Ninja Warriors (Super Nintendo)

By Pirate_Higemaru

Overall Grade: B

Ninja Warriors is so criminally underrated, it hurts. Released by Taito in 1994 to almost universal praise, it was mostly ignored by the general public. At the time, the beat em' up craze was winding down and that probably contributed to the lackluster sales of Ninja Warriors. Don't let the lackluster sales fool you though; Ninja Warriors is one of the greatest beat em' ups of all time. 

Plot: 

Ninja Warriors has very little plot to speak of and the plot that is there, is very generic. It pretty much translates to "Overthrow the oppressive regime and bring peace back to the United States". Of course, people may criticize the fact that they underutilized the potential of robot ninjas but beat em' ups aren't known for their plots and it lived up to my expectations. The ending was surprisingly good too and a pretty cool plot twist occurs during it. 

Graphics: 

Ninja Warriors isn't anything to write home about in the graphics department. It looks better than say "Captain Commando" but it looks worse than "Batman Returns". Ninja Warriors takes a very simplistic approach. The backgrounds aren't very detailed but they do their job. They explosions aren't all that impressive but they can be pretty cool. Mode 7 wasn't utilized and the character models are fairly basic. 

That's not to say the game looks bad; it's just simple. The character models, while basic, have a certain "cool factor" to them that stems from the fact that they are robot ninjas. Ninja and Kunoichi look very basic and aren't very robotic in design but that's part of their appeal. The third character, Kamaitachi, is quite clearly a robot with an almost skeleton like design. He's a very unique looking character who throws out some pretty flashy moves. 

The enemy designs are pretty bland and uninteresting. You have your normal guys dressed in army gear, a couple muscle-bound guys, little Wolverine-like guys, Kabuki guys and you also have some robots thrown in there for good measure. It's a pretty varied gallery but none of them have particularly interesting designs. The same goes for the bosses who are pretty bland themselves with two exceptions. First, you have the chainsaw wielding 2nd boss and the weird pimp boss from the 4th level. They're designs, while not "inventive" are unique and memorable.

All in all, the graphics aren't the best the SNES has to offer but they're not terrible either. They get the job done and they don't pull any punches. The character designs could have been more interesting (as displayed by Kamaitachi) but they also get the job done. The enemy and boss designs could have also been more interesting but once again, they do what they're supposed to. 

Music: 

This game's soundtrack can be summed up in one word. Intense. Seriously, every track has this intensity to it that few beat em' ups can match. The music is (for the most part) very fast-paced and fairly action-packed. It's not a stand-out SNES OST but it certainly stands head and shoulders over the music that Capcom was putting in their beat em' ups. My main complaint about the music is that is kind of quiet with most of the sound-effects being far louder than the actual music. The music also kind of runs together and few of the tracks ever pick up some kind of clear distinction.

The sound effects are actually pretty notable. Once again, there's nothing very original and there are no real voice clips to speak of but they're still somewhat noticeable. My favorite thing about it is the clear "AUGH" that plays whenever to kill an enemy. Generally, I ended up tossing the enemies off the screen, so I really liked that the game told me I killed the enemy. It's nothing major but it's definitely a helpful addition.

Overall, Ninja Warriors is really nothing special sound-wise. It's better than what Capcom was putting out but it's no Turtles in Time. The tracks all sound pretty good but they all feel very similar which could be a bad thing. There are no stand-out sound effects either, which is fine. 

Gameplay:

Ninja Warriors is a semi-unique experience when it comes to SNES beat em' ups for one reason. That reason being, it's a one plain beat em'up much like Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. Unlike Power Rangers however, Ninja Warriors contains no platforming elements and it's completely linear. This idea means that there is no 2-player mode and there is absolutely no replay value and that could be a deal breaker for many. 

I really wouldn't let that deter you from trying the game. Simply put, Ninja Warriors couldn't have had a 2-player mode. If Taito had put one in, it would have been a complete and utter disaster. Ninja Warriors simply wasn't designed with multiplayer in mind and that's perfectly fine. The SNES did need more one-plane brawlers after all. The lack of extras and replay value is fairly inexcusable though. They could have at least included a sound test or an extra ending. There are other difficulties but the ending doesn't change which is disappointing to say the least.

Even with some of these "flaws", Ninja Warriors proves to be a fantastic experience. The levels are filled to the brim with a variety of enemies, level hazards and *gasp* fair boss fights! That's right, Ninja Warriors contains some of the most balanced bosses I have ever fought in a beat em'  up. They all have manageable attack patterns, a good mix of easy to dodge and tough, but not impossible to dodge moves and they don't have thousands of mooks swarming you. Don't get me wrong, there are mooks but they don't appear in huge packs like they do in most beat em' ups. 

This lack of gangs of mooks generally means they won't relentlessly combo you either. They will combo you but you should be able to get out of it fairly quickly; if you're smart. Certain enemies are far worse than others (mostly the smaller enemies) while some of the larger enemies are pathetically easy to defeat. The levels are all a decent challenge too due to their surprising length and large amount of mooks. It's a well-balanced difficulty however because Ninja Warriors comes with infinite continues. 

Taito took precautions though. You only have one life and if you lose that life, you start back at the nearest checkpoint. It's a creative way of going about things and it gives the game the challenge it needed. It's still not "hard" per-say but it would have been too easy had they not added this in. 

Ninja Warriors also has a cool take on the "special attack" you find in most beat em' ups. Instead of picking up items like in Golden Axe (or having suck health like in Final Fight), Ninja Warriors has a gauge that fills up and when it reaches its limit, you can use it to knock all of your enemies down. That's right, I said knock down, not kill. While this special attack can kill, you'll generally use it to knock down enemies if they're giving you trouble. It's pretty much giving you a new lease on life and some extra time to rethink your approach. This gauge also creates a certain level of depth and strategy to the game.

What I mean by that is, you'll often think to yourself "Do I want to rush head on and risk getting killed" or do I want to stall until my bar goes up?" It's not a deep moral issue or anything but few beat em' ups make you think any harder than "Should I take this meat or should I keep it for my friend?". Part of the game's depth also comes from the simplistic, yet somewhat deep roster of moves each character has. 

Yes, each character comes with their own list of moves and they're pretty much performed the same way but they all do different things. For instance, Kamaitachi's throw is more of a long range kick, while Ninja's is a good old fashioned toss. Once you learn how to link moves and combos together, you'll be able to breeze through Ninja Warriors in no time. Admittedly, you could probably do the same while mashing buttons but you'll probably get more enjoyment out of it if you think about what you're doing (like in a fighting game).

Ninja Warriors is a surprisingly deep beat em'up, especially when you consider that it's only one plane. Few multi-plane beat em' ups reached this level of depth and it's quite surprising that Ninja Warriors was able to do it, and do it so well too. The lack of a 2-player mode and extras may disappoint some but I still stand by the idea that Ninja Warriors wouldn't have worked with 2 players. The extras thing is still inexcusable though. 

Conclusion:

Ninja Warriors is the type of game that doesn't need any bells and whistles to be enjoyable. It wasn't the prettiest game and its soundtrack, while intense, didn't make any waves. Ninja Warriors simply succeeded critically because it was a solid action title and it holds up quite well today. It's a fascinatingly complex beat em' up and I definitely suggest it to any beat em' up fan who is looking for something new.