First issues first, is there a sport on the market with a greater title than Ninja JaJaMaru: The Nice Yokai Battle +Hell? If there may be, I haven’t mentioned its identify out loud. Second issues second, this sport is as a lot enjoyable as its title.
It involves us from ININ Video games, which has not too long ago dropped various Ninja JaJaMaru ports. We already reviewed The Misplaced RPGs, a pairing of two titles launched in 1989 and 1990. For those who’re actually searching for some retro gaming motion, you’ll be able to go for Ninja JaJaMaru: Retro Assortment. That one offers you 5 NES and SNES video games launched between 1985 and 1994. These will also be bought together with The Nice Yokai Battle +Hell within the Deluxe Version for simply $10 extra. That’s a very good deal, however I’m going to focus solely on The Nice Yokai Battle +Hell right here. Why? As a result of it’s an all-new title that deserves direct consideration.
As with the video games for which it’s bearing the torch, The Nice Yokai Battle comes with a quite simple premise; you’re a ninja, and you need to kill numerous enemies earlier than they kill you. The motion is carried out in a single-screen state of affairs, though some scrolling within the cardinal instructions is usually required to see the whole lot. I sort of dug that, because it made the battles appear a bit bigger whereas solely really being a…bit bigger…I assume?
Enemies seem from set areas on a number of ranges, and it’s as much as your ninja to leap and drop between flooring so as to remove the menace. You may drop down from any level, however you’ll be able to solely transfer up by first breaking away particular sections of the ground above (they do reappear after a second). You too can stun enemies in the event that they’re on the breakaway part if you hit it, however the identical applies to your self. Positioning and timing are key to your success.
Fortunately, the power to destroy property isn’t your solely weapon. Your ninja is provided with infinite shurikens (or different weapons, relying upon the character) which can be fairly efficient at clearing the display of enemies. Of equal significance, your shurikens are in a position to counter the enemy projectiles tossed your approach. This makes it potential to cost straight at enemies till you’re in a position to get your shurikens by way of for the hit. After all, you’ll be able to at all times bounce or drop flooring to get away, and there’ll shortly come a time when brute forcing your approach by way of a stage will not work. Enemies will be extraordinarily irritating on mid to late ranges, however that’s all a part of the routine.
Eliminating enemies isn’t your solely activity, nonetheless. They drop Jalecoins and “souls” when killed, and also you’ll wish to decide these as much as redeem for varied rewards and extra characters with distinctive talents. None of that is mandatory, actually, however the historic content material will enchantment to retro players, and the extra playable content material helps to maintain issues attention-grabbing.
Additionally maintaining issues attention-grabbing are the assorted power-ups that turn into accessible, the most effective of which is a big frog that eats enemies or spits fireballs at them. There’s not a complete lot higher than that, and timing the usage of these power-ups will turn into mandatory as you advance to the tougher phases.
All of it turns into very chaotic in a short time, and I used to be barely into the sport earlier than I made a decision to flip the bounce/assault button controls. They felt counter-intuitive of their default state, so props to the builders for permitting gamers to regulate the controls, easy as they’re. Further props for constructing in single-screen two-player mode; +Hell is greatest skilled with +buddies.
Oh, for readability, the +Hell of the title is an unlockable mode that makes the enemies much more difficult to defeat, however means that you can stage up your character RPG fashion. This elevates the gameplay from the usual burst of arcade leisure to one thing that warrants extra time and thought. Mix that with the aforementioned unlockables and achievements, and there’s fairly a bit right here to carry your consideration.
The largest success of The Yokai Battle, nonetheless, is solely the way in which it captures the spirit of the interval it’s homaging. The graphics have some trendy aptitude, however simply sufficient to accent the 8-bit visuals. The motion is tight and responsive like on outdated arcade cupboards till the joysticks broke. The audio will be loved in both a contemporary association or a method extra indicative of the period. Though it’s a brand new sport, the builders completely nailed the NES vibe.
How all of this suits in with the Ninja JaJaMaru franchise, I can’t actually say. It’s definitely a far cry from gameplay of the The Misplaced RPGs. It additionally appears completely different sufficient from the video games included with the Deluxe Version to make that bundle the higher buy for nostalgia seekers (positively the way in which to go for the bodily version. However should you’re simply in search of a pleasant throwback that’s not a direct repeat of the video games you’ve performed earlier than, Ninja JaJaMaru: The Nice Yokai Battle +Hell is a struggle price having.