The Ninja Kids (Arcade)

Released in arcades in 1991 by Taito, The Ninja Kids is a Final Fight-style beat-em-up for 1-4 players. The players are a group of young ninjas sent to thwart a demonic group's plans to resurrect "The Satan". There are Japan & US versions and 2/4 player versions of this game. This video features the Japan 2-player version. There are 4 different playable characters, each a different color and with a different weapon & skill in a different element, which affects each character's special "Ninja Power" attack. Ninja Power can be used after collecting scrolls, but the player can also accumulate scrolls and use up to 4 at once for a more powerful attack. Ninja Power affects all enemies on screen. Other powerup items grant temporarily invincibility or surround the player in flames that damage enemies on contact, while other items award bonus points or restore life. Many obstacles or other objects can be destroyed to gain items and scrolls. The enemies are undead enemies largely resembling hunchbacks, ghost-like flying rabbits and more, with larger enemies clearly spoofing other games and notable enemies like the Abobos from "Double Dragon", the helmeted muscular bosses from "Golden Axe" (albeit with heavy machine guns), the hunchbacks themselves and more. You lose one life point when hit by an enemy and lose a life when all 5 life points are lost. The game is over when all lives are lost. The game has 5 stages, largely side scrolling with some vertical scrolling sections and often broken up into short sections by transition sequences. A large boss enemy waits at the end of each stage and must be defeated to continue. If you clear all 5 stages, you complete the game. Despite it's serious & dark themes, this is a game that absolutely does not take itself serious. Even some of the larger enemies are ridiculously proportioned and wear sunglasses with impossibly fake wide grins and show off like bodybuilders. Even taking damage and losing lives is often hilarious based on the characters' reactions. Not to mention one ninja looks something like a clown. International or not, the end result is an enjoyable spoof/parody of the beat-em-up genre. There is one major difference between the Japan & US versions-in the US version all references to "Satan" and "The Satan" are changed to "The Evil One". As for the 2/4 player versions, in the 2-player version players can freely choose the character they want to be when starting the game and/or continuing, while in the 4-player version each character is locked to one player slot (Player 1 is the Blue Ninja, Player 2 is the Yellow Ninja, Player 3 is the Red Ninja, Player 4 is the Green Ninja) The game was released for Xbox, PlayStation 2 & PC in 2005 as part of "Taito Legends".