Box Shot

There's an extremely goofy intro that does what intros normally do: tell us the story and introduce the characters. In this particular case, it's Kid Ying (Japanese name: Goemon) and Dr. Yang (Ebisimaru). The ghost woman of Hiro Temple is doing all sorts of nasty things, and it's up for you two to stop it (the game's two player simultaneous, so it's great with a friend. Unless he/she's slow while you burst ahead, getting hit. But that's your own problem). Well, if that's all that you had to do, the game would be pretty damn simple...but it's not. When you beat the ghost woman, a little cat pops out, seemingly under some sort of trance. He informs you about his cat boss Koban and tells you to find him. Eventually when you proceed to stage 2 and find him, you'll learn about a kidnapped princess and a band of evil counterfeiters. It's nice to see a game that gives little plot points throughout the game rather than just giving the player a goal and running with it (even though the story really isn't the main focus of the game.)

Mystical Ninja has two views: a 2D depth movement level (similar to Double Dragon and its ilk) and the standard 2D side-scrolling levels. Most of the time, it starts off in the depth movement area of level. It's not entirely linear...in fact, some of the levels can be small mazes. Many times there's little paths that lead off to houses or shops that really aren't necessary to go to, but you can travel there anyway. There are, of course, many enemies wandering around, of which you beat up in order to earn money (of course, there are some innocent civilians running around... make sure to save them instead of killing them.) With money, you can buy stuff like Pizza (refills your life when it's down), Armor and Helmets (protect against hits), Sandals (jump higher and run faster), Bombs, and stuff like that. In this sense, it's almost structured similarly to the NES classic, River City Ransom, although the game still is level structured (you can't revisit places you've already beaten.) It does almost have that RPG feel, with power building and people in houses that give semi-useful information. Enemies also drop a few different power-ups, some that affect your overall power meter, and others that upgrade your weapon (Kid Yang starts with that little pipe thing of his, but with one power-up it grows longer, then turns into a yo-yo. Dr. Yang also has a set of weapons.) In an interesting twist, you can even throw gold coins at the enemies. Alas, one hit will not only degrade your weapon, but will also take away any sandals that you have too (unless you bought many pairs, or have some armor.) Also, you can't take too many hits...unless you find a hidden power-up in each level, four hits from most bad guys will kill you (stock up on those Pizzas!)

Sometimes there's a goal in these areas (like gaining a certain amount of money to buy a pass), more often than not, you simply have to find the exit. It's a good idea to power-up before you do though. In most levels then, the game will switch to the side-scroller for a segment (some are longer than others) and eventually the boss battle. These are your standard sort of screens that you see in a Konami game, except death will result in sending you back to a checkpoint (as opposed to starting where you left off, as in the 2D depth screens.)

Now, onto the negatives, which isn't much...in typical Konami tradition, the game is difficult and can be frustrating, but this could've been fixed. Powering up in the levels is often a necessity, especially later in the game. But when you reach a boss, you really only have one shot to beat him...if you lose, then you lose all of your Pizza, Armor, Sandals, etc. making the fight very futile from that point on. And once you lose all of your lives, you're sent way back to the beginning of the level, forcing you to power-up all over again. There is a password that saves what you've obtained, but these are rather long and confusing, and would need to be re-entered every time you continue if you want to keep your items.

But on a whole, there's not much else wrong with this game. Most of the fun simply comes from running around town and hitting people with your sticks. The game's goofy Japanese influence is obvious...enemy's eyes bulge out when you hit them, and some of the baddies are just plain wacky (I love the circus levels, where you trot around and beat up clowns for no real reason, and watch as their fake heads fall off. It's a riot!) Also rather neat are the cutscenes, which despite their serious overtone, usually end up being rather funny (like when an old wizard uses his Miraculous Transportation Device, which is really a cannon, to send Kid Ying and Dr. Yang to the complete WRONG place.)

One of the reason why this game is so popular otherwise is the astounding amount of mini-games. There are silly little things, like gambling simulations, carnival-like throwing games, and stuff like that. But there's also more. You can find first-person bonus mazes to wander around and find power-ups. There's even arcades where you can play Air Hockey, a Breakout variant, and even the first level of Gradius! One level, the amusement park, is almost entirely filled with stuff like this. These bonuses really make it look like the designers wanted to put tons of fun stuff to make the game great!

Legend of the Mystical Ninja has an interesting graphical look. It heavily resembles ancient Japan, but all of the enemies (and their deaths) are rather funny. One of my favorite is a tiny little ninja carrying tea, who runs, trips and spills it all over the place (of course, the broken glass shards will hurt you.) As a result, there's a clash...seriousness vs. goofiness. I personally love it and gives the game a very unique charm. The sound is pretty similar...it has the Japanese feel to it, and I think all of the tunes are excellent. The sound effects are pretty funny too. The controls respond pretty well, although some enemies really attack to aggressively and it's too difficult to dodge them.

Konami made a true classic (and a wise decision) when they ported this gem to the United States. It's gained cult appeal not only for its quirkiness, but also the mini-games and just plain fun gameplay. You don't see many games like this anymore...definitely a wise investment!