A.D. 1997, New York City. Having vanquished the evil crime empire Neo Zeed, Shinobi was not heard from again. His combat ninja skills were not needed in a peaceful world.
But a new threat arose, in a reptilian form that lived on vicious instinct alone. The colossal monster moved slowly and quietly, and its attack was relentless. The souls unfortunate enough to live became 'hostages'. Mass panic swept the streets.
It remained only for Shinobi to take action. The ninja of the shadows. His weapons were stealth and quickness of attack. His only allies when facing overwhelming force.
Relying on ninja weapons and magic, Shinobi fought on, assisted by his faithful dog. This is the story of their defiance...
Round 1: Burning Downtown
Stage 1-1
The Control Pad lets you move around, and you can duck walk with Down+Left and Down+Right. A lets you use your ninjutsu, B lets you attack and C lets you jump. Holding Up and pressing C to jump lets you jump up to higher levels in certain locations, much like Namco's Rolling Thunder series. As a matter of fact, the game feels like a ninja-fied Rolling Thunder. One hit, and you're dead.
Holding B charges up the dog's lunge attack, and if the dog runs into an enemy, the dog can latch hold and stun them, leaving you free to attack them. It is possible for the dog to be struck during the lunge or while latched onto an enemy, shrinking the dog into a puppy. Until you save a hostage, you won't be able to get the dog back to normal.
At the top of the screen is your current score, the highest score you've gotten and the amount of time you have left. At the bottom is your ninjutsu, the charge meter for the dog, and the amount of hostages you have left to save before the game lets you leave the current stage.
Moving into hostages lets you rescue them. Some hostages give you points, while others will power-up your weapon, turning your shurikens into blue flames.
The enemies that come at you when they see you are easy enough to defeat.
Watch out with the manholes; towering jets of fire can come out of them, and they hurt if you run into them.
You can duck under the shots from the guys with guns. The best way to fight them is to know when they stand up to fire, then attack them before they attack you.
The dog attack can take care of the guys with shields, making it easier to hit them as their guard is down. If they are throwing a shield, they will also leave themselves open to attack. If you've powered up your shurikens into blue flames, or if you can get close to them and hit them with your sword, however, you can power through their shields and defeat them without any problems. (You will use your sword instead of a shuriken if you an attack an enemy while you are right next to them.)
It is possible to find hidden Union Lizard icons, and if you find them and get them, you can get extra lives from them. The one here is just before the second-to-last manhole.
When you make it to the end, you'll get a time bonus as well as a special bonus for your ninjutsu if you went the whole stage without using it. Your ninjutsu will clear the screen of all enemies currently on the screen if you press A.
Stage 1-2
Here, you'll want to watch out for the rubble that drops down at the start. Also, some enemies will come out of windows; these enemies are clad in red, will roll at you and are dangerous to the touch. They are only vulnerable when not curled up into a ball.
The biggest hazard here, however, are the earthquakes. While they aren't that bad, they do move parts of the stage around and create bottomless pits.
Stage 1-3
Here's your first boss. The weak spot is the head; attack it while avoiding the rubble that drops down. If the boss shoots a fireball, duck under it; jumping over it will not work.
If you can't avoid the rubble in time, use your ninjutsu. You'll hit the boss while also clearing off all the rubble.
At the end of every round is a bonus stage. If you shoot all the ninjas, you'll get an extra life. If you shoot no ninjas, you get an extra life. Don't shoot any ninjas so you can get rewarded for doing absolutely nothing; it's better that way.
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