Platform gaming is supposed to be about having some sort of fun while accomplishing a mission in the process. Through several different games, I’ve followed different story lines and different plots only to come into a game such as this. 3 Ninja’s a somewhat movie based game that doesn’t live up to the mediocrity of the movie in any way shape or form, by placing small characters, poorly detailed enemies and non inspiring environments! Given the amount of platform gaming that I’ve found on the Genesis in years past, it’s hard to believe that something of this level and of this low brow caliber would be released on the Genesis to any sane public or gamer for play. With several different problems that arise, mainly out of the different game play and visual lacking aspects, you’ll find that if you wasted money on this title, then you need to be kicked in the neck.
The game play is run of the mill side scrolling platform action gaming that features some rather forgettable characters who are introduced into a story that honestly escapes me. Through several stages of mind numbing boredom, you’ll fight against enemies that range from the stupid, to the extremely ridiculous and you’ll be using several different attacks in order to do this. Each character has a slightly different weapon, and actually, the weapons are supposed to determine just what kind of attacking you do, but in all honesty, there is nothing more here than running into enemies and hitting them, only to move onto more enemies! I’m not sure what the plot of the game or the mission objective is supposed to be, but whatever it is, it is easily escapable of the attention span in a matter of five minutes. Even with the three different characters, you’ll find that with no truly noticeable differences between them, nor any sort of extra added game play that is featured here, 3 Ninja’s is an uninspired game that tries hard to be something that it is not, which is fun!
The control for 3 Ninja’s is compounded by a lack of two things, both of which have to do with the responsiveness of the control and how you’re supposed to use it. Suffering from what I call Ghost Control, you’ll find that the game has little or nothing to offer you, other than several instances of annoyance, patience straining and restraint for throwing the controller across the room! There are some advanced moves that you can perform through using the directional pad, but the amount of time that they take to learn as well as the fact that they don’t really benefit you in any of the battles, you probably won’t want to waste your time learning them. The Ghost Control also seems to take over whenever you have to do any sort of jumping, so you’ll be falling from places that you think you’ve reached, and with that being said, try not to throw the controller because you have to start the stage all over again!
Visually, the game takes another face dive into the ground with poorly animated characters and enemies at every turn. With the amount of power that you might think the Genesis has behind it, there is nothing here that you haven’t seen before on the NES, and if there is any mercy in the hearts of Genesis game producers, you won’t have to see things like this again! The stages are rather long, but lack the imagination and detail that you would expect out of a Genesis action title. Special effects and even character animations are kept to such a minimum throughout the entire game, there is really no reason to watch the game more than once, let alone play it again in hopes of seeing something that you may have missed before. In all honesty, there is nothing here that will be memorable, with even the boss characters being little more than poorly animated characters that have some shoddy looking animations to them!
Audio wise, there must be a law someplace that restricts the use of crappy MIDI music in an action game. The music that you hear is nothing more than an attempt to create an adventure theme with an upbeat pace while in all reality, keeping your attention more focused on the lack of game play and otherwise! The music itself is little more than filler for the sound effects, which are more or less generic sounds that you would expect to hear in the form of thuds, swishing and other various action game sounds. When you blend all of these elements together, you’ll find that the game isn’t much to listen to and with too much exposure, the game goes into that patience testing mode that you can’t quite get out of without muting the sound.
When you take a movie and attempt to make it into a game, sometimes you come out with a result that is less than stellar. Case in point here, is that the 3 Ninja’s were forced into this little black cart for the Genesis and then forced on the gamers who play the system! Giving you very little in terms of game play and visuals, you are treated to a display of cookie cutter game play and less than awe inspired visuals contained within several levels of repetitive action gaming. The Ghost Control that 3 Ninja’s offers you doesn’t seem to help matter any, but rather drives another nail into the coffin where the jumping around is concerned. Tie this into the audio that doesn’t hit the mark, nor keep your interest for any longer than twenty minutes, and you’ll find that 3 Ninja’s doesn’t have anything that you haven’t seen before, or won’t see again on an old NES title! Genesis gamers should find other options for an action game, and let this one sit to collect dust on the bottom shelf of a used game store. If you’re really a glutton for punishment, or your NES is broken, then you may want to pick this title up for the hell of it and experience NES gaming on the Genesis system.
2/10
//KasketDarkfyre
