Last Ninja 3

Last Ninja 3 is an action-adventure video game that was developed and published by System 3 for the Commodore 64, Amiga, Atari ST in 1991. It is a sequel to the 1988 game Last Ninja 2.

Development and release

System 3's Mark Cale felt that the game was "by no means the best entry in the series", blaming the breakup of the original Last Ninja series team. In 2005, he said: "When working with such talented people as John Twiddy and Hugh Riley, there was always a certain amount of magic and things just flowed. With some other developers, they were always trying to escape the nemesis of the past. I think the programmers on Ninja 3 were always trying to outdo John Twiddy, rather than make a great game. It wasn’t as good as it should have been."

Last Ninja 3 was re-released on the Virtual Console in Europe in 2010, but was discontinued due to a bug in the game that was unable to be fixed, which resulted in the game freezing after the first level.

Reception

According to Mark Cale, about 3 million copies of the game were sold. The game was very well received by the press. The Amiga version reviews included the review scores of 81% from Amiga Format, 80% Amiga Power, 90% from CU Amiga, and 90% from The One. The C64 version was acclaimed even more, including the scores of 94% from Computer + Video Games and 93% from Zzap!.

The Last Ninja

The Last Ninja is an action-adventure game originally developed and published by System 3 in 1987 for the Commodore 64. Other format conversions were later released for the Apple IIGS, MS-DOS, BBC Micro and Acorn Electron in 1988, the Apple II in 1989, the Amiga and Atari ST and ZX Spectrum (as Last Ninja Remix) in 1990, and the Acorn Archimedes in 1991.

The Last Ninja was one of the most successful games released on the Commodore 64. As the first in the Last Ninja series, it set the standard for the unique look and feel for its sequels: Last Ninja 2 and Last Ninja 3.

Gameplay

The Last Ninja contains a blend of exploration, puzzle solving and combat. The object of the game is to guide the ninja protagonist Armakuni on his journey to the palace of the evil shogun Kunitoki to assassinate him, avenging his clan, and retrieve the sacred scrolls. As the player progresses, Kunitoki's henchmen become more challenging as they learn the ways of the ninja.

The interface consists of the opponents' energy and collected inventory (on the right) and player's health (on the bottom). The world is viewed in an isometric perspective allowing the player to move in eight directions. Movements are relative to the direction Armakuni is facing but restricted to predefined paths (the scenery being inaccessible). Composure and precision must be used when navigating and jumping around obstacles, traps and fatal features of the terrain. By approaching and kneeling at certain landmarks, such as shrines to Buddha and water fountains, an indication of what to collect next is revealed. These items are often hidden in trees or bushes and flash shortly after a new screen has been entered.

Last Ninja 2

Last Ninja 2: Back with a Vengeance is an action-adventure video game developed and published by System 3 for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC in 1988 as a sequel to the 1987 game The Last Ninja. The Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, 1990: Amiga, Atari ST, DOS and NES ports followed in 1989. The NES version of the game was named simply The Last Ninja. In 1990, the Last Ninja Remix edition of the game was re-released for 8-bit systems.

Gameplay

The player, controlling a ninja, must fight his way through various levels populated by opponents, collecting necessary items in the process. Each level depicts a different locale and is divided into several screens. The game is presented in an isometric view and the ninja can move in four different directions and jump.

Enemies, armed with fists and various ninja weapons, wander around the levels. The ninja must fight them either bare-handed or with the weaponry he finds along the way; in either case, he has a number of blows and attacks at his disposal, as well as the ability to block. There is a special weapon, shuriken, which are thrown in a straight line rather than used for melee combat; if they strike an enemy, they will instantly kill or at least severely damage them.