Gaming Anniversaries October 2- Kid Niki: Radical Ninja
Released October 2, 1987- Kid Niki: Radical Ninja
Kid Niki: Radical Ninja slashed its way into the Japanese market on this day in 87′. For the Nintendo Famicom!
Kid Niki: Radical Ninja is a side-scrolling action game starring the titular Kid Niki. The game takes place in Feudal Japan and begins with Kid Niki training at his Ninja school. Suddenly, a bird fell dead at his feet with a note reading that his girlfriend has been kidnapped by the evil Stone Wizard! Kid Niki yells “Will Help You!” and the game begins.
The player has a spinning sword. It slashes its way through enemies. Additionally, players can collect bells that will power up his attacks, such as the Golden bell which will launch projectiles as well as the Silver Bell which will create a force field around him. Further to these, Kid Niki can collect “Mini Niki’s” which are extra lives.
The game is played over seven “realms” that must be finished in order with a boss at the end of each one.
Critical Reception
Kid Niki: Radical Ninja reviewed moderately. With Computer gaming World calling it “yet another in the seemingly endless parade of horizont
ally-scrolling/running/jumping/shooting games for the NES”. And wondered how many of these that Nintendo would authorize. They also acknowledged that fans of such games would obviously enjoy it. That said, the game managed to sell well enough to garner several sequels. Albeit, only in Japan and only for the Famicom. It did not, sadly sell well enough in North America to justify more releases.
The marketers for this title decided it was a good idea to put screenshots from the graphically superior Arcade version on the back of the NES box. This led to some confusion amongst player, but also tricked enough to sell enough copies to consider it a success. Shady business Data East. In the end, Kid Niki: Radical Ninja was considered Data East’s most successful home console port of an arcade game.
How did you enjoy this game? Let us know in the comments below!
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