By Kurt Kalata

You probably wouldn't know it, but Ninja Jajamaru-kun was one of Jaleco's most prolific franchises back in the Famicom days. The stubby little bug-eyed ninja, star of his own 1985 Famicom title, eventually went on to star in four other games, going through significant design overhauls in the process. Similar to Sega's Alex Kidd series, Jaleco plastered him in so many different games that there's barely any consistency among them. Most of them are side-scrolling action platformers, but there are a few RPGs mixed in too. The quality, too, wildly varies from game to game - some are pretty good, although one would be hard pressed to call them classics. After a number of 8-bit titles, series stayed pretty quiet, outside of some attempted reimaginings for the 32-bit and portable consoles. The series actually began as an arcade title called Ninja-kun, released in 1984 by a company called UPL (known for Atomic Robokid and a few other low-profile titles.) Jaleco was responsible for porting the title to the Famicom, but they ended up reusing the character in their own home release, redubbing their new game Ninja Jajamaru-kun. UPL continued with their own Ninja-kun lines while Jaleco practically turned him into their mascot, even though they were essentially the same character. Many installments were actually scheduled to be released in America, but were canned for unknown reasons. The only games that did make it were the original arcade games - bearing the title Ninja Kid - and two of the Gameboy titles, retitled "Ninja Taro" and "Maru's Mission". It wasn't until the release of the original Famicom game on the Wii Virtual Console that Jajamaru-kun made his official debut to Westerners. Table of Contents Page 1: Ninja-kun games Page 2: Ninja Jajamaru 1, 2, 3 Page 3: Ninja Jajamaru 4, 5, 32-bit Page 4: Ninja Jajamaru Portable

Ninja Jajamaru-kun (Famicom) Ninja-kun: Ashura no Shou (Arcade)

Ninja-kun: Majou no Bouken / Ninja Kid - Arcade / Famicom (1984)

Japanese Flyer

Ninja-kun (Arcade)

Ninja-kun (Arcade)

Like most retro arcade games, the goal in Ninja-kun to simply to kill all of the enemies in each stage. Each level scrolls directly upward for a few screens, each comprised of several cliffs. Ninja-kun attacks with shurikens, which can also be used to block enemy projectiles. Running into foes will only temporarily stun you, but getting hit by enemy fire will kill you. However, you can also stun enemies by jumping on top of their heads. There are only three stages which repeat over and over, adding new and more difficult enemies as you progress. However, there are floating balls that occasionally fall from the top of the screen. If you collect three, you'll be taken to a bonus stage where you need to collect all of the orbs in a stage in a certain amount of time. For a game made in 1984, Ninja-kun actually looks pretty good. The sprites are small and squashed, but they're colorful and detailed. Your ninja's most notable characteristic is his eyes, which bug out in a panic whenever he's stunned or killed. The only real major problem is the odd jumping controls. You can only jump if you're running left or right and hit the jump button. If you're standing still and hit the jump button, you'll leap down to the cliff below, which is quite confusing. Ninja-kun was also ported to the Famicom by Jaleco (and to the MSX), but the controls are pretty awful and the game feels pretty buggy. It's also notable that this game has nothing to do with the NES game "Ninja Kid" (which is actually an adapted version of the Famicom game Gegege no Kitarou) or the Taito arcade game "The Ninja Kids" (which is a humorous side scrolling beat-em-up.)

Ninja-kun (Arcade) Ninja-kun (Arcade) Ninja-kun (Arcade)

Comparison Screenshots

Arcade	Famicom

Ninja-kun: Ashura no Shou / Ninja Kid II - Arcade / Famicom / MSX (1987)

Famicom Cover

Ninja-kun: Ashura no Shou (Arcade)

Ninja-kun: Ashura no Shou (Arcade)

The arcade sequel takes the gameplay of Ninja-kun and greatly expands on it. Although there are many stages which you simply need to clear the screen of bad guys, there are also a number of side scrolling areas where the goal is simply to get to the end. There are far more levels, which are generally bigger than the screens from the original game. There are even three different paths at the beginning of the game, and your route depends on the card you select when you start. In addition to some swimming stages, there are also very brief "puzzle" stages - if you can get to the end, you'll get a bonus weapon for the next stage, but you can choose to dishonor yourself and simply skip it, although you won't get rewarded. In addition to your shurikens, you can also get boomerangs, as well as a fire wheel that encircles Ninja-kun. The character sprites look about the same as the original game, but the background graphics have improved a bit. It's not exactly a classic, but it's still pretty fun. It was ported to the Famicom in 1990 by UPL themselves, and is a significantly better port than the Famicom version of Ninja-kun - other than the downgraded graphics, the game plays pretty much the same. It was meant to be released in America by American Sammy under the name Ninja Taro, but that never came to fruition. It also reached the MSX courtesy of HAL. It looks better than the Famicom version, but the scrolling is choppy, and the multiple routes at the beginning have been removed.

Ninja-kun: Ashura no Shou (Arcade) Ninja-kun: Ashura no Shou (Arcade) Ninja-kun: Ashura no Shou (Arcade)

Comparison Screenshots

Arcade	Famicom	MSX

Ninja Taro / Sengoku Ninja-kun - Gameboy (1991)

American Cover

Ninja Taro

Ninja Taro

While the NES version of Ninja Taro was cancelled, American Sammy did bring out the Gameboy version, which was called Sengoku Ninja-kun in Japan. However, it's actually a totally different game that borrows a lot from the Legend of Zelda games, and is actually pretty similar to American Sammy's own Rolan's Curse. It's an overhead action-RPG where you need to explore the overworld, run quests for townspeople, find treasure chests to power-up your strength, and hunt through caves to destroy boss monsters. It's more straightforward than the Zelda games, because there's no puzzle solving and no currency. Also, most weaponry - which include swords, shurikens, fire blasts, bombs and such - are obtained by killing enemies. It's a bit slow moving, and Ninja-kun can barely take any damage before dying, but it's actually kinda fun for a Gameboy game, even if it can't compete with Link's Awakening.

Ninja Taro

Super Ninja-kun - Super Famicom (1994)

Japanese Cover

Super Ninja-kun

Super Ninja-kun

An update of the original arcade games, Super Ninja-kun features improved 16-bit graphics, a much larger variety of stages, boss battles, dashing abilities, and a two-player mode. You can now take several hits before you die, and can even expand your life meter by grabbing heart containers found throughout the stage. You begin with your standard shurikens, but when you beat a level, you're rewarded with new weapons, including bombs, lightning bolts, and more. When you collect spirits from fallen enemies, it will also charge your power gauge, allowing you to unleash a variety of magic spells. Overall, it's a decent update, but the original games were hardly enthralling to begin with, so this just comes off as a run-of-the-mill side scroller. Curiously, this was published by Jaleco rather than UPL - considering how much they had whored out the Jajamaru name during the Famicom era, it's strange that they went back to the original name for this installment, even if it is closer to the original Ninja-kun than the Jajamaru-kun games. This is not to be confused with the American SNES game Super Ninja Boy, which is actually part of Culture Brain's "Chinese World" series.

Super Ninja-kun