Ratalaika Games, Shinyuden, and Sunsoft teamed up once again to re-release another 16-bit SNES title. For the first time, Japan exclusive Justice Ninja Casey is available in English and has been outfitted with welcomed, built-in cheats and gameplay options.
A princess has been kidnapped by ninjas but Casey, a young mulleted ninja, takes it upon himself to rescue the damsel simply because he is the self-proclaimed Ninja of Justice. The humor aspect is definitely appreciated because almost nothing about this game is taken seriously.
Gameplay-wise, this forgotten Super Famicom title is heavily inspired by River City Ransom. It is ultimately a 2D brawler but transitions from screen to screen to generate the experience of traveling through one large, interconnected world. Along the way, beating up bad guys with basic combos rewards the player with currency to buy new upgrades while the experience point system makes Casey grow slightly stronger over time.
The problem with this side scrolling beat’em up is the lack of direction. The only way to figure out where to go is to plainly explore until you randomly find a boss battle. While River City also has this same lack of direction, it is amplified here due to the steeper difficulty. Enemies can easily overwhelm and hunt you down, making the experience more challenging at every moment. Thankfully, there is an option to turn on invincibility and one-hit kill from the main menu just like activating a Game Genie code. Personally, I recommend activating these cheats right from the start but playing the included co-op mode would help a bit if you wanted to be purist.
In addition to the “where the heck am I supposed to go” problem, Casey himself moves slowly and chuckily. For a ninja, his standard walking speed is slower than a grandma with a cane trying to cross the street. Double tapping left and right, resulting in a sprint, should have been the default speed as it quickly becomes annoying to constantly double tap throughout the adventure. Also for a ninja, his default moveset is nothing special. Sure, you have a punch, kick, and jump button, but there isn’t much difference between each attack. Once you get comfortable with one, there isn’t much reason to switch it up. While the background set pieces change often, a welcomed feature, the lack of a decent weapon and combo system makes fighting mostly one note.
Even though Justice Ninja Casey isn’t the best brawler and is easily trumped by the original River City Ransom, it still justifies its $6 price point for curious old schoolers. Also, even if the gameplay isn’t must-play, it still deserves a ton of respect and recognition. Only a dedicated company like Ratalaika has the passion and dedicated to re-release an unknown Super Famicom title in the West, translate it into English, and include many gameplay options. So mega props must be given and I personally hope to see more stuff like this in the future.
Also Play: the Cyber Citizen Shockman series
Don’t Forget About: the re-release of Moto Roader
Wait For It: a new Aero the Acrobat title
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
X/Twitter: @ZackGaz
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RATING
OUR RATING - 5
5
SCORE
Justice Ninja Casey, an unknown Super Famicom exclusive now translated into English, is little more than a clunky River City Ransom clone, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth a look for curious fans. Hoping more foreign games like this also come Stateside.
Editor in Chief - been writing for mygamer,com for 20+ years. Gaming enthusiast. Hater of pants. Publisher of obscure gaming content on my YT channel.
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