The Ninja Warriors

[JaySevenZero]

Here's where you can contribute your thoughts and opinions for The Ninja Warriors series for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.

A friendly reminder that where the feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but keeping it brief is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mostly reading out essays. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.

[AndrewElmore]

I've played the PC Engine and Super Famicom games here and there over the years, but never quite clicked with them. It wasn't until Tengo Project's release of Ninja Saviors/Warriors Once Again/etc. that I understood the entire point, and I began to appreciate this series. I don't much care for belt scrolling beat-them-ups in a general sense--even in multiplayer settings, the repetition is something that I just have very little appetite for. Likewise, I don't have much of a taste for fighting games, outside of Bushido Blade. I love a lot of their aesthetics, and I find the precision of their design and play impressive, and equally intimidating. I don't quite know how to make my brain work that way is all, I suppose. I admire them from a distance. I do promise all of this rambling is going somewhere! The combination of Ninja Saviors and the Mega Drive release of Mad Stalker both entering my life around the same time helped me synthesize elements of both of those genres into snappy, crunchy arcade games--into a language I could speak, so to speak. Learning that there was so _very_ much more to these games than "walk to the right and punch dudes", in the style of The Kung Fu/China Warrior on PC Engine. I'm still not what you'd call 'good' at any of these games, but I do actively enjoy them now; certainly enough to revisit them with regularity for years to come. I knew my gut instinct to trust in Natsume would lead me to Ultimate Enlightenment, and it feels nice to have that instinct affirmed. Though I suspect that my interest in the original, pre-Tengo games may (realistically) subside to a standing that is, let's say, largely academic in nature. That having been said, I'd still happily play them any time, should the fancy strike.

[Rhaegyr]

Missed out on this when I was younger but bought The Ninja Saviours a couple of years ago due to good reviews, a Switch sale and hearing Leon praise it a few times.

It took some adjustment getting used to a scrolling beat-em-up on a single 2D plane (Guardian Heroes is the closest I've come to this) but in the I ended up really enjoying my time with the game, particularly the expansive moveset and the rhythm of battle, forcing you to get creative a lot of the time instead of mashing out the same combos.

Graphics deserve a special mention - I thought this game looked gorgeous, particularly the character animation and artwork. Some of the effects look that good I can't tell if they were present on the SNES original or if they've been added for this remaster.

Definitely worth a play if you're a fan of scrolling beat-em-ups and missed it the first time around.

[whoopigoldberg]

Having played Guardian Heroes, the clgorilla tagosest 2D scrolling beat 'em up I've played, it took some getting used to. However, I ultimately enjoyed my time with the game, especially its large moveset and rhythm of battle, which often forced me to be creative rather than just mashing out the same combos.

[Yukios]

I had a hard time adjusting to a 2D scrolling beat 'em up at first, but I eventually came to love the game for many reasons, including its rhythm and its extensive moveset.
run 3

[Alex79]

What on earth is your deal? The bots are getting weirder. This one takes a sentence from the most recent post in the thread and paraphrases it.

Completely bizarre. I say let's keep him.

[ratsoalbion]

Christ knows what the purpose is.

[Alex79]

Christ knows what the purpose is.

That's the thing. They turn up from time to time, but appear to have no purpose at all. They're not trying to scam anyway or link people to anywhere. They're not selling anything, they're just posting nonsense!