''Maru's Mission'' is an

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

released in 1991 by

Jaleco was a corporate brand name that was used by two previously connected video game developers and publishers based in Japan. The original Jaleco company was founded in 1974 as Japan Leisure Company, founded by Yoshiaki Kanazawa, before being renamed ...

for the original

Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...

. It was released in Japan as on September 28, 1990. The game was released to the Japanese

3DS The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...

Virtual Console The Virtual Console was a line of downloadable retro video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of handheld systems. The Virtual Console lineup consisted of titles originally released on pa ...

in January 2012 and later in North America in February. It is the first game from the ''Jajamaru'' series, aside from the loosely related ''

Ninja Taro ''Ninja Taro'', released in Japan as , is an action-adventure video game for the Game Boy by NMK. It was released in 1991 in both Japan by UPL and North America by American Sammy and is part of the ''Ninja-kun'' series. Story When rumors start ...

'', to be released in North America, until the release of '' Ninja JaJaMaru-kun'' through the

. The soundtrack, as well as many sprites and some cut-scenes of the North American version are different from the original Japanese.

Gameplay

Maru's girlfriend Cori is kidnapped and hidden in a secret location. The player is Maru, and moves through six levels based on various folklore monsters.

Worlds

# North America: A forest #* Mini boss: Eyeclops #* Boss battle: Insector # Romania: First level is a desert. Second is a cemetery. #* Mini boss: Wolfman #* Boss battle: Dracula # Greece: An underground bone cavern #* Mini boss: Golem #* Boss battle: Medusa # Egypt: A desert #* Mini boss: Sphinx #* Boss battle: Isis # Brazil: First level is a mountain. Second is a cemetery. #* Mini boss: Hydra #* Boss battle: Kelbelos # Japan: A Ninja dojo #* Mini boss: Nioh #* Boss battle: Muramasa

''Ninja JajaMaru: The Great World Adventure''

In 2023 this game was re-released for the

Game Boy Color The (GBC or CGB) is an 8-bit handheld game console developed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on October 21, 1998, and to international markets that November. Compared to the original Game Boy, the Game Boy Color features a color TFT scre ...

in English with the name ''Ninja JajaMaru: The Great World Adventure''.

References

1990 video games Action games Game Boy games Jaleco games Ninja Jajamaru Video games developed in Japan Virtual Console games Video games set in New York City Video games set in Japan Video games set in Romania Video games set in Greece Video games set in Brazil Video games set in Egypt Virtual Console games for Nintendo 3DS Single-player video games {{action-videogame-stub