Last Ninja 2

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.

Last Ninja 2: Back with a Vengeance
Commodore 64 cover art by Joe Roth
Developer(s)System 3
Beam Software
Publisher(s)Activision
Ubi Soft (10 Megahits Vol. 3)
Ocean Software (100% Dynamite)
Jaleco
Producer(s)Mark Cale
Tim Best
Designer(s)Mark Cale
Tim Best
Hugh Riley
Programmer(s)John Twiddy
Mev Dinc
Artist(s)Hugh Riley
Writer(s)John Twiddy
Composer(s)Matt Gray
Reyn Ouwehand (Remix)
Tania Smith (NES)
SeriesLast Ninja
Platform(s)Last Ninja 2:
1988: Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC
1989: Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, 1990: Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, NES (as The Last Ninja)
2008: Virtual Console
Last Ninja Remix:
1990: Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC
Release29 August 1988[1]
1990 (Last Ninja Remix)
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single player

Gameplay

The player, controlling a ninja, must fight his way through various levels populated by opponents, collecting necessary items in the process. Each level depicts a different locale and is divided into several screens. The game is presented in an isometric view and the ninja can move in eight different directions and jump.

Enemies, armed with fists and various ninja weapons, wander around the levels. The ninja must fight them either bare-handed or with the weaponry he finds along the way; in either case, he has a number of blows and attacks at his disposal, as well as the ability to block. There is a special weapon, shuriken, which are thrown in a straight line rather than used for melee combat; if they strike an enemy, they will instantly kill or at least severely damage them.

Various items scattered around the levels, such as keys, a rope and a map; collecting these items and using them in a proper place is necessary for completing the game. There are also hamburgers that award an extra life when eaten.

Plot

The game continues from the aftermath of the events of The Last Ninja. With the Koga scrolls now in his possession, Armakuni has begun training a new order of shadow warriors. During a training session, he is mysteriously transported to 20th-century New York City. Torn from his own time, Armakuni must defeat the evil shogun Kunitoki once more.

Reception

Last Ninja 2 was an enormous commercial success. According to System 3's Mark Cale, 5.5 million copies were sold for the Commodore 64 version alone; at that time, the user base of the C64 was estimated at 20 million, meaning that one in four C64 owners bought the game.[2]

It was a runner up for Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards. In 2004, readers of Retro Gamer voted Last Ninja 2 as 68th top retro game.[3]

8-bit versions
PlatformMagazineScoreAccolade
Acorn Electron Electron User 9/10 Golden Game[4]
Commodore 64/128 The Games Machine 93% Top Score[5]
Computer + Video Games 9/10 C+VG Hit![6]
Commodore User 9/10 CU Super Star[7]
IGN 7.5/10[8]
ACE 747/1000[9]
ZX Spectrum Sinclair User 92%[10]
Your Sinclair 9/10[11]
Crash 90% Crash Smash[12]
The Games Machine 89% Top Score[5]
16-bit versions
PlatformMagazineScoreAccolade
Amiga The Games Machine 70%[13]
Amiga Format 58%[14]
Atari ST Computer + Video Games 77%[15]
The Games Machine 70%[13]
DOS Computer + Video Games 76%[15]
The Games Machine 73%[16]

Legacy

A sequel, Last Ninja 3 was released in 1991.

The Last Ninja Remix re-release version has an added short intro sequence, minor graphic changes and a remixed soundtrack.

The Limited Edition of the original release included a ninja mask and a rubber shuriken (Not available with the Remix versions of the game).[17]

In 2015 the source code of the Konix version was discovered.[18][19]

References
  1. Gary Penn (August 1988). "Ninja 2". pp. 16–17. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  2. Retro Gamer 18, page 57.
  3. Retro Gamer 8, page 66.
  4. Electron User 7.5 (Feb 1990)
  5. The Games Machine 14 (Jan 1989)
  6. Computer + Video Games 81 (Jul 1988)
  7. Commodore User (Aug 1988)
  8. The Last Ninja 2: Back with a Vengeance Review - Commodore 64/128 Review at IGN
  9. "Archive - Magazine viewer". World of Spectrum. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  10. "Archive - Magazine viewer". World of Spectrum. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  11. "Last Ninja II". Ysrnry.co.uk. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  12. "Archive - Magazine viewer". World of Spectrum. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  13. The Games Machine 33 (Aug 1990)
  14. Amiga Format 14 (Sep 1990)
  15. Computer + Video Games 106 (Sep 1990)
  16. The Games Machine 34 (Sep 1990)
  17. "Archive - Magazine viewer". World of Spectrum. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  18. Last Ninja 2 Port Discovered For Unreleased Konix Multisystem Console on retrocollect.com (19 January 2015)
  19. LAST NINJA 2 Konix Multisystem game and source found on konixmultisystem.co.uk (17 January 2015)
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