For those of you that grew up around the 80’s or 90’s, I have a question to ask you: what was up with y’all and ninjas back around this time? Seriously, there were so many pieces of media that came out around that time centered around ninjas, like with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, 3 Ninjas, Surf Ninjas, and when we get into video games, there was Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi, The Last Ninja, The Ninja Warriors, and much, MUCH more! I swear, it must’ve been like Ninja Mania back then, cause no matter where you turn, it was ninjas all over the place! Not to say that I don’t like ninjas, by the way, I just don’t understand why they were all the rage back then. But anyway, the connecting thread to this random tangent is that we are reviewing Mystic Warriors: Wrath of the Ninjas today.
I hadn’t known about this game for a while until I had heard that it was going to be ported to the Switch and PS4 in late 2023, making it the first time this game was EVER ported to any other system. That’s pretty cool, and not only that, but it was made by the same team who worked on Sunset Riders, so that already had me sold on this game based on that. Thankfully, it managed to live up to the high expectations that I went in with, because like with Sunset Riders, it is absolutely fantastic, not only providing that same fast-paced gameplay and fun that the previous title pulled off so well, but it manages to look and sound great, while doing several more neat things, at the same time.
The story is Generic Arcade Plot #1285, where the evil Skull Enterprise (wow, what a great name) is attempting to take over the world, so it is up to the five ninjas, Spyros, Keima, Kojiro, Brad, and Yuri, to take them on and save the world, which works well enough for the type of game this is, the graphics are almost the same as Sunset Riders in terms of quality, but there are plenty of improved animations, character and enemy designs, and even some extra scenes present that you wouldn’t typically see in an arcade game, so that was neat to witness, the music is pretty good, fitting the tone of the game well, as well as using the appropriate instruments and sounds that go with the settings that you travel through, the control is the same as Sunset Riders as well, and it works out pretty well here, and the gameplay is… also mostly what you would expect from Sunset Riders, but hey, that is certainly not a bad thing at all.
The game is a 2D run ‘n gun game, where you take control of one of the five ninjas available to choose from, take on a set of nine stages that take place in various locations and environments, take down as many enemy goons as you physically can with your unlimited supply of ninja stars, gather plenty of different point items, health items, and powerups to assist you along your journey, and take on plenty of different generic, yet enjoyable boss characters in some very fun fights. If you have played that other game I am mentioning way too much, then you know what you are getting into with this game, but to be fair, this gameplay style still manages to be fast, fun, and frantic, being extremely satisfying to shoot down many different foes with fully-powered-up weapons.
Not only that, but there are a small number of things that do make the game stand out somewhat in comparison to that other game. For starters, you now have a life bar, letting you take multiple hits before you end up dying, so that is pretty helpful to have. In addition, you have the orbs that you can collect throughout the stages, which will act as either a screen nuke attack, or a temporary shield that you can have to help you out with further threats. And finally, there is actually a complex story moment in this game in comparison to that other one…. and by that, I mean that they implement Plot Twist #46: having an ally/love interest/whatever sacrifice themselves for the greater good, but hey, at least it is more then what that other game had. That’s really all the new features that this game has to offer, and all of these do help to make the game that bit more fun and enjoyable. It also helps that the combat is still fun, the charm, animations, and crunchy-voice-acting are wonderful to experience, and it doesn’t last too long, which is definitely the best thing one of these games can do.
Once again, I didn’t find any real issues present in the game, and thankfully in this game, there is actually some variety in the themes of the levels, so that at least solves that problem from the original game. Of course though, not everybody could potentially get into this game like I could. Since this game is too similar to that of Sunset Riders, those who didn’t enjoy that game may not get into this one either, or they may consider this way too similar to that game to properly enjoy. Not to mention, it doesn’t really do anything new for the genre at this point, so if you are looking for a fascinating, new take on the run ‘n gun, you won’t get it here. Then again, these are all extremely nitpicky complaints, one that you and I don’t care about, but I am just pointing it out for GenericMarioEnjoyer743, or whatever random online who would complain about that.
Overall, despite its lack of major change, this still manages to be a fantastic run ‘n gun game from the early 90’s, one that is sure to satisfy any die-hard fans of the genre, and will provide a great time with friends for the time that it lasts. I would definitely recommend it for those who were big fans of Sunset Riders, as well as those who love run ‘n gun games in general, because this game should give you plenty to admire and experience if you were to give it a shot. And hey, since it has finally been ported to consoles, you have no excuse to not play it now if you are a fan of either of those things. Unless, I dunno, you have real life things to take care of, like hiding that dead body or whatever. That’s probably more important.
Game #473
I hadn’t known about this game for a while until I had heard that it was going to be ported to the Switch and PS4 in late 2023, making it the first time this game was EVER ported to any other system. That’s pretty cool, and not only that, but it was made by the same team who worked on Sunset Riders, so that already had me sold on this game based on that. Thankfully, it managed to live up to the high expectations that I went in with, because like with Sunset Riders, it is absolutely fantastic, not only providing that same fast-paced gameplay and fun that the previous title pulled off so well, but it manages to look and sound great, while doing several more neat things, at the same time.
The story is Generic Arcade Plot #1285, where the evil Skull Enterprise (wow, what a great name) is attempting to take over the world, so it is up to the five ninjas, Spyros, Keima, Kojiro, Brad, and Yuri, to take them on and save the world, which works well enough for the type of game this is, the graphics are almost the same as Sunset Riders in terms of quality, but there are plenty of improved animations, character and enemy designs, and even some extra scenes present that you wouldn’t typically see in an arcade game, so that was neat to witness, the music is pretty good, fitting the tone of the game well, as well as using the appropriate instruments and sounds that go with the settings that you travel through, the control is the same as Sunset Riders as well, and it works out pretty well here, and the gameplay is… also mostly what you would expect from Sunset Riders, but hey, that is certainly not a bad thing at all.
The game is a 2D run ‘n gun game, where you take control of one of the five ninjas available to choose from, take on a set of nine stages that take place in various locations and environments, take down as many enemy goons as you physically can with your unlimited supply of ninja stars, gather plenty of different point items, health items, and powerups to assist you along your journey, and take on plenty of different generic, yet enjoyable boss characters in some very fun fights. If you have played that other game I am mentioning way too much, then you know what you are getting into with this game, but to be fair, this gameplay style still manages to be fast, fun, and frantic, being extremely satisfying to shoot down many different foes with fully-powered-up weapons.
Not only that, but there are a small number of things that do make the game stand out somewhat in comparison to that other game. For starters, you now have a life bar, letting you take multiple hits before you end up dying, so that is pretty helpful to have. In addition, you have the orbs that you can collect throughout the stages, which will act as either a screen nuke attack, or a temporary shield that you can have to help you out with further threats. And finally, there is actually a complex story moment in this game in comparison to that other one…. and by that, I mean that they implement Plot Twist #46: having an ally/love interest/whatever sacrifice themselves for the greater good, but hey, at least it is more then what that other game had. That’s really all the new features that this game has to offer, and all of these do help to make the game that bit more fun and enjoyable. It also helps that the combat is still fun, the charm, animations, and crunchy-voice-acting are wonderful to experience, and it doesn’t last too long, which is definitely the best thing one of these games can do.
Once again, I didn’t find any real issues present in the game, and thankfully in this game, there is actually some variety in the themes of the levels, so that at least solves that problem from the original game. Of course though, not everybody could potentially get into this game like I could. Since this game is too similar to that of Sunset Riders, those who didn’t enjoy that game may not get into this one either, or they may consider this way too similar to that game to properly enjoy. Not to mention, it doesn’t really do anything new for the genre at this point, so if you are looking for a fascinating, new take on the run ‘n gun, you won’t get it here. Then again, these are all extremely nitpicky complaints, one that you and I don’t care about, but I am just pointing it out for GenericMarioEnjoyer743, or whatever random online who would complain about that.
Overall, despite its lack of major change, this still manages to be a fantastic run ‘n gun game from the early 90’s, one that is sure to satisfy any die-hard fans of the genre, and will provide a great time with friends for the time that it lasts. I would definitely recommend it for those who were big fans of Sunset Riders, as well as those who love run ‘n gun games in general, because this game should give you plenty to admire and experience if you were to give it a shot. And hey, since it has finally been ported to consoles, you have no excuse to not play it now if you are a fan of either of those things. Unless, I dunno, you have real life things to take care of, like hiding that dead body or whatever. That’s probably more important.
Game #473