{"id":1318,"date":"2024-10-04T20:00:27","date_gmt":"2024-10-05T00:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/?p=1318"},"modified":"2024-10-04T19:27:56","modified_gmt":"2024-10-04T23:27:56","slug":"legend-of-the-mystical-ninja-issue-50","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/index.php\/2024\/10\/04\/legend-of-the-mystical-ninja-issue-50\/","title":{"rendered":"Legend of the Mystical Ninja \u2014 Issue 50"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Leg\u00adend has it Mys\u00adti\u00adcal Nin\u00adja ori\u00adgin is great<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The quirky nin\u00adja series had a rous\u00ading start on the Super NES<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Every\u00adone must start some\u00adwhere, even video games. Even the most suc\u00adcess\u00adful video game series have hum\u00adble begin\u00adnings, where new ideas are brought to the table to estab\u00adlish a hope\u00adful\u00adly suc\u00adcess\u00adful series. So, it goes with one of my favorite series, Mys\u00adti\u00adcal Nin\u00adja. While it\u2019s not super pop\u00adu\u00adlar here in the West, Leg\u00adend of the Mys\u00adti\u00adcal Nin\u00adja opened the doors for the series to make an impres\u00adsion on me in the late 1990s. It\u2019s debat\u00adable, though, if it cleared up the mys\u00adtery sur\u00adround\u00ading the appeal of the series for me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Leg\u00adend of the Mys\u00adti\u00adcal Nin\u00adja is weird and anachro\u00adnis\u00adtic in every\u00adthing that it does. Set in an alter\u00adnate feu\u00addal Japan, Goe\u00admon and Ebisumaru (Dr. Yang and Kid Ying renamed in game) real\u00adize there are some strange hap\u00adpen\u00adings going on in Oedo. After some inves\u00adti\u00adga\u00adtion, they dis\u00adcov\u00ader that Princess Yuki has been kid\u00adnapped and they set out to res\u00adcue her. Along the way, they meet up with an ally in fel\u00adlow nin\u00adja Yae, fight future ally Sasuke and trav\u00adel to dif\u00adfer\u00adent his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly accu\u00adrate loca\u00adtions in Japan. This should sound famil\u00adiar because it\u2019s basi\u00adcal\u00adly the plot of the excel\u00adlent GI<\/span> favorite Mys\u00adti\u00adcal Nin\u00adja Star\u00adring Goe\u00admon. Swap some ele\u00adments and char\u00adac\u00adter names and you\u2019ve got the basics of that game. <\/span><\/p>\n

But what sets it apart from some of the lat\u00ader entries is the pre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtion. Leg\u00adend, unlike Star\u00adring Goe\u00admon, is a side-scrolling affair. The health meter and the pur\u00adchase of dam\u00adage-negat\u00ading items are the same, but instead of being an over-the-shoul\u00adder 3D<\/span> romp, this plays more like The Leg\u00adend of Zel\u00adda: A Link to the Past. And that works well in its favor. The game looks nice and has charm. It\u2019s bright and col\u00ador\u00adful with big sprites and inter\u00adest\u00ading ani\u00adma\u00adtions. For an ear\u00adly Super Nin\u00adten\u00addo title, you can\u2019t go wrong with look\u00ading like a nice hop \u2018n\u2019 bop. The sound\u00adtrack is suit\u00adably nice as well. It\u2019s no Star\u00adring Goe\u00admon but it has a few decent tracks that will remind you of the sound the lat\u00ader games are known for.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nBecause it\u2019s like Link to the Past in looks, it\u2019s a lot like that game in playstyle as well. The con\u00adtrols work well with the SNES<\/span> lay\u00adout, and it\u2019s easy to get things going when you want to move around the play\u00adfield. My only gripe is that it\u2019s a lit\u00adtle hard to remem\u00adber which but\u00adton con\u00adtrols spe\u00adcial moves. Oth\u00ader\u00adwise, it\u2019s a stan\u00addard action plat\u00adformer for the SNES<\/span>, which means it\u2019s going to play clean\u00adly and make no fuss about its mechanics.<\/span>
\nLeg\u00adend of the Mys\u00adti\u00adcal Nin\u00adja is a decent West\u00adern begin\u00adning for the Goe\u00admon fran\u00adchise. It has a lot of charm, it looks good, plays well and does\u00adn\u2019t for\u00adget its roots. As the intro\u00adduc\u00adtion to the series in North Amer\u00adi\u00adca, it made a good first impres\u00adsion with its quirky sen\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adties and gave birth to a legend. <\/span><\/p>\n