''Ninja Taro'', released in Japan as , is an

action-adventure An action-adventure game is a video game genre, video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Definition An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements f ...

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 ...

for the

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 ...

by NMK. It was released in 1991 in both Japan by UPL and North America by

American Sammy is a Japanese developer and retailer of video game and gambling products and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its South Korean office, Sammy Amusement Service, is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Sammy ...

and is part of the ''Ninja-kun'' series.

Story

When rumors start to emerge that the feudal lord

Takeda Shingen was daimyō, daimyo of Kai Province during the Sengoku period of Japan. Known as "the Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyo of the late Sengoku period, and credited with exceptional military prestige. Shingen was based in a p ...

was pronounced dead, the country's biggest enemy

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...

became ambitious. He started talking about unifying all of Japan under his leadership.

Summary

Players need to explore the world map, do quests for the people who live in the towns, find treasure chests in order to become stronger instead of earning

experience point An experience point (often abbreviated as exp or XP) is a unit of measurement used in some tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's life experience and progression through the game. Experien ...

s and hunt inside caves to destroy major enemies. There is no puzzle solving or currency used in the game, making it more straightforward than the games in ''

The Legend of Zelda is a media franchise, video game series created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo; some portable installments and re-releases have been outsourced to Flags ...

'' series. Most weapons are obtained by killing enemies. The

boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...

es in this game can be described as "visually grotesque". Takeda Shingen is the mastermind behind all the turmoil that takes place in this game. Players can use rice balls and

herb Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...

in order to replenish their strength levels. In the main menu, players have three stats: body (representing hit points), force (representing the weapon's attack power), and charm. The ending of the game shows the player relaxing with his girlfriend. One of the drawbacks in this video game is that the player has a rather slow walking speed. Players can either use samurai swords or

shuriken A is a Japanese concealed weapon used by samurai or ninja or in martial arts as a hidden dagger or '' metsubushi'' to distract or misdirect. History The origins of the ''bo-shuriken'' in Japan are still unclear, despite continuing researc ...

s for combat purposes; shurikens have a shorter range and are weaker than swords. However, both swords and shurikens can be powered up by the treasure chests located throughout the game.

References

1991 video games Action-adventure games Game Boy games Game Boy-only games Ninja Jajamaru NMK (company) games Single-player video games UPL Co., Ltd games Video games developed in Japan {{action-videogame-stub