Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

[Sima Tuna]

I was curious why Volgarr was on sale on the eshop. It never goes on sale, ever.

[Sengoku Strider]

Well, it took me 2 years of playing on & off (I guess more if you include time spent with the Dreamcast Smash Pack & various other emulated versions) but I finally 1CCed Revenge of Shinobi legit, good ending, original hardware, no infinite shurikens, no 1up cheese, no magic cheese. In looking around the internet it seems every other forum is just full of cowards saying to do that junk or use save states. It took me way longer, but my ninja honour remains intact and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Next up is Super Shinobi II, but that one seems way easier than the Western release. I'm not expecting it to take as long.

[BIL]

Going without magic certainly makes the already tough SS1 even moreso! Congrats on pulling that off. Nailing that st7-1 long jump without Fushin is ever-bloodening. (practical, too, since you can use Ikazuchi in 7-2 to grab goodies off the battleship's engine without losing POW)

The only magic thing I kinda frown on in SS1 is Mijin boss skips. Shamefur. Only because it kills Joe, though! This is a nice ninja action game, not a derangedly purgatorial Real Samsara Simulator ala YGW! Only way it could be aesthetic is if it instantly triggered a third ending.

Was SS2 toughened up for Genesis? I can't even remember how that revision plays, only encountered it very briefly in emulation before moving onto the JP cart. I'm guessing either region's an easier 1CC than the first game, but between the expanded moveset and stage design, SS2's a trickier game to look cool at. Looking cool is the ultimate goal with moveset-happy stuff like SS2 and Hagane, I think. In a way, I find that more imposing than simply not dying. Kind of like IRL!

That said, I grew up with SS1, but missed out on SS2 until the PS2 era, so it's hard to be too objective there.

If we're talking lasting buttmad, Silent Bomber's chess fight has to be mine. A fine and balanced game up to that point, then it slaps you with a brutal memo / execution test right outside the final boss arena, right as the narrative is reaching peak panic.
Let's play a game... It's called Rent this shit from Blockbuster again!
One of those moments that makes you question just how much time and grit your younger self had, when you reach it on a revisit - full of older-and-wiser energy - and slam face first into the brick wall.

Goddamn, there's a memory. An arcade-brutal spike at the end of a fiery but console-amiable affair. Although I recall the gruff commander of BLUE MIST SQUAD requiring some Hard Action Recon, too... and having a post-victory crash bug in the PAL rev, so I got to hear him call me the most outstanding soldier he'd ever seen a few times.

Felt like a million bucks when I discovered you could cut down on chess piece respawns by nailing them with stacked bombas. Started hitting the most troublesome bastards extra-hard. In hindsight, one of my dearest design ideals: a powerful advantage hiding just out of plain sight, waiting to be marshalled.

SB's one of those universally recommendable action games. So much to enjoy! Airdash Bomberman burning, crushing, and electrocuting an army of bad metal motherfuckers to the best explosion SFX this side of Seibu. Those *BAKOWWWs* will cause Raiden PTSD, simultaneously piercing and floor-shaking! Even the dub is lovable. I really dug that mad fucker Benoit's English VA; nearest I've heard to Kaneto Shiozawa's trademark easy menace.

"Hey, Jutah.. how does it feel?

EDIT: I'm fawkin cryin ova heeyah. Just looked up the JP cast, Shiozawa was indeed Benoit. (I've only ever played it in dub, just more fun) Wonderful talent gone far too soon, but my goodness, it's been wonderful discovering more and more of his work. Good job, Richard Cansino!



The BLUE MIST SQUAD have some cracking bushido lines, too. "You'll PAY for watcha did to our buddies!" "Why?! Why can't we kill just one soldier who's ON FOOT?!" "Commander... forgive us!" Poor bastards put it all on the line. ;w;7

Speaking of lovingly concealed Ultimate Techniques! *NOM*



Got a Wild Fang nomiss this past week; haven't had time to give it a decent writeup, just jumped straight into Ninja Ryukenden. I've a lot to say about both, and with their rich idiosyncrasies, I think I could get a DBPS02+03 double feature out of 'em. As always with Tecmo's arcade staff, there's a wealth of transformative fine-brush detailing to their ruggedly no-nonsense chasses. Best 80s beltscrollers by a mile, imo, easily competing with the post-FF canon.

[Sengoku Strider]

Going without magic certainly makes the already tough SS1 even moreso! Congrats on pulling that off. Nailing that st7-1 long jump without Fushin is ever-bloodening. (practical, too, since you can use Ikazuchi in 7-2 to grab goodies off the battleship's engine without losing POW)

The only magic thing I kinda frown on in SS1 is Mijin boss skips. Shamefur. Only because it kills Joe, though! This is a nice ninja action game, not a derangedly purgatorial Real Samsara Simulator ala YGW! Only way it could be aesthetic is if it instantly triggered a third ending.

Oh, I didn't do a total no-magic run, I just meant not mijin-cheesing the last boss. I didn't feel motivated to go no-magic and max that score bonus as much as anything because 5-1 doesn't seem to be designed to be played straight up, with all the BS laser turrets moving off-screen while firing at you. The magic hidden right at spawn seems like a pretty big hint that the level's meant to be a fushin run. But once you know the boss patterns there's no reason to use magic throughout the rest of the game aside from not burning lives making that jump in 7-1, so I guess I could go without.

That last boss would be tough to do without at least an ikazuchi shield though, I never did figure out the exact pattern with his wig-launch. It seemed to be targeted based on your location at a very specific moment about a second after he was hit, unless you're in the air past the main arc of your jump in which case he'll throw it low so you come down on it. I wasn't sure what the speed of the throw was based on, if it was random or pattern based. I just had the most luck staying as far away as I could while still triggering his melee, then immediately crouch walking away after the hit until the hair retracts, walking for a beat then jumping and shooting to pause the blocks coming down. That seemed to be something like the intended pattern, just that you need to be frame-specific with the jump to successfully dodge the wig toss.

Was SS2 toughened up for Genesis? I can't even remember how that revision plays, only encountered it very briefly in emulation before moving onto the JP cart. I'm guessing either region's an easier 1CC than the first game, but between the expanded moveset and stage design, SS2's a trickier game to look cool at. Looking cool is the ultimate goal with moveset-happy stuff like SS2 and Hagane, I think. In a way, I find that more imposing than simply not dying.

I think I remember hearing/reading that the Western version's normal is the JP version's hard. My only experience with the Western one was playing it on the PSP Genesis collection on Vita and JP seems noticeably easier, you can just straight-up tank most of the boss fights with ikazuchi. I'll probably go back for a hard run at some point after beating it on normal, but I might understand why you felt the game was harder to look cool in.

TBH for all the moves it adds, III seems to play worse than Revenge or especially Shadow Dancer. They added a crouch frame at the beginning of your jump which delays it a little. You can certainly adjust to it but it makes it feel less snappy, it becomes more of a game of anticipation rather than flowing and agility. I haven't seen any lag tests but just mashing down on the dpad for a crouch spam test in all three games it's clear III is a step slower, while Shadow Dancer responds like it was coded to the metal. Other things too, like the startup on the dashing hop attack or the way it frequently drops you out of your dash after elevation changes introduces other bits of clunkiness here and there that add up.

I'll reserve judgement until I've gone through it, I'm sure there's nuance I haven't picked up on yet and I'm hoping something will click that will change how I feel. But right now my impressions are that Shadow Dancer is a god-tier action game in the control department, Revenge is great and III is quite good. It only really stands out so much because with all its other cool elements III could have had a serious shot at the title for best action game of the generation.

I sold off my copy of Hagane when I got out of Super Famicom collecting, I never really played it when I had it but I kind of want to now that I know the Shinobi series better.

[BIL]

All the same, sterlingly done. Tough game, a rare moment in the marquee sun for thoroughbred arcade action. In hindsight, the Perfect and Technical bonuses show a lot of love for classic iterative mastery. Perfect means no deaths, and therefore no Mijin; gotta grow out of that! Conversely, rather than a glum "no magic ever," Technical simply rewards conserving where you can, as well as seeking out hidden stashes.

(conversely, No Magic Ever works great in the arcade trilogy, and Konami epigone Surprise Attack, where it's basically a Scene Skip for their stricter Rolling Thunderesques; I prefer MD Shadow Dancer to either Super Shinobi, or their Saturn followup Shin Shinobi Den, but then I prefer AC Shinobi and Shadow Dancer to it)

I could've sworn I had Zeed's rug toss down cold, but in my last run at the game, I ate a good 50% of 'em. I think you're right on the fundamental pattern. My usual thing is to shoot him, walk away, then jump his baited throw, but as you say the timing's pretty tight.

SS2's doubletap run input is a pain in the ass, yeah; especially with it not counting a pivoting input. Bare Knuckle II is the same, with BKIII fixing this. As far as doubletap-dashing sidescrollers go, SOTN's Richter (and his copy/paste Nathan from Circle of the Moon) is my favourite of a less than ideal lot. Pivot is ok, it'll maintain over virtually any elevation, and you can even about-face out of a jump landing. I wish more sidescrollers had gone with KazeKiri (PCE-CD)'s little-seen approach; just press [diagonal up] to dash.

Still, SS2's running slash is a design masterpiece. Invincible to projectiles but not bumps during hop, encouraging player to rush down shooters while demanding good zoning. Utterly invincible during slash, a mighty payoff. No i-frames whatsoever during sliding stop, so player must think ahead. I'm getting very similar excellence from Ninja Ryukenden (AC)'s guillotine throw, a tricky setup and walloping payoff that's ultimately pyrrhic without good foresight.

I always like it when 2D action judiciously distances itself from contact damage, granting attack i-frames with similar consideration. It's a great way to leaven the format's innate XY stricture, without sacrificing its precision. (Ryukenden's a beltscroller, so technically it has a foot in the 3D action world, but the guillotine would work just as well in straight sidescrolling)

EDIT: Ah jeeze, I wish I could cite Shinobi Non Grata's bazooka, here. Invincible godsmack with a treacherous recoil. But the situation it mosts impresses in (Zangetsu) is sadly bugged, at least currently on PS4. Random frameskip during fight, and in a handful of other spots. Still, great fun.

Recoil is a problem for tomorrow's me, I'm gonna blast this fucker (｀w´メ)

I hope they'll patch it after their mecha cheesecake sidescroller The Scramble Vice is out.

[Lander]

Goddamn, there's a memory. An arcade-brutal spike at the end of a fiery but console-amiable affair. Although I recall the gruff commander of BLUE MIST SQUAD requiring some Hard Action Recon, too... and having a post-victory crash bug in the PAL rev, so I got to hear him call me the most outstanding soldier he'd ever seen a few times.

Felt like a million bucks when I discovered you could cut down on chess piece respawns by nailing them with stacked bombas. Started hitting the most troublesome bastards extra-hard. In hindsight, one of my dearest design ideals: a powerful advantage hiding just out of plain sight, waiting to be marshalled.

SB's one of those universally recommendable action games. So much to enjoy! Airdash Bomberman burning, crushing, and electrocuting an army of bad metal motherfuckers to the best explosion SFX this side of Seibu. Those *BAKOWWWs* will cause Raiden PTSD, simultaneously piercing and floor-shaking!

Such a special game - I recall the demo soundly trouncing the rest of whichever OPSM coverdisc it featured in. Was convinced it would end up a white whale like so many other not-on-store-shelves-near-you titles, but lo and behold, there it was on the Tesco bargain spinner a few weeks later. And I somehow convinced my dear tight old dad to shell out for it - the greatest humble pickup of my childhood

A real dyed-in-the-bones action adventure - takes that squad movie / The Rock template and makes it playable with great aplomb. Never deviates from its core gameplay strength, but still has you foolishly asking "when's this going to drop off then?" as it unveils more and more exciting new situations.

I can't deny, finally nailing the chessboard and getting to the climactic showdown was a hell of a high. Followed by the accompanying crash to hell when you eat too many of Benny's tricky grabs and realize there's no checkpoint but at that point, doing it again and better is no big deal, right? Fiendish!
Extra points for keeping narrative momentum too - what is even real?! coupled with oh fuck gotta save the world is a combo most potent if you're invested enough to take the hammy playable anime seriously!

Even the dub is lovable. I really dug that mad fucker Benoit's English VA; nearest I've heard to Kaneto Shiozawa's trademark easy menace.

"Hey, Jutah.. how does it feel?

EDIT: I'm fawkin cryin ova heeyah. Just looked up the JP cast, Shiozawa was indeed Benoit. (I've only ever played it in dub, just more fun) Wonderful talent gone far too soon, but my goodness, it's been wonderful discovering more and more of his work. Good job, Richard Cansino!

Mission 1 is a perfect microcosm of that charisma in broad; you get that excellently-choreographed dropship infil with lasers everywhere and trademark too cool to crash, point me at kill belly landing, then the utter joy that is greenhorn Tim clinging to the leg of his veteran comrade.
JOOOOOHN! poor lad sounds like he signed up for the EDF and ended up in the marines!

Resident jobber Mercury is pretty memorable too, prideful enough a rival-wannabe to come back at you with a two-storey yellow megatank and confident I'll finish dis guy of fo' shaw dis time! after eating his first object lesson

[BIL]

Ahahaha, I knew I recalled that particular exchange! HOW CAN THIS BE HAP-PEN-NIIING (◎w◎;) TIM STOP YOUR WHINING (｀w´メ)

[Idk]

Hey guys, i don't actually understand what this website is. I was actually looking for a game which i used to play a decade ago. I don't remember the game or it's name, I just remember some bits and pieces. The protagonists girlfriend was kidnapped by some kind of creature and he had to save her, at the end of the game when he saves his girlfriend, he wakes up and realises that it was all just a dream and her girlfriend was beside him, sleeping on his bed. Can anyone help me out finding this game? I've been looking for it for so long now. Thanks.

[Air Master Burst]

Hey guys, i don't actually understand what this website is. I was actually looking for a game which i used to play a decade ago. I don't remember the game or it's name, I just remember some bits and pieces. The protagonists girlfriend was kidnapped by some kind of creature and he had to save her, at the end of the game when he saves his girlfriend, he wakes up and realises that it was all just a dream and her girlfriend was beside him, sleeping on his bed. Can anyone help me out finding this game? I've been looking for it for so long now. Thanks.

Here's a pretty good list to start with.

[Sumez]

Fired up my Crime City PCB for the first time yesterday. Immediately enjoying this game, it's very much my kind of game.
Obviously "just" a Rolling Thunder clone, but I think you feel a bit more mobile, giving it more of a run'n'gun vibe, maybe closer to something like Sunset Riders, with some occasional really hectic situations fueled by mild RNG. That said, the core gameplay is definitely "spy action" much more than it's a Contra. The limited ammo works in its favor I guess - running out is unlikely, but if you don't shoot exclusively to hit something, you probably will, rewarding a tactical approach to your murder spree.
You can get away with melee attacks as well though - rolling into enemies is as incredibly satisfying as it's silly looking.

Not much else to say about it. I'm unsure of the best strategy for one of the boss fights, but aside from that I think earning a 1CC in this should probably be swift.

[Sengoku Strider]

I used to play Crime City a bunch when the nearby department store had it. I remember it being good and not too hard so I got decent mileage out of my quarters.

[it290]

When I was a kid my favorite game was Shinobi and I played it all the time down at the corner store. When it was eventually replaced with a Crime City, I wasn't even that mad. It's a decent entry in the Chase HQ Cinematic Universe.

For the onion cut, play one level of Chase HQ until you run down the baddie. Then pause it and play one level of Crime City. Rinse and repeat. Now you're basically playing Technocop or Outlander, lol.

[Air Master Burst]

It's a decent entry in the Chase HQ Cinematic Universe.

I assume Full Throttle counts. Is Riding Fight considered part of the CHQCU? Despite it long being one of my favorite arcade games, the translation is so comically bad (even by Taito standards) that it's fairly impossible to tell.

[BIL]

Got my typically shaky first 1LC in Ninja Ryukenden (AC). Bravura technical violence from STRONG TEAM. Joyously phonebooth-shattering racket; you can feel STRONG SHIMA and co's love of fight choreography. Deliberately stunt-falling through vital bits of furniture often a sound trade! They won't be so smug when you spring back up with an eponymous RYUKENDEN! As with Wild Fang, will write it up in proper this week. Played a klutzy early half, overly safe latter half, but I've always considered my replays basic demos for prospective players. You can be a helluva lot more aggressive in Rounds 4/5/6 than I was. A beater I'll come back to for certain.

Looking forward to Crime City's inevitable ACA release. Irreversibly memey to mine ears, after discovering it via BBH's customarily hilarious review - but there and here, alike, it's always enjoyed good buzz. ACA Thunder Fox's confirmation is a huge fn' deal for Taito Rolling Thunder-esques too, especially with its lame MD port!

Rolling Thunder x Ninja Warriors: SAFETY FIRST KIDS

Spoiler

[Sengoku Strider]

I'll reserve judgement until I've gone through it, I'm sure there's nuance I haven't picked up on yet and I'm hoping something will click that will change how I feel.

I think I figured out what that is: ABD, Always Be Dashin'. It takes getting the level layouts and moveset at least kinda down before you can do it effectively, but it changes the calculus. The crouch frame before your jump matters less because between the dash and the dive kick it becomes a game of forcing the issue on your enemies rather than reacting to them. I had also been underestimating how effective the block is. I'm sure a skilled player can do a no block run, but there are a lot of situations and bosses where it's such a benefit the game surely intends for you to do it. Various gun emplacements, the bosses of 6-1 & 6-2, etc.

I don't have the very last section of 7-2 down yet, but that and the final boss are the only things between me and the 1CC right now. Getting the moveset and basic enemy patterns down makes Super Shinobi II feel pretty easy with how little damage enemies do to you, I'm saying all this and I've only played it a handful of times. Cranking the difficulty up a notch for the Western release was definitely the right call, there's so much in this game that it almost feels wasteful not to challenge you more.

[it290]

Even the Western release is kind of trivially easy after you've run it a few times in my opinion, which is a shame since the game is so beautiful. The exception would be the platforming in the final stage, but that's more just frustrating than it is challenging in a fun way IMO. For all its brutality I think the previous game is more balanced for fun overall, which also sucks because Joe is so much more fluid and expressive in Shinobi 3.

BTW if you aren't using it, the 6-button mode enabled via code is definitely the way to play. I'd also recommend this romhack as the definitive way to play overall.

[velo]

Well, it took me 2 years of playing on & off (I guess more if you include time spent with the Dreamcast Smash Pack & various other emulated versions) but I finally 1CCed Revenge of Shinobi legit, good ending, original hardware, no infinite shurikens, no 1up cheese, no magic cheese. In looking around the internet it seems every other forum is just full of cowards saying to do that junk or use save states. It took me way longer, but my ninja honour remains intact and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Congrats, harbor jump without magic is too much stress for this guy.

I was curious why Volgarr was on sale on the eshop. It never goes on sale, ever.

Switch version has been on sale multiple times although it's been a couple years. I never got the good ending, any of that stuff other than the basic died-800-times clear... might as well knock all that out before I so much as look at Volgarr 2.

BTW if you aren't using it, the 6-button mode enabled via code is definitely the way to play. I'd also recommend this romhack as the definitive way to play overall.

The dedicated block button is way, way too strong imo. I think they put it behind a cheat code for a reason. If you stick with 3-button controls, max out the difficulty settings and dash/walljump through the big boring empty parts, it's got enough challenge imo. Forgoing magic, some of the boss fights get a lot more interesting.

[wiNteR]

Regarding SS2, that's the only shinobi game that I have played. Long story short, little over 20 years ago this and aero blaster were among my most played games for about 1.5 years or so. What I tried to do was:
(i) To get a "no damage" clear. That is, I allowed to get myself hit once when in high-power mode. If I re-call correctly, the game allowed you to get hit once (without losing hp) when in full power.
(ii)
Edit:
No ninja scrolls. Somehow I forgot to mention this.

(iii) Double jump shuriken wasn't allowed to be used to hit any enemies [if happened in a screen with no enemies then that was OK]. There are few parts which did actually become a little easier with this move [3-2 boss and stage 6-1 come to mind, but there would be few other parts too probably]. However, overall it doesn't seem that makes a big difference.

Of course since I used emulation. Being able to practice later parts helped alot. The game is a bit long and definitely has sort of a difficulty curve.

Now, at that time, I was in highschool and didn't know anything about 1CC or no-miss. These are the terms that I first heard 3 or 4 years later after visiting this forum. Playing like this was just a way to get more fun out of the game. I do re-call a few failed attempts on just about most sections of the game. And indeed there were multiple failed attempts on the last section [in full runs that is].

If I play the game again I would probably try to get a no-hit run without using any power-up. Since one hit in power-mode is equal to multiple ordinary hits, having it does make some of the bosses easier. Regarding no-block, I don't re-call the game well-enough to know whether it is possible without a no-damage run [in particular, the first thing I would look at is whether the last boss can be done like this].

Regarding the slash attack [the run attack], it does grant invincibility which is useful at times. Another detail is that if you hit an enemy during a slash attack the player doesn't lost any hp/power-up etc.

=====================

A good part of the game is definitely quite learnable without being difficult in execution. This made it more suitable for me at that time [some parts do require execution skills (or possibly improvisation) beyond just learning stage layouts though]. I am doubtful, for example, whether (at that time) I would have been able to get something like a Ninja Spirit clear (at that time) due to more improvisation required in that game.

Still looking back at it now, this does seem a "reasonably impressive" achievement (given I was 16--17 year old at that time). Of course nothing even remotely close to ground-breaking or anything. Actually though, what seems more surprising to me now is that I was able to make a significant head-way with genesis version of aero blaster [trying to get a no-miss on the hardest difficulty]. Stage-4 in that game can be difficult. My best "no-miss run" [though I didn't know this is what it was called] was getting up to stage-5 boss once.

[Air Master Burst]

Revenge of Shinobi has the added disadvantage of being terribly ported for decades. I still have nightmares of the input lag on the DC Smash Pack.

Still looking back at it now, this does seem a "reasonably impressive" achievement (given I was 16--17 year old at that time).

This gives me a great idea for a thread!

[BIL]

Congrats, harbor jump without magic is too much stress for this guy.

There's a trick for that bit which I swear by, and which I'm 50/50 on being deliberate from the designers. (the little "YU-DA" decals stamped into various bits of metal and concrete scenery suggest a discerning eye! ageless near-future cool! that's art lead Thomas Yuda, who went on to design Knuckles IIRC)

Authentic Ninja Parkour

Keep an eye on the battleship's hawsehole in the background (yes, I had to look up the term!). Notice how it's slightly to the left of the edge, moving to the right as you approach. Jump as soon as it's cleared the edge. You'll still need to perfectly apex the second jump input, but that's a breeze compared to the choking horror of under/overshooting the ledge dropoff.

An appallingly primitive GIF

Spoiler

BLAOW! Works every time! For me, anyway! Peep me ramming Musashi-sama hard to the left beforehand, don't wanna squander a pixel of runup.

I should redo that GIF. should redo a lot of my old stuff tbh. nice thumbnails 4 og runs.

[BrianC]

Revenge of Shinobi has the added disadvantage of being terribly ported for decades. I still have nightmares of the input lag on the DC Smash Pack.

And the first PC Smash Pack used an unfinished beta for some reason.

[Sengoku Strider]

BTW if you aren't using it, the 6-button mode enabled via code is definitely the way to play.

Thanks, I didn't know there was one. Has anyone involved ever commented as to why they hid it? It's weird to me that all these hardcore Japanese games like this and Alien Soldier sidelined the 6-button rather than embracing it.

this and aero blaster were among my most played games for about 1.5 years or so.

Are you talking the Mega Drive version, or PC Engine? I've heard the MD one is manageable, but the end of the PCE one broke me. I think the Studio Mudprints guy said he's never beaten it since the 90s. But it is on my list to go back and beat one of these days when I circle back around to my PCE collection.

Congrats, harbor jump without magic is too much stress for this guy.

Oh, I didn't do that on this run, I just meant not mijin-cheesing the last boss. I have made that jump straight up multiple times, BIL's method is totally on point. But this wasn't just my first 1CC, but the first time I'd ever beaten the game period. I only got it on my last life, so I likely wouldn't have pulled it off had I been rolling the dice in the 7-1 casino. I was mainly mentioning all the constraints because when I looked up hints to beat the last boss I came across this Reddit thread full of people saying to use various cheats or cheese moves while patting themselves on the back and it annoyed me. You've got one of the best action games ever made in front of you and you're going to squander that just to see a 30 second ending graphic and claim you beat it? I did see the ending with save states way back on...

...the DC Smash Pack.

*shudder* But in all this time I've never thought that meant I'd actually beaten the game.

---------

Is there a recommended technique to take out the winged ninjas in Shinobi III? They're like the red arremers of this game, they get in so many cheap hits. I've figured out they move in some kind of figure 8-like pattern off-screen, but the best I've come up with is just memorizing when they appear, and if I don't get them right away then using double jump or dive kick to dodge the shurikens if I can. Blocking is a dodgy proposition because they're good at aiming past the collision for that.

[wiNteR]

Are you talking the Mega Drive version, or PC Engine? I've heard the MD one is manageable, but the end of the PCE one broke me. I think the Studio Mudprints guy said he's never beaten it since the 90s. But it is on my list to go back and beat one of these days when I circle back around to my PCE collection.

In the given post, I was talking about a no-miss of the MD version on the "hardest" difficulty.

I know about some of the differences between the arcade and MD versions difficulties etc. For example, in my opinion, for a 1CC the difficulty across them goes like (highest to lowest):
MD (hardest)
MD (normal)
Arcade

For a no-miss this is changed somewhat:
Arcade
MD (hardest)
MD (normal)

The arcade version has quite a bit of rank. I have seen a video or two of a clear on this game while keeping the power level of weapons quite low [I am not accounting for that in the above difficulty ranking because I just get all the usual weapons and power levels].

The arcade version gives generous extends (past a certain point) and also the rank goes down heavily after deaths. I don't re-call the MD hardest having rank (or at least rank as substantial as arcade version).

There are also some other differences in the versions. The stage-4 boss has significant differences between between the two versions. Similarly, on "MD hardest" the final boss is a good bit harder than "arcade" version or "MD Normal" version. In a similar way, Stage-5 has a "robot-battle" just around the middle part of the stage (which lasts a few seconds). If one is at max rank, then that is (perhaps) the hardest part of the game in arcade version. This battle is kind of pretty easy in MD version (on all difficulties). There are other small differences that are scattered across both versions.

---------------

Regarding the PCE version, I have never really played it so I can't say. Having only glanced a few videos, it does look more difficult than MD normal I think. Beyond that it is difficult to say without playing the game properly. However, I think that one thing that is worth pointing out that the number of lives available (in one continue) across different versions seems to vary, which also relates to 1CC difficulty.

On a side note, does the PCE version have multiple difficulty selections?

[Sumez]

Still trying to figure out which game that post above is talking about...

[velo]

Oh, I didn't do that on this run, I just meant not mijin-cheesing the last boss. I have made that jump straight up multiple times, BIL's method is totally on point. But this wasn't just my first 1CC, but the first time I'd ever beaten the game period. I only got it on my last life, so I likely wouldn't have pulled it off had I been rolling the dice in the 7-1 casino. I was mainly mentioning all the constraints because when I looked up hints to beat the last boss I came across this Reddit thread full of people saying to use various cheats or cheese moves while patting themselves on the back and it annoyed me. You've got one of the best action games ever made in front of you and you're going to squander that just to see a 30 second ending graphic and claim you beat it? I did see the ending with save states way back on...

iirc (and I may not), the final boss is immune to magic damage anyway. If you didn't notice, he always does the same attacks in the same order. There's no memorable pattern to the sequence, but you can (and I have) commit them to memory by rote instead of playing by reaction.

The ninpo isn't so well-balanced... the shield makes the others useless for the most part. You're really not doing so hot if you can't out-damage the smart bomb while taking five free hits (or however many it is). If I reach a boss with POW I immediately put on a shield as insurance.

Also, have to mention that the Shinobi 3 finale boss is a real jerk. It's easy enough to suicide bomb him to death if you have the spare lives, but I don't think I've ever beaten him without magic.

[Sengoku Strider]

Still trying to figure out which game that post above is talking about...

Aero Blasters.

The ninpo isn't so well-balanced... the shield makes the others useless for the most part.

That's all I ended up using anyway.

Also, have to mention that the Shinobi 3 finale boss is a real jerk. It's easy enough to suicide bomb him to death if you have the spare lives, but I don't think I've ever beaten him without magic.

I got to for the first time last night but on my last life, so I didn't really have a chance to learn much. It was super late so I wasn't up for continuing. That background is impressive as hell though, one of the best scenes on the hardware for sure.

[Sengoku Strider]

I did it, got the Super Shinobi II 1CC. The last boss was actually a total pansy once I figured out what to do.

I was feeling pumped, so I put the difficulty up to hard, and immediately got the 1CC there too. It wasn't really that different, by far the hardest part was 6-2. The spike pillars seem faster, and they took 3 or 4 lives off me. The Neo Zeed reprise noh boss fight was tough too, he feels like the real boss of this game. He took a few more lives off me with his tankier health; I beat him but I never did quite get his pattern down. The final chapter was barely any different, aside from the small turrets being more aggressive. But I got through and beat the boss without dying. The ending was the exact same.

So then I thought what the heck, and went for hardest. This is clearly the mastery mode, your health bar is half as long and bosses are notably more aggressive. I got up to the bio monster boss of 3-2, beat him twice but died to his final attack both times, so it didn't count. It was funny watching my score still rack up for 5-10 seconds on the next life.

But anyway, I did it. I 1CCed the whole Mega Drive Shinobi trilogy legit on original hardware. I feel like I must have earned some sort of gaming stripe for myself. I do have the Saturn game, though I'll probably go for the arcade version of the first game before I do that, I've been stuck at the final stage for ages. But I kind of want to stay on this Mega Drive roll, I think I might do Kujaku Ou 2 (Mystic Defender) next.

[BIL]

Well done, marked for index! Shin Shinobi Den is underrated, imo. I suspect it'd be overrated by the usual quarters, instead, had it shared SS1&2's bullseye ninja/industrial pixels. Or had it been a hybrid masterclass in darkly florid necrofeudal, ala Taromaru. I actually find its Tokusatsu style quite charming, comfily transcending the Mortal Kombat zeitgeist.

Regardless, it plays better than it looks/sounds. The mechanics and animations aren't as tight as the MDs' - the running slash is a notable casualty, having none of SS2's almighty venom - but it's more than serviceable, and it has some genuinely good ideas; particularly on aerial combat. I always find myself missing the rolling katana, when returning to the MD duo. And while the goofy Scrooge McDuck katana pogo is no match for SS2's superhumanly raptoresque divekick, it chains into doublejumps, katana rolls / shuriken bursts, and hanging grips with impressive smoothness.

I like the emphasis on the katana, too; a logical continuation of SS2's 6button mode. Shuriken are more of a sidearm for sniping out zako, with advanced enemies not only blocking, but now outright returning them. Each weapon having its own kill animation is a nice grim touch; crumpling shuriken-raked hordes a rare even aesthetic trade, vs the MD's immortally gratifying incendies.

Feels like a mildly rumpled but well-observed fanmade SS3 that could've used a stronger art dept/budget. I forget who developed, I wanna say perennial journeymen TOSE, offhand. I wouldn't be all that surprised if personnel from the MD duo were involved.

Kujaku Ou 2 is great; I always suspect the same team did Rambo III and Jewel Master. All of 'em could pass for FC/Mark III games, mechanically, but by that same token, they're always a good straight-ahead time. NTSCJ ver has a far superior character design straight from the source manga, wielding perhaps the coolest sidescrolling flamethrower. I seem to recall hearing the gratuitious nudity actually survived the trip overseas, but I'm guessing it's not on the sleeve art like on MD. Some excellent occult bodyhorror here and there, second stage is good n' eerie.



"I will meditate and then destroy you!"

[Air Master Burst]

Wielding perhaps the coolest sidescrolling flamethrower.

My vote goes to Duke Nukem II, it's so strong that when you shoot it straight down it actually boosts you into the air to help with platforming.

Either that or maybe Alien Soldier's point-blank face melter.

Oh jeez, I'm going to be thinking of these all day now.

[BIL]

Soldier's has the best "dump the fuckin clip" ethos, between its ravenous appetite for fuel gauge and boss lifebars alike. I can't resist the image of a monk wreathing himself in flames as not protest but rather more direct action, though. The way you can move about freely lashing it back and forth is great, too.





Shin Contra's is still the most grimly convincing flamejet animation, imo. Uncannily smooth, as is its fire/explosion FX in general, all of it leaping off the grimdark BGs. Honourable mention to Fire Trooper from Crude Buster, who makes clever use of controlled burn!

A spirited attempt to curb these scenery-stealing madmen