Written: 12.17.06
Acquired: 7.10.06
Status: Cart only
Price: $24.95 (I definitely overpaid!)

SUPER PLAY is in the house! But first, let's check in with EGM

Alright SUPER PLAY, the floor's all yours!

---

We phoned up the Japanese Embassy in London to ask them what a Kun was. They slammed the phone down and have since instigated legal proceedings....

Japan is a land of contradictions and oddity. Take, for example, the ninja. Ruthless, silent assassins who didn't adhere to moral or ethical codes but whose sole purpose was eradicating people. Ninjas were nasty pieces of work

But nowadays the Japanese
proudly display them as part
of their culture, and they're
everywhere. Take this game,
for example. A tiny, smiling
Super Deformed ninja rushes
around in a cute way, trying
to save his sweet girlfriend.
Not the sort of thing ninjas
generally got up to

                                    Right. The game, then.
                                    Well it's a platform job
                                    with lots of small easily
                                    killable baddies, plenty
                                    of running and jumping
                                    and a crowd of bosses
                                    at the end of each level.
                                    As you progress, you
                                    collect extra weapons,
                                    but things get a tad
                                    trickier. It's like a
                                    million other games

In fact it is very much like a million other games. Perhaps even better than most. Super Ninja Kun doesn't have anything special in it at all, but it does all the usual stuff well

STEAL THE SOULS OF THE DEAD

You, being a ninja, have the power to use various special weapons and effects. But before you can use them, you must collect power from the bodies of the baddies you've offed

When you shuriken something,
a little tadpole-like spirit rises
from the body and you must
grab it. This energy builds up
on a bar at the bottom of the
screen. Hitting the A button
releases whichever attack or
effect you've lined up. The
default effect gives yourself
a twin, who mimics your every
move but can't be harmed.
This is dead useful for
attacking bosses because
it doubles your fire-power

Double trouble toil and bubble yadda yadda...

There isn't much else to say. This is an above-average platform game with some quirky Japanese elements (the little ninja can swell to giant size after consuming a flashing orb for example)

Talk about having a major growth spurt! He got a head like BARRY BONDS!

There's a two-player mode, which is worth five to ten percent on the overall score, surely. Yeah, and it's a big game as well. By big, I mean that there are many levels. The actual levels are rather short and you are faced with the choice of either flying through them in the quickest way possible (there's no time limit, though) or exploring, collecting and running a vastly increased chance of being killed. Luckily, when you die, you're regenerated where you were killed, so there aren't any gripes to be had about restart points or anything

You'd have to be a major platform fan to want this. And if you were a major platform fan, you'd probably find it too easy. It's a Catch-22 situation. Sorry -James Leach


Graphics: 73%
Sound: 58%
Gameplay: 77%
Gamelife: 65%


Overall: 68%


Verdict: If platform games were cars, this one would have electric windows and a sun-roof. But it would be the same colour as all the rest, and would still be looked on with scorn by the Honda Fireblades which represent decent, imaginative games. It's a crap metaphor but you see what I mean

---

CLOSING THOUGHTS

I pretty much agree with SPLAY

Super Ninja Kun doesn't do anything to distinguish itself from the pack. The odd thing is, I even get a kick (usually) out of the so-so me-too platform jobs out there. But this one, I never could get into. It just felt kinda meh playing it. Some of you may (and do) like this, but I'll pass....