The Ninja Warriors is a single-player, side-scrolling beat 'em up, similar to Shinobi or Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja but widescreen format. The player can pick from the strong Ninja, the balanced Kunoichi, or the fast Kamaitachi. Each character is played in a different way and has its own set of moves: a combination of ground attacks, jumping attacks, and throws. They can also assume a defensive posture and charge a power bar that allows them to unleash a blast that attacks all enemies. Various objects can be picked up by the player's character and used as improvised weapons. The player will advance through eight levels fighting large numbers of enemies, often being stopped from advancing until all enemies on the screen are defeated. Enemies can approach the player from the left and right sides of the screen and have the ability to move off screen, while the player cannot. At the end of each level, as common in beat 'em up games, the player must defeat a boss. The North American and European versions of the game were censored (changes made to the original Japanese version include removal of the female ninja enemies and replacing them with clawed enemies wearing pink wardrobe, and the removal of the bright green blood entirely when Kunoichi and Kamaitachi attack). The European version, published by Titus Software, is also noticeably slower and easier than the other two. The game was notorious for its high difficulty.
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A classic beat em up with a banger soundtrack, a simple story but with a bittersweet ending, very nice graphics and a great design of the 3 main characters, my favorite being Ninja.
I feel like I like this game more than I should like (because, to be honest, it's aesthetic is fucking badass) but also it's gameplay is actually very decent, the 3 characters adapt to different playing styles and their controls, although at the beginning they may look a little out of the ordinary, they are simple and work well.
So, my only problem with this game is its difficulty: don't get me wrong, it is not a very difficult game, in fact, it is very permissive with its checkpoints when using a continue (which are infinite) but that makes me feel that many times after going through a complicated section and losing a lot of hp, the game forces you to die to use a continue and continue advancing with full hp (something that would be solved simply by offering ways to replenish life more often) Also, i don't know why (and this is probably a skill issue) but sometimes it's really hard to grab an enemy even if you're right next to him, it's quite frustating, because you can get stunlocked very easily (specially on some bosses that rely on their subordinates, the boss of stage 7 it's a nuisance because of that)
Anyways, highly recommended for a casual play or for the fans of the genre.
Until the ending. The final boss throws nearly every mechanic out and requires you to use the throw mechanic to hit a very specific point. It's unwieldy for direct aiming like you'd need, and so the final boss becomes a massive drain on the rest of the game.
That being said, it's still worth playing for a vibrant design sense, an invigorating soundtrack, and a beat em up system that rewards learning and persistence beyond most others released at the time. I truly recommend it, especially to genre obsessives.
