An action adventure that is sure to leave you wanting more!
The evil shogun Kunitoki searching for the secrets of ancient ninjitsu has killed all ninjas except you, Armakuni. You are thus the last ninja and must avenge your clan and kill Kunitoki.
Sounds simple, huh? But this game proves to be quite a challenge. There are many traps and Kunitokis minions are strong and use shurikens, swords and all kinds of weapons to stop you in your tracks.
The game has six different levels and each one has new dangers and puzzles for you to solve or avoid. The game is unforgiving in that if you are not aware of some trap, you will most certainly die because of it. There are some clues to some of the puzzles in the games manual, but even with that extra help it can sometimes be hard to figure out what to do next.
To make things harder there are some swamps and rivers you need to jump through. If you make one wrong move you will fall in the water and die instantly. You will have to learn which jumps to use on each river, swamp or whatever may be lying in front of you with pixel-perfect accuracy.
If you die enough times to run out of lives, you will have learned a lesson and get to start the level over. This can of course feel punishing, but it in the end it's all part of the game.
Granted that you won't be forced to replay some level too many times the game never gets repetitive, even though you will end up fighting a lot. There are numerous guards patrolling Kunitokis domains.
You have some different fighting maneuvers to use, but the fighting in this game is very much by the "rock 'em sock 'em" principle, because you can't really avoid being hit while exchanging blows with your enemy. The best strategy it seems is to just keep attacking as fast as you can. To my knowledge, there is supposed to be a blocking move you can do, but I sure never manage to utilize it.
So the fighting itself in this game is, I have to say not the best, because there doesn't seem to be any strategy to it. However this is overall a very good classic and original game. Throughout the different places you will be faced with not only Kunitokis servants, but also firebreathing dragons, sea serpents, skeletons, giant spiders – yes, the game has some fantasy-influences.
The weapons you can find include a staff, smokebombs, shurikens, nunchakus and a sword.
The graphics are simply awesome and very atmospheric, animations are fluid and the scenery in which the game takes place is really appealing in both style and look. The levels are detailed and while not huge, still demand your constant engagement.
The game has no sound effects, but that doesn't matter because this game has one of the best soundtracks of all time. The music is catchy and is strongly influenced by the oriental style. It fits the game perfectly and is truly powerful and emotional on the same time. If you haven't heard the music in this game and happen to like 8-bit video game-music I pity you! I just wish they made game music like this still.
Once you master the tricks and traps of all levels you will reach the great evil Kunitoki, and once you kill him, you have finished the game. I can promise you that if you play this game through, you will most certainly be wanting more of the same! Bad thing is, that once you have beaten the game there is only one real reason to replay it and that is the music. Good thing is that there is a sequel: Last Ninja 2: Back with a vengeance!