Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

[BIL]

Blimey, here's a name I've not seen much over the years.



Arcade Archives: Iga Ninjutsu Den aka Ninja Kazan is out tomorrow. Hmm. Not a looker, but Select Good Peeps have vouched for it over the years. More information required!

[Sumez]

Wow, I've never even heard of that game, and it really does look like my kinda game

[BIL]

Thought it was Trio Teh Punch at a glance Much buff dudes in historically diverse attire!



Vertical scrolling worries me a bit tbh - camera must be regulated proper! - but teh truth will out

[Sumez]

I'm getting Ninja-Kun meets Karnov vibes.

[Ghegs]

Ninja vs. Native Americans? And...elephants?

I've never heard of the game either, but that sounds like a winning formula that would never be done today.

[BIL]

SUPER VERDICT after a moderately inebriated lunchbreak MAME, ending in a 1CC to the fourth stage: Decent game which doesn't compete with thoroughbred killers like Rygar, Daimakaimura or Saigo (not like Jaleco to threaten the likes of Tecmo, Capcom or IREM). Plays more like a solid B-tier 16bit console sidescroller, ala Kujaku Ou II, Jewel Master or Ankoku Densetsu.

Actually, I would say those games are all slightly better-refined, sporting meatier weapons, more distinctive mechanics, and less amateurish graphics. Fans of those games (like me) will likely have fun with this one, going on the first four stages. Like them, it's mechanically basic but unblemished, without the dings of more ambitious, less road-worthy efforts like Alisia Dragoon.

Eight-way exploration always sets my teeth on edge - the camera seems pretty well-behaved here. You have a nice downstab for falling into new ground, but the game seems good about not having you land on stuff in the first place.

Kazan (I wonder if that's him/his namesake in Rushing Beat Ran? Jaleco have some pretty decent crossover game, cf Game Tengoku) doesn't have much "ninja" going for him, his distinguishing mechanic being a very Kujaku-esque charge attack. It upgrades with each stage, the meter gaining further extremes, El Viento-style. Goes from a puny-yet-potent fireball, to a beefier blast, to a very nice four-way hellstorm, to a less visceral but seemingly screen-nuking thundercloud.

The meter charges quickly, and the attacks are a reliable answer to just about anything lying in wait - exploring with the attack button depressed quickly became second nature. I particularly like the "freeze-frame" effect on charge attacks, very comfy. Your main weapon upgrades too, but instead of stage-by-stage, you need to seek out the old dude in each area. First upgrade for your basic slash is a rangier shuriken, second is a pretty nice Kusarigama which handles like Castlevania's whip, with the added mobility of wrap-around strikes ala Spartan X. Dying punts you back down to sword again, will annoy some. TBH, I was relying way more on the charge shots... wonder how that'll develop.

Time is as big a threat as the basic enemies, had some fairly thrilling near-misses in the third and fourth stages. Had to pack it in there, but I'm probably gonna pick this one up.

I was wondering if this was from the dude who directed The Astyanax and The Legendary Axe. Seems not, but it's got a similar charge/blast vibe for sure.

[copy-paster]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJtmZpRTVO8

This is officially first ever true No Hit Run of NG1.

[BIL]

Covered a page back Amazing performance, really assumed that was flat-out impossible for humans. Turns out it's only almost impossible.

[WelshMegalodon]

What?! You can destroy the head?!

Holy hell. I need to try this.

[BIL]

Yep! His tail, too. Doesn't affect his HP, just pisses him off and causes extra jumbo shrimp. IIRC anyway.

Currently hitting the end of Rygar (technically Argus no Senshi) with a couple misses, it's one hell of a game, absolutely sprinting pace from start to finish... but I wish it had a similarly decent last boss. I never thought I'd be using NG as a yardstick for decent bosses but Rygar's is ridiculously trite, assuming you've not lost your stomp boots. Final defensive line is pretty mean at least.

Fun fact, "Rygar" is the name of the last boss, which I'm told translates to "Big Lion Cunt." Player Character don't got no name, Warrior of Argus innit.

[Volteccer_Jack]

Steel Assault demo just dropped and it is LIT. "Contra 3/HC but you have a double jump and a whip instead of a gun" is the vibe I'm getting. Demo has two selectable difficulties: Normal mode, which is normal, and Arcade mode, which kills you.

What?! You can destroy the head?!

Holy hell. I need to try this.

Head and tail both have a full 16-hit boss healthbar. The head comes off at 5 hp, meaning a minimum of 6 hits in one jump to score the kill.

[Sumez]

Fuck I'm hyped for Steel Assault, but I don't know if I can be assed to set up any kind of video game playing environment for PC.

[Vanguard]

Speaking of mashing, I just learned that this exists: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJtmZpRTVO8 (actual run starts at 4:30)

That's amazing, I never thought it would happen.

[Sumez]

Holy shit, Steel Assault kicks all kinds of ass!
I can't believe this is only a demo, it's seriously challenging, but also so addictive you want to get right back into the action every time you fail. It's probably a good idea that the game has a "filthy casul mode", but I haven't even tried it, I couldn't take myself away from arcade mode which, refreshingly, is the default option.

It's a massively different beast from Blazing Chrome, which often rewards pacing yourself and being careful as you approach. Steel Assault rewards a high-octane constant pressure on your foes. Although its similarly quite derivative I think it has very much its own identity. It's very different from the more slow paced Metal Slug'ish gameplay showcased all those years ago.
The midrange mele weapon that is your primary attack creates a really fun movement dynamic where you want to always jump up in the face of enemies to destroy them. Especially the respawning jetpack zakos that fire streams of bullets create the perfect balance of a constant pressure in the face of other things going on, while at the same time being super enjoyable to fight.

The game does seem to elicit quite a bit of memorization. Nearly every enemy is certain to destroy you if you don't know its moveset perfectly well in advance, and there's a fair share of sniper attacks (obvious example is right before the first flamethrower tank). I don't think this causes any problems in any way for a demo like this, since you can get right back into the action immediately, but I hope the full game will have some sort of practice mode allowing you to play each individual stage in the same fashion, or maybe even individual sections.

Some patterns will still feel bad to me even after multiple repeat playthroughs though, most notably on the initial boat section. The second wave where robots drop on to the boat while big guys fire from above will often hit me at least once simply because I can't follow the action, with all the stuff going on on top of the fast scrolling background. I had to disable the aggressive CRT filter in order to even have a chance here at first.
And the first mini-boss's spray pattern seems very random to me. Some times dodging it is a breeze, and some times I feel completely caught. It seems like it's reacting somehow to your position, but I can't really figure out how to manipulate it in my favor. Maybe I'd have an easier time if I had some kind of indication of where exactly the player hitbox is.
It's entirely possible though, that for both situations it's just a question of me trying the wrong approach, and there's a completely consistent way of dealing with them that I just haven't thought of.

[Sumez]

Recorded a scrubby clear of the Arcade Mode. Really messed up the chopper section, so it turned out a pretty close shave:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdI1MiAGL9U

Maybe I'll do a cleaner one later. Might be interesting to go for a no-damage run. The stage is short enough that it can't be too exhausting.

[Stevens]

I am really glad that for the most part (other then seeing kitten mention it occasionally) I hadn't followed Steel Assault's development at all.

And I am glad I didn't - cause it came out of no where and this one looks like the real deal.

WOW.

Please don't turn into a pit platformer at the end..

[Sumez]

Please don't turn into a pit platformer at the end..

[Sir Ilpalazzo]

My first impression of the Steel Assault demo is that it has some pretty nasty visibility problems. The action taking place on a bright, busy, rapidly scrolling background during the boat bit makes it annoying to even parse what's going on with your attacks and the enemies' actions when first learning the bit, and the city part's backgrounds aren't very readable; it's very unclear what things are ledges you can stand on and what is just background art.

[Sumez]

The scrolling background annoyed me at first, but it quickly became a non-issue. It's kind of like invisible Garegga bullets. Probably not great design, but mostly just a problem the first few times you play. The way the action works on that segment, it's also only really a problem for the second wave where robot jumps on to the boat. Took me a few plays before I even realised what was going on.
Definitely disable all the screen filters if you haven't already. But slightly lower contrast on background graphics would go a long way if that had been an option.

EDIT: Just remembered the chopper section later in the stage actually does that fine. It has a fast scrolling background to, but this one doesn't clash with the action going on.

I did miss the first platform in the city section at first, but then you move like half a screen ahead and you see the more visible ones and at that point you know to look out for stuff, so that was definitely a non-issue to me. A lot of people have pointed it out though, so I'm assuming it's something that we'll see a reaction to. It seems like the demo has already been patched a few times based on user feedback.

I bet it's a tight balance, because the game looks beautiful, and I can imagine it must be hard to tone down on some of the colors for the sake of visibility.

[Ghegs]

Have to echo the sentiment that while Steel Assault looks absolutely gorgeous and plays well, the visibility issues are a thing. I sometimes missed whole enemies coming on screen because how busy everything is.

I also think some of the enemy shots move weird. At least once it felt like their stream of bullets suddenly shifted position not because that's the bullets' trajectory, but because the enemy shooting them moved after firing. I spotted this in Sumez' video too, at around the 2:35 and again at 2:47, from a jetpack enemy on the left. With the way the enemy is flying around the shots should spread out a bit, rather than moving in a straight line. It would make (slightly) more sense if they shot a long laser shot or something, but that looks like a stream of fire-ballish shots to me. Maybe the game treats that attack as a single object rather than six individual ones.

Also, pet peeve: The game locking the player into an arbitrary area and forcing them to fight off waves of small enemies. First time the electrified walls or whatever just pop up, the second time the screen just stops scrolling until the hoverbike enemies are killed. I really dislike this type of level design, I think it's lazy. Having two such instances in a 4-minute demo is kind of worrisome.

I don't mind that design if it's accompanied by a set piece that makes sense. Both the boat and chopper sections are functionally the same thing, but because it still gives you the illusion of moving forward in the game world, it doesn't bother me.

[Sumez]

I also think some of the enemy shots move weird. At least once it felt like their stream of bullets suddenly shifted position not because that's the bullets' trajectory, but because the enemy shooting them moved after firing. I spotted this in Sumez' video too, at around the 2:35 and again at 2:47, from a jetpack enemy on the left. With the way the enemy is flying around the shots should spread out a bit, rather than moving in a straight line. It would make (slightly) more sense if they shot a long laser shot or something, but that looks like a stream of fire-ballish shots to me. Maybe the game treats that attack as a single object rather than six individual ones.

That's interesting. I never noticed it while playing, and I definitely can't blame any hits I've taken on that behavior, but yeah now that you mention it I can see that happening.
You can tell it's moving with the zako that fires it, so I'm pretty convinced it is like you are saying that they are treated as a single object.
I think it's important that the shots always do form a single unbroken line though, since that makes them predictable enough to always dodge without too much effort. It definitely would look less weird if it were a solid laser.
The 2:47 example I think is functionally perfectly fine, but the one at 2:35 looks like it's still moving along with the enemy object even some time after all bullets have left the gun. Maybe they should "break apart" a little earlier. Might be worth reporting to the dev, seems like they are very focused on fixing these things.

Also, pet peeve: The game locking the player into an arbitrary area and forcing them to fight off waves of small enemies. First time the electrified walls or whatever just pop up, the second time the screen just stops scrolling until the hoverbike enemies are killed. I really dislike this type of level design, I think it's lazy. Having two such instances in a 4-minute demo is kind of worrisome.

I usually hate hate hate "elevator stages" where you just fight off enemy waves endlessly with no idea how close you are to the end of it, but I think these "lock-ups" with enemy waves in the demo work perfectly fine due to how short they are. In the first two examples you need to beat the flamethrower tanks, which makes sense because they are like little boss fights. Wouldn't be fun if you could just run from them. The only other example I can think of is the part where the hoverbikes rush at you, right?
The chopper section is fine, because you aren't waiting for enemies to stop coming in, it ends when you kill the two miniboss type enemies.

[Ghegs]

Also, pet peeve: The game locking the player into an arbitrary area and forcing them to fight off waves of small enemies. First time the electrified walls or whatever just pop up, the second time the screen just stops scrolling until the hoverbike enemies are killed. I really dislike this type of level design, I think it's lazy. Having two such instances in a 4-minute demo is kind of worrisome.

In the first two examples you need to beat the flamethrower tanks, which makes sense because they are like little boss fights. Wouldn't be fun if you could just run from them. The only other example I can think of is the part where the hoverbikes rush at you, right?

The hoverbike rush, yeah, and I think that's the worst offender since it doesn't even culminate in a mini-miniboss fight. To me it just feels like padding. "Well, this stage is kind of short. Let's force the player to be in this one spot for a minute and let's just spawn enemies in one after the other." In my opinion, it should be so that it's technically possible to move forward without killing all the enemies, but it's easier or otherwise beneficial to take them down first. Maybe have some jumps or obstacles there where the enemies will catch you with their shots and you'll plunge to your death? Maybe have the enemies drop some power-ups upon slaying them? Maybe don't de-spawn enemies even after running past them, so that some enemies can chase and catch you later on? But if the player is good enough to get through without killing them, they should be allowed to do. This, to me, feels like a more dynamic way of doing things and making sure the player actually engages in combat, without resorting to screen-lock. Those can still have their place, when done sparingly and so that it fits the context, like the elevator stages. But if it's done too often, I feel like it kills the pacing. Off-hand I can't remember a single screen-lock section in the thread's namesake game or its sequels.

Elevator stages, despite being a common trope, don't bother me because of that aforementioned illusion of moving forward. But just locking the screen in place, when there's really nothing there to stop the character from moving forward? Don't like that at all. As a side note, this is one of the reasons why I don't play beat'em-ups much, because they tend to do this constantly.

[Sumez]

To me it just feels like padding. "Well, this stage is kind of short. Let's force the player to be in this one spot for a minute and let's just spawn enemies in one after the other."

I'd agree with you if it weren't literally 13 seconds, and the waves of enemies showed any sign of repetition.
It's also a pet peeve of mine, but almost every other game does it worse than this one.

[Sumez]

My Rygar has an annoying issue with a ram chip that makes the game unplayable. Hopefully it can be fixed with some contact cleaner though (just ordered a can from a hardware store), because if I wriggle the chip in its socket the game will do weird stuff and occationally get itself into a working state, but it's very rare. It happened today, and for the first time I managed to try out a few runs, and did a long credit feed one too, just to see what the game has in store.

And hot dang, this is a fun game. It's crazy how unlike anything else it is. I'm looking forward to getting to know this one better.

[Searchlike]

If you figure out how scoring works I would love to hear about it. Looks like a lot of fun.

[Sumez]

There's some details on StrategyWiki, but it's kinda only halfway there.

The bonuses definitely play a big role. There's the obvious one for getting 7 stars, and a less obvious one for picking up every power, which basically involves not dying. And there's a hidden 1,000,000 bonus on round 13: https://strategywiki.org/wiki/Rygar/Bonuses

It seems for score play though, the biggest factor is building up your rank, which apparently ties into killing more enemies, in order to get a bigger end-of-level bonus. It seems it's definitely worth it to press each round for points, over cashing in the meager time bonus, and apparently one strategy is even to let the round time out, and then dodge that huge timeout monster a few times.
Of course the game also gets easier if you jump over most of the enemies, rather than killing them, so that creates a pretty obvious risk-vs-reward setting.

[Jeneki]

Some moves I found playing Ninja Kazan not in the manual:

Jump and hold up / diagonal - Flip through the air. Not sure if this just gives you a smaller hitbox or is useful for something else.

Jump, hold down + attack - Rastan downward thrust! Very hard to use on actual enemies but looks cool.

[BIL]

Rygar's scoring intrigued me at first, but it gets a bit milky for my liking (4mil by Round 17 ). I've no doubt its scorers are incredibly skilled, especially with the game offering only so many extends - can imagine the intensity of a hyper-optimised run closing out on the last life - I just prefer systems that dovetail into momentum, destruction and no-hit play. I suppose you could make a no-miss table, haha.

As basic as it is, Gigantic Army remains my favourite sidescrolling scoring system. Zako milking's literally not worth the time (remaining seconds = stage multiplier), but you can't just tank through enemies, or you'll get hit and lose out massively, as excess HP restores will no longer convert into points. So a natural equilibrium of controlled forward momentum is established.

From casual survival standpoint, I love Rygar as much as I did a year or so ago, when I finally played it via ACA. Had heard so much about it over the years, usually appended with much opprobrium for the Famicom sequel (not port!) Hachamecha Daishingeki. That one's an alright single-sitting ARPG in my book, though playing the AC one, I get why it would exasperate some. It actually translates Rygar's basic engine pretty well, with that same gratifying stomp and whiplash. It just has next to no stage design to go with it, never mind stages as supremely brisk and compact as the arcade's. Anyway, all's well that ends well.

I think an Xbox compilation BITD had AC Rygar too, in fact I'm pretty sure I own a copy, but I never got around to it and god knows if it's decent.

Even going for no-misses, I still enjoy the simple pleasure of those Seventh Star 70k bonuses. The jingles' bright, stately chords play brilliantly off the subdued rumblings of the stage BGM. Much the same for stomping on miniboss heads, though I'd do that anyway. Visually, the OutRun-esque "beautiful journey" works sublimely well with the motoring pace. Beyond the range of striking vistas, judiciously shuffled, the producers also make sure you never see the same landmark twice.



WHOA ITS BEAUTIFUL (Round 20 "Gigantic Clusterfuck of Bats") My favourite is the lonely shrine overlooking the final stretch, presaging the shattered fortress the enemy has made its stronghold. This is action/adventure gaming distilled - among the medium's true Legendary Journeys. Slashing and vaulting through treacherous jungle and volcanic desert, down infested chasms and over raging torrents, cheating death over and over even as you glut its maw with mountains of monstrous corpses. ~25minutes tops, resoundingly exhilarating.

I found a secret not mentioned on Strategywiki (AFAIK) which I'm kinda proud of.

Spoiler

Round 25 - see the mark of Hokuto?




Yeah exactly! Couple of buried stars either side, jump to reveal them:

I wonder if Green Beret was any influence. Rygar is almost the Ninja Gaiden to its Castlevania, dialling up both player and enemy potency while preserving a very similar balance of sight-read action. While Rygar would appear to involve 1000x more platforming at a glance, Green Beret gets comparably mortal mileage out of its deadly-precise jumping.

Konami lays the ground, Tecmo goes to town.

Some moves I found playing Ninja Kazan not in the manual:

Jump and hold up / diagonal - Flip through the air. Not sure if this just gives you a smaller hitbox or is useful for something else.

Jump, hold down + attack - Rastan downward thrust! Very hard to use on actual enemies but looks cool.

I was wondering about the flip too - doesn't seem to do much but oh well, looks (and feels!) rad somersaulting down from the start of Stage 3. After the much sterner stage 4, Kazan surprised me in its finale - takes on a really tight, almost Rastan groove. There's still some exploration to be done (including a ROVELY HP maxup), but it's sensibly kept apart from the main course's relentless pressure.

Kazan's combat sports three things I really like: Rastan-style run & slash, Spartan X-style strike wrap-around, and (going anachronistic a sec) FC Batman/ActRaiser 2-style enemy hitbox cancel. You can convert an existing high strike to a low, or pivot 180', or go between moving/stationary, or just about any other configuration, provided you're snappy enough on the directionals. Very smooth!

Spoiler

I wonder if Kazan's actually the first sidescroller with the "belt an enemy to render them harmless to touch" mechanic? Very progressive for 1988, FC Batman landing a year later. Classic hitbox cancel in effect on the 5-1 boss:

Spoiler

EDIT: Nahh, how'd I forget? Getsu Fuuma Den has the hitbox cancel a year head, 1987.

Kazan is one of the very, very rare action games where I consider the graphics a detriment. They're not ugly, and Tsukasa Tawada's customarily solid BGM takes the edge off - it's just kinda amateurish-lookin', for a major label Japanese arcade release. It handles and plays great, which is the main concern of course. Just exceedingly rare that I'm turned back, however momentarily, from The Hardcore Killing by a game's looks. The conventionally ninja-themed final stage, unsurprisingly, gels better than the clashing albeit charmingly offbeat earlier venues. I like the "UNIVERSE" header on the map screen, gives an especially quaint old-world touch.



TZW_ART (Gradius III & SSFIIX hardcase) likes this one a lot, always interested to see Japanese players' reaction to the more obscure ACA releases.

[Searchlike]

I want more demonic floating heads when timeout in my arcade games. Get on it, ROM hackers.

[BIL]

I like the extra-demonic effect of the ambient noise in that replay. Exceptionally cool timeout hazard. The uneasy fanfare as the sky turns black, before the BGM takes on a morbid hue and WHOA HOLY FUCK BIG D COMIN' THROUGH

Dovetails seamlessly into the super-buff, super-arcadey Legendary Journey aesthetic. The course is like a monster-infested Marathon, each shrine a relay point. Can't maintain a steady 20mph jog while dealing body-shattering blows and superhuman gymnastics? DEATH ITSELF WILL COME OUTTA THE SKY TO EAT YOUR ASS. Legendary Warriors only pls.

Finding lots of jump-triggered secret stones here and there. You can tell it's a secret and not just a regular spawn by the *bwoop* sound as they appear. Glad to see Round 14's charming landmark was put to good use! I like Round 14's vibe, very chill. An interlude from all the scorching wastes and petrified tundras, which are ofc cool too. I hadn't quite twigged until this afternoon's sessions, the game will re-use certain landmarks seen in "daylight" for the gorgeous molten sunset vistas, blackened in heavy silhouette. Inlays the super-efficient arcade chassis with a charming sense of continuity.

Most amusing secret so far is Round 12/NUCLEAR SPIDER MONKEY JUNGLE's, which has a couple buried nukes I've been ignoring. The first seems intended to help out with the sniping monkey fuck but tbh, it's more reliable to just rush n' swat him out of the tree. Also, the rushing pincer tribesmen are deceptively nasty, no sense giving them chances to close in.

Did a bit of R17/NAKED BUFF BEASTMAN GYM milking as the no-miss nears. It's nice n' easy, just whack the buff buddy tower (there are no "trick" towers in this round), back up for the respawn, and repeat. Not planning anything on the level of the Superplayer linked above, but it's fun. The Cross seems really temperamental about showing up here, ideally I'd grab it early, mow through the stage, then milk the final tower, but you have to play by ear it seems. I notice it'll also show up in at least four different spots in its debut round, 7 IIRC.

What an outstanding game. Noticed a few glitches here and there, but nothing debilitating. A shoe-in for desert island R2RKMFing.