A fresh look at the game Ninja Masters

Kazuya_UK

NeoGeoForLife.com,
20 Year Member
Joined
May 11, 2001
Posts
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Hi all,

I just finished off writing another re-review, this time for the game Ninja Masters. In my opinion this game is unfairly overlooked by most Neo Geo gamers, and since I finally bought the MVS cart off a cool member on this forum recently, I thought that I would get a re-review of it done, as the old review I wrote didn't really do the game justice.

This new review is a lot more in depth than the old one and I've tried to cram in as much info about the game as I could. You can read it by clicking <a href="http://www.neogeoforlife.com/reviews/ninja_masters_page1.shtml" target="_blank">here</a>... let me know what you think :)

Kaz

<small>[ June 30, 2003, 03:35 PM: Message edited by: Kazuya_UK ]</small>
 

Rade K

Ned's Ninja Academy Dropout
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Don't like this game. Cant get into it.


I dont know why there is a sudden renewed intrest. Maybe its all the new games being sub par. I will tell you this much, NM's is better than 2k1, rotd put together.
 

Showdown

n00b
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Jun 6, 2003
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i like this review better.garg7 (i think) recommended this game to me when i got my mvs cabinet after i played out the all the shodowns,and fatal furys.and i had a blast with it.i never could figure out why most didnt care for it,or why it was overlooked.

(and yes,id pick this over 2k1,but come on...rotd rocks!)
 

Kazuya_UK

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Rade Kuruc:
Don't like this game. Cant get into it.


I dont know why there is a sudden renewed intrest. Maybe its all the new games being sub par. I will tell you this much, NM's is better than 2k1, rotd put together.
Heh, amen to that, although I do like RotD personally :)

Kaz
 

MilkManX

I Love Frames!,
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Jun 12, 2002
Posts
3,791
I liked Ninja Masters. I have only played a bad rom that had messed up sound and look forward to buying the MVS cart someday. Of course I am biased since I am facinated with Ninja.
 

Shito

King of Typists,
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Ninja Master's = one of the best games on the system period
 

Kazuya_UK

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Shito:
Ninja Master's = one of the best games on the system period
Yup, I'd have to agree :)

MilkmanX: If you played it without proper sound, you are missing something... the music in Ninja Masters is very good - check out the MP3 samples in my review. I definitely recommend buying the MVS cart wink

Kaz
 

Rade K

Ned's Ninja Academy Dropout
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Shito:
Ninja Master's = one of the best games on the system period
What email address do I use if I want to send nude picture of myself to your girlfriend??
 

aria

Former Moderator
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Dec 4, 1977
Posts
39,546
overrated, worth only the MVS money, if that.
 

Kid Aphex

samus' love slave,
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Wow; what a comprehensive review.
Keep updating all your reviews like that and you'll be ranked S.
 

neobuyer

Master of Disguise,
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Oct 7, 2000
Posts
8,083
Firstly, Kazuya, damn good review there. Top notch.

Ninja Master's has:

1) Best single character in a fighter ever (Karasu)

2) Best combo system I've ever played- don't believe the 'dial-a-combo' BS- this game will reward you, you will start to feel that you've never had such complete control over a fighter. You'll start kicking the crap out of the guy you're playing, and then just sheath your weapon and kick his ass without it- just to show him the degree of ownage you've dropped down upon him. I've played this game 3-4 times a week for a year and I STILL DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING

3) In the top 5 Neo games for best backgrounds.

4) Some of the Neo's best game music, knitting together the Neo's best and most fully realised running theme in any of their fighters, ever.

Don't listen to Rade and Bobak, they've been in Bobak's carport huffing model airplane glue.

Ninja Master's is one of the best playing fighters ever coded. Awesome depth that people 'don't get' for reasons that are pretty unclear. -But I have my theories:

Theory A) Came out in 96- and didn't 'wow' people with the sort of over the top graphics SamSho3 and 4 did. NM went with smaller, tighter, slightly more detailed with very tight animation and blazing fast game speed.

Theory B) People, since they didn't play this game much decided it played like Killer Instinct or some other combo 'gimmick' game and dismissed it.

Theory C) People simply haven't played it enough to scatch the surface, let alone begin to appreciate it's depth.

For another review- Read Garg 7's review at <a href="http://www.neogeotemple.com" target="_blank">www.neogeotemple.com</a> for another spot on review of Ninja Master's.

<small>[ June 30, 2003, 04:04 PM: Message edited by: neobuyer ]</small>
 

NeoDragoN

custom rank,
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Ninja Masters is awesome i have always liked not only for its amazing designs, fighting system, back grounds and presentation but it has an atmosphere about it like no other game!

*waits for Garg to turn up* wink
 

Phoenix Down

Flagstaff Up,
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Posts
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Kazuya_UK:
Hi all,

I just finished off writing another re-review, this time for the game Ninja Masters. In my opinion this game is unfairly overlooked by most Neo Geo gamers, and since I finally bought the MVS cart off a cool member on this forum recently, I thought that I would get a re-review of it done, as the old review I wrote didn't really do the game justice.

This new review is a lot more in depth than the old one and I've tried to cram in as much info about the game as I could. You can read it by clicking <a href="http://www.neogeoforlife.com/reviews/ninja_masters_page1.shtml" target="_blank">here</a>... let me know what you think :)

Kaz
You must have been reading my mind, as I finally got the MVS cart and have been looking for information/tips/strategies. Very detailed review too.

So far I'm really liking this game. It's not perfect; the overall game can feel a little bland to me sometimes (characters, backgrounds, story etc.) but from a gameplay perspective it's really a lot of fun.

To me Ninja Masters is to 2D fighters what Bloody Roar was to 3D fighters (at least initially) in that it seems to borrow features from a number of fighting games before it and put it all together into a solid package. While I freely admit it doesn't have the depth of games like KoF and Last Blade, I think it deserves a little more credit.

Anyway just my thoughts. :)
 

Rade K

Ned's Ninja Academy Dropout
20 Year Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2001
Posts
11,835
neobuyer:
Firstly, Kazuya, damn good review there. Top notch.

Ninja Master's has:

1) Best single character in a fighter ever (Karasu)

2) Best combo system I've ever played- don't believe the 'dial-a-combo' BS- this game will reward you, you will start to feel that you've never had such complete control over a fighter. You'll start kicking the crap out of the guy you're playing, and then just sheath your weapon and kick his ass without it- just to show him the degree of ownage you've dropped down upon him. I've played this game 3-4 times a week for a year and I STILL DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING

3) In the top 5 Neo games for best backgrounds.

4) Some of the Neo's best game music, knitting together the Neo's best and most fully realised running theme in any of their fighters, ever.

Don't listen to Rade and Bobak, they've been in Bobak's carport huffing model airplane glue.

Ninja Master's is one of the best playing fighters ever coded. Awesome depth that people 'don't get' for reasons that are pretty unclear. -But I have my theories:

Theory A) Came out in 96- and didn't 'wow' people with the sort of over the top graphics SamSho3 and 4 did. NM went with smaller, tighter, slightly more detailed with very tight animation and blazing fast game speed.

Theory B) People, since they didn't play this game much decided it played like Killer Instinct or some other combo 'gimmick' game and dismissed it.

Theory C) People simply haven't played it enough to scatch the surface, let alone begin to appreciate it's depth.

For another review- Read Garg 7's review at <a href="http://www.neogeotemple.com" target="_blank">www.neogeotemple.com</a> for another spot on review of Ninja Master's.
God, you are such an asshole. ok, ill give the game another shot once I get a supergun with 1slot set up going (im really slow at this tech shit).


buyer,
see you in hell.
 

Kazuya_UK

NeoGeoForLife.com,
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Joined
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Posts
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Thanks guys. I just read Garg's review and agree with pretty much everything he said. I like the full length pics of the backgrounds that he put in there too, they help you appreciate the detail that was put into them :)

Kaz
 

Cynn

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Posts
333
Neogeoforlife.com is one of the best Neo sites period. I've been going there for years. It's really cool that you're going deeper into some games. Great work Kaz!

Now get a Matrimelee review up! :cool:
 

Setsuna1982

World Her,
Joined
Apr 17, 2002
Posts
2,584
NM is great.

And I'm starting to like ROTD... the battle against abubo with that song have an "epic" feel that i love (you know... that solo that plays after the BIG scream followed by a 0.5sec silence and then the music restarts with the "epic" part).
 

the_colonel

Fio's Quartermaster
Joined
May 11, 2002
Posts
487
I havent read the review yet! but i got a feelin i pretty much know what your going to type in it, lets find out.

From my personel time with it i'd say its a very decent fighter & its very detailed in its attack system, although a little bland, the attack system has been thought out well.
 

Cnidarian

Over Top Auto Mechanic
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Posts
854
Nice review, Kazuya. Very in-depth with plenty of details for those who would be interested in this game.

And nice touch with the in game music samples. :cool:

About Ninja Master's, I really enjoy this game.

It's got an impressive atmosphere, and the game just plays very tight and fast. The combo engine, although mainly button-sequences, is well implemented and satisfying when pulled off, especially the Hyper mode combos. eek!

The cast of characters is really great, everyone is worthwhile to use. Sheathing/unsheathing weapons ability is my favorite feature.

My only real complaints would be:

-no reliable way to escape/break combos once you're caught, meaning you can get trapped in long chains for big damage.

-some special/DM motions are pretty unique, making them hard to learn/get used to.

-no mid-level jumping, like in most later games.

-the storyline is very shallow, feels like it was thrown in as an afterthought.

Other than that, I love everything else about this fairly obscure title. If you're a fan of Samurai/Ninja-themed or weapons-based games, this is definitely a must have.
 

Pep

Genjuro's Frog
20 Year Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2002
Posts
1,147
Well, a great and very exhaustive review indeed.
 

FeelGood

So Many Posts
No Time
For Games.
Joined
Aug 18, 2001
Posts
17,794
This is pretty much my sentiment as well. When I first saw Ninja Masters displayed as an upcoming game in 1996 off the neogeo.co.jp site, I didn't give a shit. But then when I downloaded the roms and played it on neorage, I was floored. I had to own the game, and so now I do.

The thing about gaming in 1996 was how easy it was to overlook anything that wasn't already established. Last Blade 1 could have beena forgotten game if there wasn't a last blade 2 in 1998 (actually, to a degree, last blade 1 is very underappreciated) - it's just the time period. People were too busy playing other stuff like Tekken 2, Killer instinct 2, Soul Edge, and VF2. Not me, but then I was too focused on SFA2, SSIV, SSIII and ... SSIII. So seeing some no name fighter come out was not too exciting. Especially seeing the ADK logo on it. Back then, my tastes weren't refined enough to understand that ADK kicked ass.

But today, Ninja Masters is one of my most appreciated games. Definitely worth every peeny as a collectors item, and as a gaming piece, priceless.

neobuyer:
Firstly, Kazuya, damn good review there. Top notch.

Ninja Master's has:

1) Best single character in a fighter ever (Karasu)

2) Best combo system I've ever played- don't believe the 'dial-a-combo' BS- this game will reward you, you will start to feel that you've never had such complete control over a fighter. You'll start kicking the crap out of the guy you're playing, and then just sheath your weapon and kick his ass without it- just to show him the degree of ownage you've dropped down upon him. I've played this game 3-4 times a week for a year and I STILL DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING

3) In the top 5 Neo games for best backgrounds.

4) Some of the Neo's best game music, knitting together the Neo's best and most fully realised running theme in any of their fighters, ever.

Don't listen to Rade and Bobak, they've been in Bobak's carport huffing model airplane glue.

Ninja Master's is one of the best playing fighters ever coded. Awesome depth that people 'don't get' for reasons that are pretty unclear. -But I have my theories:

Theory A) Came out in 96- and didn't 'wow' people with the sort of over the top graphics SamSho3 and 4 did. NM went with smaller, tighter, slightly more detailed with very tight animation and blazing fast game speed.

Theory B) People, since they didn't play this game much decided it played like Killer Instinct or some other combo 'gimmick' game and dismissed it.

Theory C) People simply haven't played it enough to scatch the surface, let alone begin to appreciate it's depth.

For another review- Read Garg 7's review at <a href="http://www.neogeotemple.com" target="_blank">www.neogeotemple.com</a> for another spot on review of Ninja Master's.
 

Kazuya_UK

NeoGeoForLife.com,
20 Year Member
Joined
May 11, 2001
Posts
1,443
Cynn:
Neogeoforlife.com is one of the best Neo sites period. I've been going there for years. It's really cool that you're going deeper into some games. Great work Kaz!

Now get a Matrimelee review up! :cool:
Thanks! :) I'll do a Matrimelee review once I can get the cart. I've been looking at getting one from Cosmicco asap, and I'll definitely wrote a review as soon as I have had the chance to play it properly. Can do it sooner if someone wants to donate a cart :D :D :D (j/k)

Thanks for all the replies everyone, it's good to see there are a fair few Ninja Masters fans out there! buttrock

Kaz
 

corbo 2

Genjuro's Frog
Joined
Jan 5, 2003
Posts
1,143
Pep:
Well, a great and very exhaustive review indeed.
Yeah,took some time too read but was a A* review,long but it told me stuff i wanted to know,so good review.I have always wanted to own this when i get my MVS set up going,i'm getting defo now.Always seemed like a great game,underrated.

And i always prefer weapon based fighters,like Sam Shodown and Last Blade is one of my Fav games ever.

I am defo gonna get this on MVS when i get the chance.Keep up the Great work on your site Kaz,thanks for the MP3 files too,nice touch :D
 
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