Name that game

[abc_kid]

Looking for the name of a vertical shooter that came out in the late 80s early 90s. I believe you had a blue ship and when you got enough power-ups you would turn into a Macross-like mech. Thanks in advance for any help.

[Specineff]

UFO Robo Dangar?

[Obiwanshinobi]

There was an 8-bit platformer for the Famicom (or so I think) starring a ninja with a grappling hook. I'm not sure whether he could jump or not. The game had loveable music. It was a Famicom exclusive from what I remember. Anyone?
P.S. I think it was Arumana no Kiseki. Apparently the protagonist wasn't exactly a ninja.

[ZOM]

^Yeah I have that game on FDS, could never really get into it - reason for that was the rather infuriating vertical grapple system. Otherwise I'm sure that with a bit of determination it could be a very good game, La Mulana reminds me alot of it, especially the music. Was there a cartridge version too?

[Ruldra]

Okay, let's see if anyone can find out this one...

It's a side-scrolling ninja game. Before each level starts, there's a bunch of powers you can choose from (one of them is summoning a lightning bolt from the top of the screen and hit a guy on the head). One of the bosses is a guy holding a girl hostage. He has 4 or 5 hit points, and here's the weird thing about him: you had to use different attacks to take each hitpoint, or else his health is replenished. I never could get past him.

I can't remember which console is it from, but I recall playing Rockman 3 on it.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Doesn't sound exactly like Irem's Ninja Spirit/Saigo no Nindou, which is one fantastic game by the way.
Just search Wikipedia for "ninja scrolling" or "ninja side scrolling" and enjoy the response...

^Yeah I have that game on FDS, could never really get into it - reason for that was the rather infuriating vertical grapple system. Otherwise I'm sure that with a bit of determination it could be a very good game, La Mulana reminds me alot of it, especially the music. Was there a cartridge version too?

Maybe you can find it on one of those dodgy bootleg carts, but there was no official cartridge from what I know. It's got high production values, but seems too much like Rock 'N Rope, which I'm not very fond of.

[Ed Oscuro]

Doesn't sound exactly like Irem's Ninja Spirit/Saigo no Nindou, which is one fantastic game by the way.

Haha, Ruldra is knowledgeable enough that I would be very surprised if he mistook this for Ninja Spirit. Ninja Spirit lets you select between four weapons during each stage and nothing summons a lightning bolt like that.

Hmm, I'll have to say that I don't know. It doesn't sound like any Shinobi / Shadow Dancer games that I can think of (including the Game Gear ones) although I think you can select the ninpou type before one of them maybe (???). For some reason I also think of Ninja Cop Saizou but...well, can't be that one either.

It sounds like it must be the Famicom or Super Famicom, which also makes Shinobi or Ninja Spirit (Sega and PC-Engine, though Ninja Spirit got a port on the Game Boy...), unless you count The Wily Wars on the MD as close to Rockman 3 (I wouldn't know, never played a Mega Man game).

[Ruldra]

never played a Mega Man game

Megaman X / X2 / X3 are one of the best things to ever come out for SNES. Give them a try.

[ZOM]

Was Rockman 3 released on any other console than the Famicom?
I've played a truckload of Ninja themed games but I can't really remember the bit with the boss and different attacks to beat him being in any of them. I'm following this thread with interest, hopefully someone on this board is able to find Ruldra's fogotten game. I wanna play it

[Obiwanshinobi]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockman_Complete_Works
Is Interlacing the Unwelcome present in Mega Man Anniversary Collection?

[Obiwanshinobi]

It's a side-scrolling ninja game. Before each level starts, there's a bunch of powers you can choose from (one of them is summoning a lightning bolt from the top of the screen and hit a guy on the head).

In Kage/Shadow of the Ninja on the NES, if you have more than half of your energy left, you can summon a thunderbolt by holding B. There are no powers selectable before each mission as far as I know, but you can play as either a kunoichi or some dude.

[BIL]

Okay, let's see if anyone can find out this one...

It's a side-scrolling ninja game. Before each level starts, there's a bunch of powers you can choose from (one of them is summoning a lightning bolt from the top of the screen and hit a guy on the head). One of the bosses is a guy holding a girl hostage. He has 4 or 5 hit points, and here's the weird thing about him: you had to use different attacks to take each hitpoint, or else his health is replenished. I never could get past him.

I can't remember which console is it from, but I recall playing Rockman 3 on it.

Sounds a bit like Wrath of the Black Manta (NES) aka Ninja Cop Saizou (Famicom), from the powerup select and that boss description.

[Ruldra]

Sounds a bit like Wrath of the Black Manta (NES) aka Ninja Cop Saizou (Famicom), from the powerup select and that boss description.

Holy crap that's the one, thank you! Turns out the boss I was talking about is the last one from the (much inferior) US version.

It's funny that Ed did mention it, but that boss doesn't show up on the japanese version so I thought it was another game.

[ZOM]

That explains why I couldn't remember the aforementioned boss - never played the US version, is it that much different?

[Ruldra]

Quite a lot, according to Wikipedia.

Before Wrath of the Black Manta was released to the U.S. and Europe, it was known in Japan as Ninja Cop Saizou, with several notable differences.

Graphically, many of the sprites and artwork were altered between versions. All of the cut scenes in Ninja Cop Saizou are different from those used in Black Manta. The graphics in these scenes are more in the style of anime or manga than the more realistic graphics used in the U.S. and Europe games. Tiny, the boss of the first stage, is also different in both versions, with the Ninja Cop version of him being more in the style of anime and manga and is a little more animated than the Black Manta versions. The Japanese game also has him shoot a projectile from his fists, where the other versions do not. The Rio de Janeiro stage on the Japanese game has a boss creature made of electricity, where in Black Manta the boss is replaced with the Voodoo warrior. The backgrounds for these boss fights are different in both versions. Finally, the sprites used for jumping upward are different in both versions. The Japanese game's sprite is drawn to show speed lines rather than the Manta's feet while jumping upwards.

There are six stages in Ninja Cop Saizou where Wrath of the Black Manta only has five. The second stage in Ninja Cop is completely removed from Black Manta. This Japanese exclusive stage also has a floating eyeball boss that isn't in Black Manta. In the final stage of the game there are also a couple alterations. In the Japanese game, you must take on all of the bosses from the previous levels, where in Black Manta, you only have to take on one of them. The final boss is also completely different in both games. In Black Manta, the player only has to fight a character named El Toro using four of the ninja arts. In Ninja Cop, the player has to take on a space ship which drops a variety of enemies from the game. After that, the games final boss transforms into an alien, which the player must fight normally, unlike having to use ninja arts like in Black Manta.

In addition to all of these aforementioned changes, both games have completely different soundtracks. Lastly, many of the ninja arts are learned in a different order between each game.

[ZOM]

Haha, holy.... most altered game in videogame history? Makes me want to play one of the changed versions just for the lulz.

[Skykid]

I used to love Black Manta when I was a kid. At the time I had no idea the western release was butchered, but I did have a lot of fun with it. It was one of the only games I had that had an awesome anime cover, unlike most of the redrawn NES shit.

Edit: This dude seems to favour the Western re-jig:

http://www.sydlexia.com/copvswrath.htm

[Klatrymadon]

If anyone can elucidate me as to the provenance of these two belters, I'll owe you several pints. I feel like I should know.

[ZOM]

Ok, that looks awesome.

Where did you get the pics from? Maybe that could help for the search.

[Klatrymadon]

Unfortunately, mate, I've got nothing. They were posted years ago on another forum I use, in a thread about good videogame artwork and stuff, but the poster didn't say anything about them and hasn't been back since.

The files are called 'op08' and 'op11', so it could conceivably be something with the initials OP, but I'm drawing a blank there.

[BIL]

I'd like to know too. Looks like Cthulhu just owned a minotaur with Hokuto Shinken in the post-apocalyptic wastes.

[ZOM]

I could be wrong, but that resolution and "look" looks pretty much like a PC-8801 game to me. If that's the case good luck on finding it

[Klatrymadon]

Hehe, yeah, that's what I was thinking! I'm not really expecting anybody to have an answer - people who can identify the look are uncommon enough - but not sharing these pics just wouldn't be right.

[Klatrymadon]

It's my lucky day! Thanks to a post by ReyVGM elsewhere, I can now identify this as Last Armageddon. It was released for various platforms, including MS-DOS computers, and I'd guess that this is the version my pics came from. There's also a PCE CD one.

Edit: now I feel awfully stupid. I've just found that the original poster had linked to these pics from a Last Armageddon fan site, which I would have discovered had I merely chopped out some of the URL, instead of saving them on my own FTP for posterity.

[ZOM]

Ahh that's great! Name of the game sounds familiar though I don't remember having played it before. Anyways, I'm gonna hunt down the PCE version thankyouverymuch!

EDIT: Hmm judging by some crappily recorded videos the X68K version seems to have better art.

[Specineff]

Was Rockman 3 released on any other console than the Famicom?

Mega Man the Wily Wars for Euro MegaDrive is one. I think there was also a PC release, back in the DOS days. Not sure.

[Klatrymadon]

There's a Saturn version, if I haven't gone barmy. Possibly a PlayStation one, too.

PS - I agree, ZOM! The PCE version is the least interesting one, visually.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Was Rockman 3 released on any other console than the Famicom?

Mega Man the Wily Wars for Euro MegaDrive is one. I think there was also a PC release, back in the DOS days. Not sure.

It was also released on the PSX as one of the Rockman Complete Works game with some enhancements.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockman_Complete_Works

[Obiwanshinobi]

I can't put my hands on a certain SNES game's name. Well, I'm pretty sure it wasn't any other 16-bit platform. It was about a purple-haired(?) lady(?) waking up(?) onboard of a spaceship(?) and walking around with a massive gun, battling some green(?) blobs. Top down or isometric view à la Alien Syndrome. It wasn't trying to look "realistic" and was most likely Japanese. I'm not sure whether it was all about shooty action or there was some action adventure variety to the gameplay.

[Skykid]

Trying to remember the title for a GBA game, released around the time the SP came iirc. It was similar to Gunstar Heroes in that it was a 2D side on run and gun (and something is telling me it may have had 'gun' in the title.)

I saw it first time I was in Tokyo and didn't pick it up because I knew little about it, but now I'm curious. Don't think it got a release outside of Japan.