Ninja Taro. No creative review title needed.Ninja Taro is one of those games that has been highly looked over. That is probably because it is one of the Game Boy's earlier games, as it came out less than 2 years after the Game Boy was released to the US. That is quite a shame because this game was amazing and can be ranked up there with the more popular NES games. This isn't your typical side scrolling ninja game. You get an angled above character view (like the Pokémon games, as a reference), and there are absolutely no levels. This is just one giant world with enough monsters, ogres, ghosts, and other beasts to slice, blow up, or throw projectile weapons at all freaking day. This can also be considered an RPG, as you do progressively get stronger, but not in the way traditional RPG games do it (explained later). If you are looking for a great game that will take a lot of work to play through, and you don't care about playing in black and white, then give this game a try.
Graphics: 9
Anyone who has had a Game Boy or has played Game Boy games via emulator, you know that you shouldn't be expecting much in terms of graphics. The fact that everything is in black and white doesn't help. But when you compare the graphics of this game to a lot of Game Boy games that were made, this is near top of the line. Granted, the games that were made during the end of Game Boy's rain and it stepped down for Game Boy Advanced were better. But if you look through the eyes of someone playing this game when it came out in 1991, it would blow your mind hole. Though many of the enemies and characters are a bit pixely, the environment is pretty neat, and very diverse throughout areas of the game. But the big boss characters are super clean. It was pretty impressive. This game also had an animation that was the only game from the Game Boy that made me think "Holy Crap!", which is your dying sequence where your ninja basically turns into a continually exploding gooey mass, and then emerges from it with his eyes popping out of his head. You didn't see that on Game Boy back the :)
Sound: 10
If you have read my reviews, you know I love a game with good sound. If developers took the time to give their game amazing sound, then they typically put hard work into the game overall, so sound is a good indicator for me on if a game is going to be good quality all around. Ninja Taro DELIVERS. When you take the sound capabilities of the Game Boy back then, and you hear this game's music and sounds, it is beautiful. This game has some of my favorite background music of any retro game. Even to this day, I find myself humming the tune you hear when you first walk out of your master's dojo. But the boss music for this game is what I call REAL boss music. The music alone makes you feel like 'this dude is going to kick my ***". And unlike a lot of retro games that have terrific music, Ninja Taro does not let the sound effects take a backseat. Every weapon you can acquire in the game has their own distinguished sound when you use it. But the sound you hear along with your epic dying sequence will make you think "Woah, what the hell is happening" the first time you hear it. It is pretty dramatic. Sound gets a perfect score.
Addictiveness: 6
The addictiveness is where you can get a lot of varying views. The story is engaging, the music is good at setting an action mood, you get to slaughter enemies everywhere you go, and the game can make you think because it is a huge world to walk around. But the game play can get repetitive after you play for a while. Except for bosses, your strategy is pretty constant with little adaptation. And there are points of the game where you have to walk all the way back to the first point of the game, which can take 10-almost 20 minutes in some areas. That can get irritating having to walk back all the way no method of transportation. But you can save your game at villages, so you can stop when you are bored, and stop when you need to take a break. But one more thing that makes this game less addictive is the fact that it is easy to get to a point where you have no clue how to get further. There is one point in particular that comes to my mind about 1/3 through the game. There is absolutely no hint anywhere that tells you how to progress. This point had me stuck for a few years as a kid. I actually finally figured out by luck and mindless toying with the environment. It can get frustrating at points.
Story: 10
This story already stands out from many Game Boy games because it isn't the same generic story we are all used to where somebody is kidnapped, and you have to save them. When you start the game, all you know is that a Lord of a city has asked your master to send you as an agent for some task that you don't know. The story develops as the story goes. Eventually, you find that this Lord suspects that an evil Lord Shin has returned, so you are sent to investigate. The entire country is on the brink of peril , as you come to find out. But along with a good story, it is very well developed. You can't just get all that you need for a story in some opening sequence. If you want to see how things unfold, you have to play through the game and get the story piece by piece. When a story doesn't give it all away so soon, it makes the game much more engaging.
Depth: 8
When you mix a developed story, a huge world to explore with no completely linear direction, but a bit of repetitiveness, you get a pretty good depth. You are not going to get through this fast. You have more than enough to explore, as the world has many hidden passages. Some are obvious, some are not. Just remember than not all trees and rocks actually block your path. You have a large array of weapons and means of hiding when needed. As stated, the story is great and well developed. The game also has a unique was of getting stronger. Instead of experience points, like your typical RPG, you level up your individual weapons and your health bars. Throughout the game, there are many treasure chests. In most of them, you will find a weapon that you already have at your disposal. When you pick it up, you will see a number next to that particular weapon in your accessory screen and your main screen. The higher the number, the stronger it is. You increase your health bars the same way. You will also find that some chests are not reachable until you can get items that get you there later in the game. So that gives you a chance to find new things while exploring new areas. The only thing docks depth is the fact that the actual game play does not give you much variety on things to do.
Difficulty: 6
Ninja Taro is definitely more about the story and depth rather than the difficulty. You can get the hang of this game within about 15 minutes of playing. Note that you will very likely die MANY times throughout the game. With a game this large and no levels, it is bound to happen. The difficulty of this game is dependent on one thing, which is how often you save your game. If you save often, you will die and not have to retrace much. If you save every 30min-hour, you will eventually die and have to repeat a but load of things. If you can be smart and save every time you are in a village, it bumps the difficulty down a lot. If you find a boss or particular part hard, you can just kill enemies and collect herbs/potions, which you use to refill your life when you are running low. Easy enough. Half of this difficulty is figuring out the hidden passages (particularly the one I mentioned 1/3 through the game).
Overall: 8
When you weigh the great things about this game with the negatives, it is still pretty awesome. The graphics are not the best of the Game Boy games, but definitely ahead of it's time when it was made. The music and sound definitely is among the best the Game Boy has to offer. Though the game is fun, it can start to feel repetitive, so you need a break. It can also get frustrating when finding out where to go next. The story is not the same generic thing, and is very well developed as you progress. Though you have many items and weapons at your disposal, enough world and hidden passage to keep you occupied for hours if you wish to find everything. Lastly, it gives you a challenge, but doesn't get to that point of insanely hard as long as you save often. Though this game was highly overlooked, any retro game fan should pick this up because they should appreciate how good it really is.
Graphics
8 Sound
10 Addictive
6 Depth
8 Story
10 Difficulty
6
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