.net/album/1239 |title=D28B-0001 | The Ninjawarriors -G.S.M. TAITO 1 |publisher=VGMdb |accessdate=2013-10-20}}{{cite web|url=http://vgmdb.net/album/740 |title=PCCB-00074 | The Ninja Warriors |publisher=VGMdb |accessdate=2013-10-20}} while further arrangements were released in 1993{{cite web|url=http://vgmdb.net/album/1142 |title=PCCB-00116 | Ninja Warriors Complete Album |publisher=VGMdb |accessdate=2013-10-20}} and by Zuntata Records and Taito in 1988 and 2009.{{cite web|url=http://vgmdb.net/album/837 |title=ZTTL-0024 | Z-REPLICA Vol.1 DADDY MULK THE NINJA WARRIORS |publisher=VGMdb |accessdate=2013-10-20}}{{cite web|url=http://vgmdb.net/album/11843 |title=ZTTL-9016 | The Ninja Warriors arrange sound tracks |publisher=VGMdb |accessdate=2013-10-20}}
The game was ported to various personal computers: the Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, Sinclair Spectrum 128K, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC. Home console versions of the game were released exclusively in Japan for the NEC PC Engine and Sega Mega-CD.
A version for the Arcade Archives series on the PlayStation 4 was released in September 2017.{{cite web|url=https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP0571-CUSA05116_00-HAMPRDC000000001|title=Playstation Store -- Arcade Archives: The Ninja Warrior|accessdate=2018-09-05}} A new port based on the 1994 version titled The Ninja Warriors: Once Again was released in 2019 on Nintendo Switch. It features new artwork and two new playable characters.{{cite web|url=https://gematsu.com/2018/09/ninja-warriors-again-for-switch-officially-titled-the-ninja-warriors-once-again-launches-worldwide-in-2019|title=Ninja Warriors Again for Switch officially titled The Ninja Warriors: Once Again, launches worldwide in 2019|date=5 September 2018 |accessdate=2018-09-05}}
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Reception
{{Video game reviews
| ARC = true
| AMI = true
| AST = true
| C64 = true
| PC = true
| SMD = true
| TG16 = true
| ZX = true
| ACE_AST = 830ACE 27 (December 1989).
| AmAction_AMI = 77%Amiga Action 5 (February 1990).
| AmComputing_AMI = 93%Amiga Computing Vol 2 No 9 (February 1990).
| AmFormat_AMI = 88%Amiga Format 6 (January 1990).
| CVG_TG16 = 84%Computer + Video Games 94 (September 1989).
| TGM_AMI = 90%The Games Machine 26 (January 1990).
| TGM_PC = 58% (CPC)The Games Machine 28 (March 1990).
| Z64_AMI = 82%Zzap 57 (January 1990).
| rev1 = Commodore User
| rev1_AMI = 92%CU Amiga-64 (December 1989).
| rev2 = Mega
| rev2_SMD = 15% (CD)Mega 11 (August 1993), page 48.
}}
In Japan, Game Machine listed The Ninja Warriors on their April 1, 1988 issue as being the third most-successful upright arcade unit of the month.{{cite magazine|title=Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - アップライト, コックピット型TVゲーム機 (Upright/Cockpit Videos)|magazine=Game Machine|issue=329|publisher=Amusement Press, Inc.|date=1 April 1988|page=25|lang=ja}} It went on to become Japan's eighth highest-grossing dedicated arcade game of 1988.{{cite magazine |title=Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25: '88 / "Game of the Year '88" By Game Machine |magazine=Game Machine |issue=348 |publisher=Amusement Press, Inc. |date=15 January 1989 |pages=10–1, 26 |lang=ja |url=https://onitama.tv/gamemachine/pdf/19890115p.pdf#page=6}}
The arcade game received positive reviews. Clare Edgeley of Computer and Video Games reviewed the arcade game upon release, noted that it was one of several popular "martial arts simulation" games at London's Amusement Trades Exhibition International (ATEI) show in January 1988, along with Sega's Shinobi and Data East's Vigilante; she said it plays similarly to Shinobi, but that Ninja Warriors has a three-monitor cabinet like Darius (1986). She praised the large screen, "great" graphics, and fun gameplay, but said Shinobi and Vigilante were more challenging.{{cite magazine |title=Arcade Action |magazine=Computer and Video Games |date=February 1988 |issue=77 (March 1988) |pages=90–3 |url=https://archive.org/details/cvg-magazine-077/page/n89/mode/2up}} Nick Kelly of Commodore User rated it 8 out of 10, also noting similarities to Shinobi, but preferring Ninja Warriors for its graphics and large screen. He said it was highly playable, "gorgeous looking" and technologically "a successful step" forwards.{{cite magazine |last=Kelly |first=Nick |title=Arcades: Ninja Warriors |magazine=Commodore User |date=6 May 1988 |issue=54 (June 1988) |url=https://www.solvalou.com/arcade/reviews/268/244}} Your Sinclair gave it a brief positive review, recommending readers to look "out for it."{{cite magazine |last1=Smith |first1=Andy |title=Extended Play... The Ninja Warriors (Taito) |magazine=Your Sinclair |date=11 August 1988 |issue=33 (September 1988) |page=27 |url=https://www.solvalou.com/arcade/reviews/43/244}}
The home conversions also received mostly positive reviews, especially its 16-bit versions such as the ones for the Amiga. In 2010, CraveOnline featured the game (the arcade, SNES and Sega CD versions) on the list of top ten ninja games of all time.[http://www.craveonline.com/gaming/article/top-10-ninja-games-of-all-time-70885/3 Top 10 Ninja Games Of All Time] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110128161834/http://www.craveonline.com/gaming/article/top-10-ninja-games-of-all-time-70885/3 |date=2011-01-28 }}, CraveOnline, September 18, 2008. In 2008, GamesRadar featured Kunoichi as the best assassin in the video game history: "She cut a memorable figure, rocking the huge blonde ponytail and bright-red shozoku. On top of that, she wasn't just a ninja - she was a ninja Terminator. It's hard to imagine a better assassin than that".[http://www.gamesradar.com/xbox360/f/the-top-7-assassins/a-20080205202336643044/g-2007012414300502054/p-4 The Top 7... Assassins] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616011018/http://www.gamesradar.com/xbox360/f/the-top-7-assassins/a-20080205202336643044/g-2007012414300502054/p-4 |date=2011-06-16 }}, GamesRadar, 2008-02-05. In 2006, Akiman drew her as his girl of the month for the Japanese magazine GAMAGA.{{cite web|url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v729/futaenokiwami/kunoichi.jpg |title=Scan of the page in question |accessdate=2013-10-20}} Robert Workman of GameZone included Ninja and Kunoichi on his 2011 list of "best video game ninjas": "These guys are due for a return – and hopefully a better hyped one than Kage got a few years ago on DS?"{{cite web|last=Workman |first=Robert |url=http://www.gamezone.com/originals/2011/11/20/favorite-video-game-ninjas |title=The Best Of: Video Game Ninjas |publisher=GameZone |date=2011-11-20 |accessdate=2014-06-17}}
Legacy
{{main|The Ninja Warriors (1994 video game)}}
Natsume developed a 1994 follow-up for the Super NES also known as The Ninja Warriors, or The Ninja Warriors Again in Japan. An enhanced remaster of the Super NES game for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 was released in 2019.
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References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{KLOV game|id=8892|name=The Ninja Warriors}}
- {{moby game|id=/ninja-warriors|name=The Ninja Warriors}}
- {{WoS game|id=0003442|name=The Ninja Warriors}}
- The Ninja Warriors - Lost In Translation @ ExoticA
- [http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/ninjawarriors/ninjawarriors.htm Hardcore Gaming 101: The Ninja Warriors]
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Category:Arcade video games with multi-monitor setups
Category:Dystopian video games
Category:Nintendo Switch games
Category:Video games about ninja
Category:Side-scrolling beat 'em ups
Category:Square Enix franchises
Category:Video games developed in Japan
Category:Video games featuring female protagonists
Category:Video games scored by Hisayoshi Ogura
Category:Video games set in 1993
Category:Virtual Console games
Category:Arcade Archives games