Reviews

It was only relatively recently that I learnt the word "Oriental" has negative, offensive connotations in North America. In British English, the word has only ever meant "of the East" and nothing more. Phew, glad I know that one now, lest I inadvertantly cause offense. But it does explain to American readers why a game title like this could be put on British shelves and no-one would ever bat an eyelid. Anyway, without getting into that can of worms, the game itself is pretty awful.

As a sequel to the pretty bad "Ninja Master", this side-scrolling beat'em'up manages to be even worse. Firstly, it is just way, way too fast. If you so much as blink, you are dead and probably haven't even realised it.

As you walk towards the right, your character stays in a fixed position near the left of the screen as the game scrolls past you, but enemies can come at you from the left edge of the screen with no warning whatsoever. I can't see how you can realistically do much about that. Even when you move to the left, your character walks backwards, because there doesn't seem to be a flipped copy of the player sprite available. The game is also pretty boring, offering nothing new over other ninja games, as you repeatedly kick your way through a number of enemies. Although truth be told I didn't get too far in the game and I doubt if many players would.

Mis-time your kicks by a fraction of a second and you are immediately brown bread, either stabbed, throttled, or hit in the head by a high speed bird. At least I think it was a bird, but it moved so fast I couldn't honestly tell what it was, it could have been a weapon for all I know. And it's not as if the keyboard controls are responsive, they most certainly aren't.

The game does sport a beautiful backdrop of a peaceful sunset over an age-old Japanese harbour. So perhaps if the player character admired the view instead of walking around the promenade like a fully kitted-out ninja maniac looking for a fight then he wouldn't keep getting attacked and slaughtered by his fellow countrymen.

Seriously, this is one to avoid and I think the original YS review was a tad too generous in this case.

A sideways scrolling beat-em-up, that tries to make up for the overly simple game-play by making it fast and difficult.
The graphics are good, and, if you can put up with repeatedly dying to learn the levels, the game-play can keep you coming back - just to get that bit further.
This game was widely slated, with one of the major criticisms being the speed and difficulty of it. As someone who persevered with, and ( I think ) completed this game as a kid, I am not ashamed to say that I quite liked it. Its not a great game, but it looks good, and if you have the patience to learn the levels it can be mildly rewarding to play.

Sequel to Ninja Master, a game which was already dire by itself, Oriental Hero manages to descend even lower into the abyss of bad game design and programming.

You have almost no control over your man as he trots off unconvincingly around the screen, harassed by some badly drawn enemies. Then you face the first enemy, a giant cobra snake, and voila! you understand that defeating it it's a pure matter of luck.

Oriental Hero looks nasty, plays worse and it's not worth the tape it's recorded on or the time you will waste trying to play it.

A completely unplayable dud which to be frank I am very surprised that at it isn't among the top 100 worst games on World of Spectrum. Everything with game is so wrong. Progression is so nearly impossible you can almost compare it to SQIJ it's that bad. 0% quality and 100% pathetic.

God what a horrendous game to play! You mostly die within seconds of playing! This has to be one of the worst games anywhere let alone the Spectrum!

Oriental Hero [Firebird Software]

The sequel of the dreadful Ninja Master, it keeps all the fantastic features of the original and push'em even further: superfast weapons fly at full speed against you and before you can even blink an eye you're dead. The variation is a practical joke from a demon jumping suddenly out of nowhere from behind you.
A pure masochistic experience.
1,5/5

The original game in this series Ninja Master was total arse, but at least it kind of knew it was. Under the guise of "Ninja" it was basically a sports game. You know bunch of mini-games that involve timed button presses or joystick waggling., and although the instructions mention skill it really all boils down to how fast your reflexes are, and more luck than "Spawny Git" from the Viz!

As for the sequel...Well what can I say?

DIE! DIE!...and DIE! again...

Put your luck and reflexes to the maximum test as you jump over rocket propelled snakes, as Rolf Harris constantly tries to stick a finger in your arsehole.

Play the game....You'll see what I mean...