3 Ninjas Kick Back (Genesis/Mega Drive)

This is the final Mega Drive game for now. I'm moving onto another console after this.

Oh no.
 

No no no.

And we're in a forest level. Ugh, look at my dude. Look at those bushes. Ugh.

OhshitI'mbeingchasedbyaboulder! MOVE MOVE MOVE, WHICH BUTTON IS JUMP?? AGH!

I haven't yet figured out how to grab onto ropes, but grabbing onto trees is easy enough. This character is actually pretty acrobatic.

Look at those nasty spikes, they're even harder to see when the screen's moving. I probably wouldn't have even noticed they were there at all if it wasn't for that rope giving me a path over them.

This guy seems to be my master. He's testing my skills by following me around and throwing shurikens at me. I guess if I die, I fail the test.

Okay, I admit my guy has some moves. Look at him flip through those trees from branch to branch! What do you mean you can't see him, he's right there... in the trees somewhere.

On this level you have to break a certain number of these guys before you're allowed to proceed. This was actually far less annoying than looking for cargo in that TaleSpin game because of how nimble your guy is.

 He can grab onto ledges and flip up, or fall down and hang underneath. He's also pretty fast on his feet.

Hmmm....

• The spikes weren't instakill.
• I haven't found any bottomless pits.
• My guy is capable of jumping gaps.
• My character isn't pushed against the right of the screen so that I can't react to enemies.
• There's no evil bird picking me up and flying me back through the level.
• I haven't had to find and traverse hidden passages by jumping into walls.

If I didn't know better, I'd almost say this might be a good platformer.

 Oh shit, spoke too soon. Damn you, the 90s!

Okay, now shit's getting real. The screen is constantly moving, and you have to attack these enemies and evade their weapons while staying one step ahead of the boulder. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for all the stuff being thrown at you. It's really hard to dodge projectiles when the screen is filled with enemies and is always moving. Though to be fair, you can walk past enemies without taking damage as long as they're not swinging a weapon.

I couldn't actually get any further than this, but I think I almost kinda wanted to.


Tomorrow on Super Adventures in Gaming:  The Super Nintendo Entertainment System gaming begins.