I recently reviewed a game that was a mash-up of different game styles and featured great music. That got me thinking about this little known game, which is a different collaboration of game types - and with catchy music as well.? ?In fact it was the music that made me remember this game for years ago. There is also a updated version of this game for SNES, Super Ninja Boy, different premise, same main characters and fighting - but I felt this earlier version was more fun and memorable. This series is actually one of three that got ported over to U.S. (there was an even earlier game than this too). ?You (or with a friend- who can drop in and out as needed) are on a quest to collect some mystic bells, and stop the bad general Blu Boltar who has kidnapped the leader of Chinaland! Blu Boltar, by the way, is colored like a blueberry. And the Chinaland elder looks like a potato or possibly a pear! This is one game that doesn't take its self serious and plays up the humor.

Little Ninja Brothers is a fine game is fine on its own, but if you do get a chance to play this game in 2 player, adding the blue variant, Ryu, the entire game can be played together! You can each equip different weapons, and share the resources of items. ?Two player old school RPGs are scarce, and the dialog and situations were tailored for comedy and less text heavy - making it good for kids new to RPGs. ?Most people I knew played this with a parent or friend, and often the kid was the one who was the better player.?

The game itself is a collective of several different modes, games within games, and I'll cover each.

1) RPG lite -- Look for a large overworld map to explore, random enemies to suddenly draw you into battle, some towns with items and weapons to acquire, and bosses that talk to you before going into a turn-by-turn battle. Also right before you get into a random battle, you will be asked to fight or attempt to run away, like in an rpg.

2) Action -- The random battles will lead you immediately to a 3/4 view of a one-screen map, with rocks to break and water hazards. Enemies will come out from the side and you can move your hero around in all 4 directions. You can punch and do a flip kick in real time. Your enemies are various and some are immune to certain attacks, for instance, there are some enemies you must stomp on with the flip kick. There is also hidden items and power ups in the rocks. Falling in the small strips of water is super bad, as Ninja boys do not swim, apparently, it will take off a lot of life. Once you beat up enough enemies, they will run away and you win exp and money, called sen.


3) Track N field segment. These are an option besides the main game. They feature two-player races or finding an item (randomly hidden. There is a easy to do special move called the Dragon Kick (also in the rpg), that makes the meter dashes pretty easy.

While its not an especially long game, it is pretty fun, and not too difficult. Some grinding should be expected, but the random battles are fast and often you don't mind them. That being said, there isn't much to replay unless you wish to buy different weapons or try it with an additional player. While mentioning its replay, I should bring up this game uses a password feature, not a natural save file. The passwords can be pretty tricky too, using some shapes as characters. The music, as mentioned earlier is on the whole pretty good, from the opening, the password sound loop, the game over, to some of the towns and battle sequences. It definitely fits the idea for a magic kingdom called Chinaland.?

If you are on the hunt for a offbeat, unusual RPG with faster random battles and don't mind a non-heavy story - Little Ninja Brothers is a good time waiting to happen. And two players, again, is totally sweet.