The Last Ninja

Last updated
The Last Ninja
LastNinja-c64 cover01.jpg
Developer(s) System 3
Eclipse Software Design
Publisher(s) Activision
Superior Software
Designer(s) Mark Cale
Tim Best
Artist(s) C64
Hugh Riley
Atari ST, Amiga
Hugh Riley
Erik Simon
Tim Lange
Apple II, MS-DOS
Erol Otus
Electron, BBC Micro
Peter Scott
Composer(s) C64
Ben Daglish
Anthony Lees
Atari ST, Amiga
Jochen Hippel
Russell Lieblich
Series Last Ninja
Platform(s) Commodore 64, Apple IIGS, BBC Micro, Acorn Electron, MS-DOS, Apple II, Atari ST, Amiga, Archimedes
Release1987
Genre(s) Action-adventure
Mode(s) Single-player

The Last Ninja is an action-adventure game developed and published by System 3 in 1987 for the Commodore 64. It was converted to the Apple IIGS, MS-DOS, BBC Micro and Acorn Electron in 1988, the Apple II in 1989, the Amiga and Atari ST (as Last Ninja Remix) in 1990, and the Acorn Archimedes in 1991.

Contents

It is one of the most successful games released on the Commodore 64. It was followed by Last Ninja 2 and Last Ninja 3 .

Gameplay

The Wilderness (Amiga) NinjaRemix-Amiga Wilderness.png
The Wilderness (Amiga)

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, avenge 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 upon inaccessible scenery. 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.

Attack moves are executed by combinations of directional controls with the fire button for attacking the opponent's head, torso and legs. Weapons, like the ninjato, nunchaku, staff, shuriken, and smoke bombs, can be equipped.

Development

The program was originally developed for System 3 in Hungary for almost a year by a team called SoftView [1] (an internal development team of Novotrade Software) [2] but the financial advance for the work was refunded [3] and the Hungarian team was uncredited for its work. [1] SoftView developed it in its proprietary Forth-like language as a foundation for portability. A lot of time was spent developing the programming language and game engine. [4] The team had some of the levels done, but missed all the deadlines, so the code was returned to London by Cale, and the engine rewritten for the Commodore 64 by John Twiddy. [5]

Cale said: "Basically, the whole idea – the whole concept – was mine. The vision of The Last Ninja as an isometric adventure was something I was very passionate about. Obviously, the machines back then weren't powerful enough to create fully 3D games, so an isometric viewpoint seemed to be the right solution to move away from the standard side-scrolling platform games. We wanted to do something a bit different, something that would really capture the imagination. And there really is no better subject matter than the idea of controlling a ninja, a spiritual warrior. We wanted to combine an arcade experience with adventure elements. So it wasn't like Double Dragon , where you just go punch, kick, move, punch, kick, move… The whole idea was to solve a series of simple but realistic adventure puzzles. What we were essentially trying to do was take the square cursor blob from Adventure on the Atari 2600 and turn it into a fully interactive 3D adventure". [6]

Ports

Versions subsequent to the Commodore 64 original were published by Activision in 1987 for Apple IIGS and in 1988 for the Atari ST and MS-DOS. Superior Software published conversions for the BBC Micro, Acorn Electron in 1988, and Acorn Archimedes in 1992. The Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum versions were in production but were never released. [7] It was re-released on Wii Virtual Console in Europe in April 2008 as the fifth Virtual Console Commodore 64 game, and in North America in February 2009 as one of the first three Virtual Console Commodore 64 games. [8]

Reception

Computer Gaming World stated that "there is no exaggerating the graphic excellence of" The Last Ninja. [19] It was very successful as an original Commodore 64 game. In Europe, its sales alone were in excess of 750,000 units and international multi-format sales exceeded 2,000,000 units. According to System 3's Mark Cale, about 4 million copies of the game were sold in all. [6] It was the best-selling C64 game at the time. [20]

The game won many awards and was universally critically acclaimed as original and ground-breaking. [21] It was a runner up for Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards '88. [22] According to UGO: "For a 20+ year old game, The Last Ninja is surprisingly advanced, sporting a combat system which allows specific body parts to be targeted, environmental obstacles, multiple weapons and hidden items galore". [23]

Related Research Articles

<i>Skate or Die!</i> 1987 video game

Skate or Die! is a skateboarding video game released by Electronic Arts (EA) in 1987 for the Commodore 64. It is EA's first internally developed game. Versions for the Apple IIGS, MS-DOS, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum followed. It was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System by Konami, published under the company's Ultra Games branding.

<i>Paradroid</i> 1985 video game

Paradroid is a Commodore 64 computer game written by Andrew Braybrook and published by Hewson Consultants in 1985. It is a shoot 'em up with puzzle elements and was critically praised at release. The objective is to clear a fleet of spaceships of hostile robots by destroying them or taking them over via a mini-game. It was later remade as Paradroid 90 for the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST home computers and as Paradroid 2000 for the Acorn Archimedes. There exist several fan-made remakes for modern PCs. In 2004 the Commodore 64 version was re-released as a built-in game on the C64 Direct-to-TV, and in 2008 for the Wii Virtual Console in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinemaware</span> Video game developer

Cinemaware was a video game developer and publisher. It had released several titles in the 1980s based on various film themes. The company was resurrected in 2000, before being acquired by eGames in 2005.

<i>California Games</i> 1987 video game

California Games is a sports video game released by Epyx for the Apple II and Commodore 64 in 1987. Branching from their Summer Games and Winter Games series, this game is a collection of outdoor sports purportedly popular in California. It ported to other home computers and video game consoles and was the pack-in game for the Atari Lynx when that system launched in 1989. The game was successful and spawned a sequel, California Games II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commodore 64 Games System</span> Video game console

The Commodore 64 Games System is the cartridge-based home video game console version of the popular Commodore 64 home computer. It was released in December 1990 by Commodore into a booming console market dominated by Nintendo and Sega. It was only released in Europe and was a considerable commercial failure. The C64GS came bundled with a cartridge containing four games: Fiendish Freddy's Big Top O'Fun, International Soccer, Flimbo's Quest, and Klax.

<i>Last Ninja</i> Series of video games

Last Ninja is a series of video games published by System 3. The first game in the series titled The Last Ninja, was released in 1987 for the Commodore 64 and was one of the most successful games for the system. In 1988, System 3 released Last Ninja 2, and in 1991 the third game in the series, Last Ninja 3. In 1990, Last Ninja Remix was released for 8-bit systems. This was Last Ninja 2 with new music, a new introductory sequence, slightly changed graphics and fixed bugs. Confusingly, the 16-bit versions of the original The Last Ninja game were also released in 1990 as Ninja Remix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CRL Group</span>

CRL Group plc was a British video game development and publishing company. Originally CRL stood for "Computer Rentals Limited". It was based in King's Yard, London and run by Clem Chambers.

<i>Nebulus</i> (video game) 1987 video game

Nebulus is a platform game created by John M. Phillips and published by Hewson Consultants in the late 1980s for home computer systems. International releases and ports were known by various other names: Castelian, Kyorochan Land, Subline, and Tower Toppler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tynesoft</span> Former software developer and publisher

Tynesoft Computer Software was a software developer and publisher in the 1980s and early 1990s.

<i>Winter Games</i> 1985 video game

Winter Games is a sports video game developed by Epyx, based on sports featured in the Winter Olympic Games.

MicroIllusions was a computer game developer and publisher of the home computer era. Based in Granada Hills, California, the company was a strong supporter of the Amiga and typically released titles on that platform before porting it to others.

Alligata Software Ltd. was a computer games developer and publisher based in Sheffield in the UK in the 1980s.

<i>Shanghai</i> (video game) 1986 video game

Shanghai is a computerized version of mahjong solitaire published by Activision in 1986 for the Amiga, Atari ST, Atari 8-bit computers, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, classic Mac OS, Apple IIGS, and Master System. Shanghai was originally programmed by Brodie Lockard. It was released as an arcade video game by Sunsoft in 1988.

<i>Last Ninja 3</i> 1991 video game

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.

Atlantis Software was a London-based UK computer games publisher that released a number of games during the 1980s and early 1990s.

Addictive Games was a UK video game publisher in the 1980s and early 1990s. It is best known for the Football Manager series of games created by company founder Kevin Toms. The company was originally based in Milton Keynes, England, and later relocated to Bournemouth, in southern England.

<i>Last Ninja 2</i> 1988 video game

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, MS-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.

The English Software Company, later shortened to English Software, was a Manchester, UK-based video game developer and publisher that operated from 1982 until 1987. Starting with its first release, the horizontally scrolling shooter Airstrike, English Software focused on Atari 8-bit computers of home, then expanded to other platforms. The company used the slogan "The power of excitement".

<i>Joe Blade</i> 1987 video game

Joe Blade is a video game published by Interceptor Micros on their Players budget label for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC in 1987. It reached the top of the UK game charts, replacing Renegade. In Germany, the game peaked at number 7. It was ported to the Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, Atari 8-bit computers, MSX, Amiga, and Atari ST. A sequel, Joe Blade 2, was published in 1988. Another sequel, Joe Blade 3, was released in 1989.

References

  1. 1 2 Beregi, Tamás (2010). PixelHeroes - First 50 years of Computer Games. Vince Kiadó. pp. 198–207. ISBN   978-963-303-023-3.
  2. ↑ "[Születésnaposok] 35 éves a The Last Ninja". PC Guru (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  3. ↑ "Last Ninja V1 (C64) - 1986 System 3 - GTW64". 1986.
  4. ↑ "A video game movie: Moleman 4 - Longplay". Moleman 4.
  5. ↑ "Last Ninja Archives". heechee.net.
  6. 1 2 "Mark Cale interrogation". Retro Gamer (18): 56-57 (57). October 2005.
  7. ↑ World of Spectrum - The Last Ninja - URL last accessed 16 April 2006.
  8. ↑ "Toppling Cubes, 3-D Characters and Classic Ninja Kicks Lead a Stellar Lineup". Nintendo of America. 21 September 2009. Retrieved 21 September 2009.
  9. ↑ Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (April 1988). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (132): 80–85.
  10. ↑ Lacey, Eugene (July 1987). "The Last Ninja: Killer!". Commodore User . No. 46. p. 17.
  11. ↑ "The Last Ninja". Zzap!64. No. 28. August 1987. p. 104.
  12. ↑ Hybner, Tomas (August 1987). "The Last Ninja". Datormagazin (in Swedish). No. 6. pp. 24–25.
  13. ↑ Dunnington, Benn (January–February 1988). "The Last Ninja". .info . No. 18. pp. 18–19.
  14. ↑ Revis, Jon (March 1989). "Cut above the average". Electron User . Vol. 6, no. 6. p. 20.
  15. ↑ Patterson, Mark (January 1991). "Ninja Remix". CU Amiga . No. 11. pp. 46–47.
  16. ↑ Webb, Trenton (February 1991). "Ninja Remix". Amiga Format . No. 19. p. 77.
  17. ↑ Horgan, Tony (February 1991). "Ninja Remix". Amiga User International . Vol. 5, no. 2. p. 88.
  18. ↑ King, Phil; Hayward, Chris (May 1993). "Ninja Remix". Amiga Force . No. 5. p. 28.
  19. ↑ "Christmas Buyers Guide". Computer Gaming World . No. 41. November 1987. p. 20.
  20. ↑ Marsden, Rhodri (25 January 2012). "Flight of the Commodore: How the iconic computer led to a golden age" . The Independent . Archived from the original on 2022-06-18. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  21. ↑ Studio 3 (formerly System 3) web site - URL last accessed 16 April 2006.
  22. ↑ "Golden Joystick Awards". Computer and Video Games (66). Future Publishing: 101. April 1987. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  23. ↑ Ninjas in Games | An evolution of ninjas in video games throughout the years. Archived 2011-06-15 at the Wayback Machine , UGO.com, June 4, 2008
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.