Game 21: Little Ninja Brothers (NES) - Taking No Prisoners, Sparing No Lives

This is a pretty good summary of the game

My plan may come to halt once I near the end, but the game is a bit more manageable now that I've skipped nearly every boss. Every time I find one I leave town and head off in another direction. It's done wonders for my survivability.

You don't sound brainwashed at all

I arrived in the town of Yokan to find everyone praising Blu Boltar as some sort of savior. Of course, once I heard he was in town I knew my next step: leave. Actually, I did try my hand at reaching him once, but failed miserably. It's obvious something fishy was going on around there, and confirmed this when I found some resistance to the Yoma Clan underground.

That's more than I've seen them do so far

In their midst were two celestial beings (a dog and a monkey), but they were just uselessly bickering. Why? They forgot why. "So what's it going to take to make them to stop," I wonder. Oh, Jack just said, "stop," and they did. With their help I learned how to use the 'M' bonus I was collecting. The bonus appears randomly from blocks, and once I have six I can now use a special Mighty Ball attack.

And, all it does is turn the enemy blue

I also received a new sword after participating in a running goal, which I again passed by losing. I'm not sure what the point of those screens are since they're easily completed at even a moderate pace.

I tried using the sword during my assault on Blu Boltar, but the hit box is really finicky

I filled back up on supplies since I collected quite a bit of gold during that attempt. Previously I stated I can only carry 8 of each type of item, but I spoke too soon. There's an item that will fully heal Jack, but I guess the developers thought it was overpowered and limited it to one. One! Well, I guess I'll just move along to the next town.

No relation to Roger

In the middle of nowhere I met the rabbit celestial being. He acted more as a sign post and fortune teller. At some point I'm going to need to bypass a Fire Castle to reach Mt. Cone-Rum, and face the great demon King Gulp. Before I left, Rogee pointed me towards Shorin, the town of Kung-Fu.

Is that a question? Also, gesundheit

Shorin offered up some new armor (Lee's Robe (Bruce?)) and a new protective talisman (sigma). There's also a Golden Claw somewhere in town. It remains quite hidden. The town holds the key to the Blue Bell, but it's only offered to the most worthy fighter in all of Shorin. The fight to the top is tough. I'm still not sure how to beat the first monk, Hoe-mer.

That's a nice ball and chain, but it doesn't seem to go with your hit box at all

I'll struggle with him later. Nearby was another Yoma Clan chateau, which held the only candle in all the world. The match I had bought earlier turned out completely useless in the cave to the west of town. Getting to the candle was difficult, once again the tower had one particular set of enemies that proved the game wasn't going to let me off easily.

Here, have some invisible enemies that shoot projectiles

With candle in hand I made my way through the cave. I was surprised to find myself face-to-face with a samurai. Not that a samurai in this world is surprising (especially when there are other enemies that are much more out of place). It was the fact the battle was turn-based. Here I thought that was saved for bosses, and that's what I mistook my first encounter for without realizing the game had changed the rules.

Tiger Tank is much more surprising

I realized after I beat the samurai, and squandered half my healing bun reserves, that these were random encounters. There's absolutely no reason to even consider battling enemies in this fashion. I ran from them all; even QP Fox, who seems to be some kind of special enemy as he's the only one named when I fight him in action battles.

Normally it just says 'enemies'

Are you the same QP Fox, or does QP stand for something?

A desert awaited me on the other side of the dark cave. Here the game decided it would bestow both types of luck on me. With an obscene encounter rate I worried I might not make it very far, but I was able to run from the majority without issue. The remainder I battled or used a skateboard to escape. I passed by the Fire Castle, and made my way to the town of Chatzy.

I double dog dare you!

It's strange to reach a town this deep into the game, and find it nearly devoid of better equipment. There are a couple of new throwing items, but they're much too expensive and very situational. A fire shield looked promising; however, when I tried to purchase it I was told the mirror shield I had would sell for four times the amount, and thought better of giving up such a prize.

I'm starting to wonder how long this game actually is

To the north of town is another cave, but my candle wasn't bright enough to light the way. Instead, a shop in town sells a torch for 1000 sen, and I only had 100. I figured it was a good time to head back to the evil queen while I try to save up for the torch.

This must be the deeper darker cave

This time around the evil queen didn't stand a chance. The combination of six levels, Lee's Robe, and Talisman Sigma allowed me to dodge and deflect nearly every attack. It was quite the 180.

This is the last half of the deflection antimation...
nice try Google... anyone know an easy way to create GIFs? If so, I'll promise more animations

As promised, more animations.
This is with Easy Gif Animator, which seems to mostly work, but in the 2 minutes I played around with it I can't find a way to adjust framerate (this is at about half speed). I still have 18 uses left on the free trial though, so unless another option presents itself I'll keep messing with it.

With the evil queen banished, the lily spirits took back their castle. The melody that played afterwards was very pleasant.

One might almost say it's almost magical... like, magic... of Scheherazade... go buy our other game

I now had the antidote, but when I arrived in town I realized there was no way to actually use it. I was told to put it into the spring, but how? Maybe I just wasn't at the right place, maybe there was a hidden area to the town, maybe if I just trip into the lake...

Uhh, 'use' button? Where are you?

Maybe if I just stumble upon the correct square

With the antidote in the spring everyone in town returned to normal, or at least their own version of normal.

Don't worry about Jimmy, he's always been that way

The mayor was very eager to thank me, offering anything I desired in reward for my service. I requested the prism bell, and now we're up to three. I'm fairly sure one resides with Blu Boltar, and I know for certain the blue bell is at Shorin. This means I'm only about half way through the game. Maybe I can get through it this week.

The password is now taking up all character spaces

Elapsed Time: 2h20m (Total Time: 6h00m)

Game 21: Little Ninja Brothers (NES) - Speckled Fronds Upon The Floor

I've seen this screen more than I'd like to

This world is a dangerous place. I should have taken the boss difficulty as a warning rather than an anomaly. Instead I blundered my way into battle after unbeatable battle, and found myself revived at my last check point at the convenience store. When I reached the next boss I got my first taste for the turn-based combat (see above).

Yet another easy way to die

To keep Jack alive I have a healthy supply of Sweet Buns (heals 40 HP), but I'm only able to carry 8 of any one item. This limitation impairs my ability to just tank damage from the boss. Although, I'm not necessarily stuck since I was able to explore beyond my current location, Cilly City.

CelCelCel Cel?

Cilly City is under a strange curse. The evil queen across the lake cast a spell that turned the humans into morons. As luck would have it, I met a divine being called Savior Moonlit Tiger who was unaffected by the curse. He explained that I needed to retrieve the antidote from the queen and deposit it into the spring water. Even in all this craziness I found a human with the clarity of mind to tell me of a hidden sword to the south.

Ha! It's a talking snake... how Cilly

Swords are capable of defeating some otherwise indestructible enemies. It also has great power; the drawback is Jack gets no experience when defeating enemies with it. I haven't bothered with using it against the boss, which I suppose is an option... I'd rather get experience.

Extended reach from the sword is another plus

After banging my head against the evil queen a few times I decided to venture into the surrounding area. My previous assumption about running was quickly shattered during my exploration, and I wonder why I thought running was guaranteed when I had an item that allowed immediate escape from battle.

Where'd Ryu come from?

Nearby was a cave where the Water Lily Queen was in exile. She gave me a mirror shield which is supposed to reduce the effectiveness of the evil queen's magic. All I've noticed is a small chance to deflect some of the damaging spells. In fact, right after I received the shield, the very next fight, I got stun locked.

Can't attack in this form, and Jack says different stupid phrases

Determined to make some progress during that session, I expanded my exploration of the surrounding area. To the far northwest, through many tough battles, I discovered another town. I would assume it's the next town, but I actually haven't explored to the eastern shore.

Okay

There's no mention of the problems in Cilly, but rumors of the Yoma gang suggested they'd taken over the town of Yokan. An NPC noted I needed the Talisman Gamma to improve my resistance to their magic if I were to stand a chance. Random townsfolk are always the most knowledgeable.

He says this for anything I buy

Well, the merchant selling the talisman decided he wanted some pop instead of money. The only place to get some was a Yoma Chateau to the east. This place is basically a series of fights similar to the boss battles, but lacking a final boss. Once I got the pop, the trip back was really easy (compared to the boss I was still losing to), and I received the talisman for my trouble.

This was the last battle, and it was a cake walk

Near Okay I pooled up enough funds to afford the Fire Punch, and finally felt prepared for the boss. Of course, I wasn't, but I'll get to the reasons shortly. Battles are sparse on money rewards, and leveling up is slow. I'm really unsure if I'm under-leveled, but I definitely feel like it. The levels displayed on the battles ranged from 12 - 23, and I've just barely reached 14.

A Whirly Bird allows quick travel between towns

I believe the main reason the boss is so hard is levels don't seem to increase my chance of survival. The only stat displayed is attack power, which increases 1 per level. Even after gaining five levels from my first attempts, and increasing my armor, she continues to do 9 HP of damage with her attack.

Guard appears to have no effect

In addition to straight damage output, the evil queen has two spells that basically do the same thing. Fool makes Jack act stupidly instead of taking action, it takes at least one turn to recover. Stone turns Jack into a rock where he sits and takes hits, it takes at least one turn to recover. I have yet to dodge either attack, so she uses these abilities to no lose of turn on her part.

I'll just attack now and... what the?

And in case all of the above was not enough to cause great pain, her evasive ability is greater than any other RPG boss I've faced. Seriously, it must be 70%+. In all fights, I've landed no more than five hits. I have seen my damage potential increase with levels, and my new weapons also kick it up a notch. Still, it's not enough, and I continue to fail.

The dragon is one of the invincible enemies, but beating this fight without the sword is over double most fights

With a limited supply of healing items, and many action sequences between the town and queen, it's no surprise I lose because I always run out of healing. I'm going to move on further than Okay, and come back when I've gained a few more levels. My only concern is the boss that follows.

Maybe Hard wasn't the best idea

It's possible to choose difficulty each time the game is loaded, so maybe I'll try normal if I have as much trouble next session. Wish me luck, but I think my hopes for a short game are already dashed.

Elapsed Time: 2h35m (Total Time: 3h40m)

Game 21: Little Ninja Brothers (NES) - Bringing Good Cheer

Game 21

Title: Little Ninja Brothers
Released: 1990 (1989 JP)
Platform: NES
Developer: Culture Brain
Publisher: Culture Brain
Genre: Action-RPG
Exploration - Top-down
Combat - Real-time (random battles)
Series - Super Chinese (Japanese Title)

Time to welcome back Culture Brain, the creators of innovative titles such as Flying Warriors and The Magic of Scheherazade. Sadly, this is the last series we'll see come out of the group that did their best to seamlessly blend action titles and RPGs.

Jack is the only character available to 1 player

Little Ninja Brothers is the sequel to Kung Fu Heroes. It expands on the original by adding an explorable world (including towns, NPCs, and mini-games), character levels and equipment, and a progressing story. It retained the action sequences as random, and fixed battles. The manual also mentions turn based battles, but I have yet to encounter one. The series (originally called Super Chinese ...) continued on in this fashion for six more games in Japan. Of those six, two were localized, but we'll get to those in the future.

Your face?

The game starts with a choice: do I want to play the RPG, or field meeting? The RPG is the main story, and field meeting is a collection of mini-games. Either selection leads to the possibility of playing with 1 or 2 players. From the description in the manual (and my experience to come shortly), the mini-games are also accessible in the main game. Following this, I had to decide the difficulty level. I chose the hardest based on the description in the manual where even normal was described as "for beginners and kids."

I have a feeling this whole game is aimed at kids

The titular ninja brothers are Jack and Ryu. Right away they're tasked with saving their land from the Yoma clan. According to the television they had on while practicing in their monastery the emperor was kidnapped, and Blu Boltar declared himself the ruler of the land. Well our heroes won't stand for that.

You knew the emperor was going to get kidnapped and did nothing about it?

Before departing, their mentor described seven prism bells that are required to save Chinaland. He then payed them off with one, some starting cash, and kicked them out into the wide world.

*Plop*

The first town offered up some equipment to spend the meager allowance. I purchased and equipped the best weapon and armors, fully draining my funds. Each town hosts an equipment shop, a tool shop that has miscellaneous item, a hotel, and a convenience shop that will restore a fallen hero and give the password to resume a game. There are other random buildings as well. I gathered a fair amount of warnings, and then stumbled into a training house that forced me into a mini-game.

Now that you mention it, I'm sure I will too

Upon entering a particular house I received a tutorial on how to execute a dragon kick. The mini-game that followed was actually harder when using it; I'm baffled. The goal is to pop 20 balloons, and reach the end of a track. Merely jumping into them is enough, and allows for more accuracy.

Timing jumps perfectly to miss every balloon would have been more challenging

Uhm, maybe later...

What?! No, I said later... oh well

With that out of the way, I made my way north. Random battles let you know the approximate difficulty level (or suggested character level) for the fight, and then a choice to fight or run. So far, the level doesn't seem very accurate (I easily beat a level 6 battle at level 3), and running has yet to fail (but why run when the battles are so easy).

Once again, the jump is more powerful than the punch

I ran across a divine house described by a villager. Inside was the Wise Stallion, and another mini-game. This one I obviously failed in all logical terms, but still passed somehow. I can only guess there wasn't really a goal, but then what was the purpose of showing an AI competitor?

Let me guess: you know where one is, but I have to get it

Next stop was the city of Deli-Chous, where the mayor is rumored to have one of the prism bells. Deli-Chous is a town that creates the most delicious delicacies; however, the mayor is hording them in his mansion. I was all set to charge in and right this wrong. Instead, I get invited to a nice dinner.

Yeah, to think all those people could be wrong about you hoarding all the food when you have all this food here

Obviously something was a little fishy about this (no sushi?); after Jack had his fill he took a nap, and woke up in prison. There were others there, including the real mayor. The imposter was actually one of the Yoma clan, and he was fattening people up in order to eat them. One of the prisoners found a hole, but was much too fat to fit. Perfect size for Jack though.

Really? Did you choose that yourself?

On the other side of the hole was a passage that led outside about a screen's length away from town. There was a small hut that housed a strange character: the Savior Mouchee Mouse. She gave me a test, which I passed, and sent me on my way with a talisman that protected me from Tub-A-Tummy's magic.

Wow...

Only at the game

With my new protective amulet I returned to town and faced off against Tub-A-Tummy. The fights leading up to him were quite difficult. I'm certain it's because I was under-leveled while on the highest difficulty. There are three fights before the boss battle.

The second fight was the hardest with an instant (at my level) kill lightning bolt that streaked across the screen

I grinded on these three fights for at least 20 minutes, gained three levels, and then finally vanquished the boss. The boss had a power that was a cheaper shot than even the lightning: a multi-directional shot that turns Jack into a slime. As a slime I'm powerless, and get eaten by his minions. I relied on throwing ninja stars at him until he died as getting too close.

An oh-so-cute little white slime

For my efforts I obtained a bell prism, the second of seven, and enjoyed a feast of celebration at the mayor's house.

Apparently Jack doesn't know what moderation is

I get the feeling that this is all the game has to offer, and we'll repeat this for the next few hours (six if I continue to average one hour for each bell, and one for the final boss). I'm really eager to start Quest of the Avatar, so I hope this doesn't drag on for too long.

Oh yeah, and we have another password system

Elapsed Time: 1h05m (Total Time: 1h05m)

Below the Cut: River City Ransom (NES)

AKA Street Gangs (Source: EvilGeeks.com)

River City Ransom - Rating(8 RPP)
1) 2 - Character Advancement: practice/experience based advancement, stat or level increases, multiple classes or characters, customize characters
2) 2 - Combat: character stats used for combat, additional combat options, turn based
3) 1 - Items and Equipment: store to buy and sell, equipment decisions, item decisions
4) 1 - Story: main story at the forefront; world full of hints and lore; descriptions for objects, people, and places
5) 2 - Exploration: open world from the beginning, visited locations remain open
6) 0 - Quests and Puzzles: side quests not related to the main quest, puzzles and riddles to solve

River City Ransom is at its heart a beat'em up, yet it often gets cited as an action-RPG. Created by the same company that brought us Double Dragon, it's no surprise the game has a leveling mechanic where the character learns additional moves. In this title, instead of getting better attacks through pure points and combat level, River City Ransom has the enemy drop money. Money is used to purchase books, which the character can equip to learn new moves, and food that can refill health and boost stats.

The game has one of the most basic framing stories. Someone named Slick has kidnapped Ryan's girlfriend, and released his gangs on the street to stop any rescue attempt. Well who really needs a story, just go beat up everyone that attacks. I found it strange that the first character is actually Alex, and the second is Ryan.

What demands?

I'll admit, I didn't play through the entire game. I think I made it to the second boss. In that time I  noted no side quests, no NPC interactions (other than vendors), and no puzzles. I think I've discussed it before, but the point for stores requires buying and selling. I gave it a point for customization since it does have the option of selecting different attacks to equip. Even though the world is very linear, there aren't any physical barriers, and previous locations aren't blocked either.

Here's an iconic shot

The first time I heard of this game was from Nintendo Power. They had a full map of the entire game, stores, and strategies. Thinking on it now, I don't know why I considered Nintendo Power an acceptable source of game hints yet I shied away from pure strategy guides.

*Spoilers* (Source: Giant Bomb)

It's a fun game, but just not enough RPG elements to consider it for this blog. There's a two player option, and the game is available on Nintendo's Virtual Console in case anyone is interested. There's also the speedrun to check out if you have 10 minutes to kill. For now, let's move on to a relatively unknown action-RPG, Little Ninja Brothers, and see what differences make it more eligible for coverage.

Game 20: Dragon Warrior II (NES) - Final Rating

Combatant
If there's one thing to say about the combat, it's that it never gets too easy. Once I thought I had a handle on the enemies the game decided to ramp up the difficulty. However, the rewards for engaging the enemy don't keep up with the risk. Combat, like the first game, is completely menu and stat driven. Each character in the party is assigned actions in order

Unlike the first game there are additional party members for added strategy, items to invoke, and more spells (some actually useful (or maybe they were only useful because those character's physical attacks were useless)). The odds are stacked against the party in the final area, but while tensions were high I still felt like I was made progress. In the end, I think I just got lucky.
Rating: 6

I still can't get over how useless this spell is

Admirer
The Dragon Warrior series at this point still hasn't introduced any customization for the characters (beyond naming the hero). A lot of equipment is only for the main hero, and the other two are little more than support characters. The controls still feel stiff; I think it has something to do with the character stats that appear when standing still. I hope this is addressed in later games. Many times while steering my ship through rivers the party would disembark on land rather than make the next tight turn.
Rating: 3

Stare at the text and imagine the equipment on your character

Puzzler
One thing that's definitely improving are the number of side quests. Everything fits well with the world, from random captured enemies to a shipwreck. The riddles, rumors, and hints do well to slowly introduce the world. If only there were a little more direction with the main quest. Half the time I didn't know why I was collecting the crests. At least when I was lost for something to do I knew in what general direction to look, even if I couldn't survive long in battle.
Rating: 4

I'll have you know, this hint only took me 1 hour before it clicked

Instigator
The story is rather generic. Some evil force is back and it's the party's job to destroy it. Did no one notice the monsters teeming from Rhone? I understand not having all of Erdrick's equipment from the get go for game balance purposes, but it isn't ever explained why the king can only afford to offer his one heir to the kingdom a copper sword and 50 gold. How about opening the treasury up, pops?

The story unfolds at a brisk pace, and introduces some intrigue with a stolen loom, a stolen key, and a ship to travel the world. The only thing really missing is a way for the player to influence the story. One NPC claimed to seek the Gaia Armor, but there was no way to give it to him.
Rating: 4

I'll meddle where I wish

Collector
This really isn't a game series for collectors. Sure there's variety on offer, but inventory space is so limited that there's no way to store everything. Luckily if you do need to toss a unique item, or do so accidentally, it'll be in its original treasure chest. This also means it's possible to sell an item, and then retrieve it again: the Staff of Thunder is a keen example. I didn't do it in this instance, but if I were to play again I'd definitely take advantage. Money is always a valuable commodity, even if I wasn't losing half my reserve upon death.
Rating: 4

I wonder what goodies awaited in the lottery; I never won... I guess my luck only extends so far

Explorer
The world is much larger than the previous Dragon Warrior. The lack of direction and slow movement speed make it feel even grander since areas will need discovery more than once. There are a number of little areas to find, but only a handful are outside the necessary path to complete the game.

The graphics are only a slight improvement. It's a bit of let down that the tile sets only include one for towers and one for caves. The music seems to have a shorter loop than what I remember from the first game, even if there are more scores. There's always a sense of discovery when exploring uncharted islands, even when the findings are small.
Rating: 6

Finding this lone monolith felt like such an accomplishment

Final Rating: 27 [45%]

Overall this was a fun experience. I'm glad I got to play it again after all these years. Will I do so again? Probably not. There isn't much on offer for a second attempt. This one is going to sit on my shelf for quite some time (in fact I may sell it, but we'll see).

Next up is a little known title--Little Ninja Brothers. It's an action-RPG, and I know the sequel on the SNES is rather short. I worry about running into a game where the first post is a winning one, but this should last at least two.

Before we get to that though, I ran through the game list on RPGamer.com. There are a lot of games I added from that list, enough to break the 1000 game mark. Many of them are likely to be discounted, but it's good to have them on the list. This means I've missed discussing a couple games though, so I'll revisit at least one of them before starting up a new game. I think I'm still on track to wrap up the game year by the end of the year, but it might be close.