Developer: NMK Co. Publisher: American Sammy Released: December 1990 Genre: Action
Ninja Gaiden is one of my favorite NES games of all time. If I were to take count of the games I have spent the most time with Ninja Gaiden would probably be in the top 10. Granted most of that time was spent in the final level because the game pulled one of the cruelest tricks of all time but I digress. Any game that even remotely looked similar got my attention. Ninja Crusaders might have the look but it does not have the gameplay of Tecmo’s classic. Ninja Crusaders is just a bad game overall.
As much as I don’t want to the comparison to Ninja Gaiden cannot be helped. The games do look similar although Ninja Crusaders lacks that game’s stellar art direction. Some of the weapons are comparable and the game’s share the ninja mysticism vibe. But after that they could not be any more alike. For one you do not have a life bar. The single hit deaths are a…..choice that I am not sure jives with the way the game’s design but I digress. Ninja Crusaders also has two-player coop which goes a long way towards making the game feel a lot like Contra. Now if only it had its quality.
The game arms you with shuriken rather than a ninja sword from the start. Throwing stars have weak power but have the longest range. In addition there are three more weapons you can pick up along the way. The bo staff is possibly the best weapon in the game. Despite its short range it is incredibly powerful and can kill bosses in two or three hits which is insane. Its secondary function can break the game as I will describe later. The Kusarigama is even weaker than the shuriken and not worth bothering with despite its long range. The rare sword has even shorter range than the staff but is nearly as strong. I don’t know if the trade-off in range is worth it however.
Each weapon allows you to assume an animal form. The usefulness of each varies however. The shuriken transformation is a tiger. In this form you are fast and can jump extremely high. But your swipe attack is only useful on normal enemies; for bosses it is worthless. The Kusarigama transforms you into a scorpion. This form is not worth it at all. It is slow on land but fast underwater. However almost every water section can be avoided. The dragon comes from the sword and is too powerful. You can fly and it kills some bosses in a single hit. To balance it out the sword is rare and this form only lasts a few seconds. The eagle form that comes from the bo lets you fly indefinitely, making it the best since you can avoid the roughest sections of the game a la Super Mario Brothers 3.
As I mentioned the level design is at odds with the decision to exclude a life bar. Enemy placement is unpredictable which comes across as frustrating rather than a legitimate challenge. It seems almost random, as if no thought was put into their position to make the game challenging. The game relies on gotcha moments far too often to kill you which is extremely cheap. I like the openness of each stage with both a high and low road and wish they were better. When the game hits a grove it is enjoyable. More often than not though I can see most getting fed up with the game and transforming into an eagle to skip the bullshit.
The one area the game excels is its boss battles. Ninja Crusaders has a weird assortment of demons that look more like something out of Astyanax than a ninja platformer. The lack of a life bar creates a palpable sense of tension since you always one hit away from death at all times. Their patterns are easy to spot yet still a challenge to execute on. Making it here with a decent weapon is a task in itself; the game is generous with its weapon drops. Unfortunately the majority are the worst ones, meaning you will have to carry the sword or bo from a previous level if you want to avoid a drawn out battle.
In Closing
Ninja Crusaders tries to provide compelling action but is a frustrating mess. What few cool features it has are undercooked and add nothing to the game overall. If you want more action like Ninja Gaiden play Vice: Project Doom instead. Ironically it is from the same publisher as well. You will thank me later.
