Reviews

This was one of Irem's notoriously hard arcade games and so this conversion was going to be tough. It's not only difficult but it's ugly and hurtful on the eyes. From one look of the preview screenshot I felt this was going to be bad, and indeed it certainly is.

Converted from the Irem coin-op, Ninja Spirit is a side-scrolling game similar to Green Beret but set in feudal Japan. As the main character Tsukikage (the human incarnation of a supernatural being known as the great white wolf), you have several weapons at your disposal and must run through several levels full of enemies before facing the final boss, the Last Warlock.

The game is altogether not bad, but its real weakness are the graphics. Little use of color and overly detailed backgrounds in some levels mean it's not very easy to see what's going on. Unless you are severely visually impaired, you should nonetheless be able to have some fun with this competent, although not outstanding in any way, conversion.

The arcade game isn't so hot wnd clearly isn't among Irem's best work, leaving little wonder why they were more renowned for their shooters more than anything. And naturally this port wasn't going to be hot either, in fact it's no better. You would have expected better from the team that brought us R-Type two years earlier.

Hooray! More oriental fighters, in this case one of the most loved ones. Who doesn't love ninjas?...

Altough we need to say this is only an average late 80's game.
Graphics are O.K. but scroll, altough not horrible, it could be better. Detailed (but excessive/not equilibrated with characters) background doesn't help either.