NINJA SPIRIT
v 1.0
8-2-99
author: Dimetric Houston
e-mail: dhousto6@bellsouth.net
CONTENTS:
Introduction
Updates
Story
Controls
Enemies
Weapons
PowerUps
Stage Strategies
Tips, Tricks and Secrets
Credits
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
INTRODUCTION:
Hello all. This FAQ covers the game Ninja Spirit. Ninja Spirit is a game
made for the Turbografx-16. It is a good old-school action game.
I am not going to bother with the copyright stuff. If you are low enough
to try to bank a profit off of this, or you decide to plagiarize it, that's
your wretched morality.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATES:
v 1.0 8-2-99
-First edition. Completed up to mission 6.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
STORY
Your father has been murdered by a mysterious half-man half-beast creature.
You have set out to avenge his death. You are Moonlight, the avenging ninja.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTROLS
D-pad: Move Moonlight. Down is crouch. Allows you to direct weapon attacks.
Button 1: Jump (tap for small jump, press for large jump)
Button 2: Attack with weapon
Select: Choose weapon (displayed in upper left corner)
Run: Pause
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENEMIES
There are a few normal enemies in Ninja Spirit to watch out for. Below are
their descriptions. Most enemy names are from the manual.
Ninja:
Green--the most common type of foe. Dressed in dark greenish-red garb. They
often just run at you and then strike with their sword. At other
times they will leap at you from a high jump to hit you with their
swords as they come down.
Red--these appear out of nowhere and throw bombs at you. They don't move from
their position.
Black--these are seen traveling along ceilings. They try to hit you if you
are traveling along the ceiling as well.
Orange--VERY IMPORTANT!! These ninjas carry your powerups. You will see
them either running at you or just sitting in the air. The ones that
run attack like the Green ninja. The ones that sit in the air do
nothing.
Purple--these carry dangeous sickle and chain weapons. Seen in Stage 3, they
appear out of smoke like the Red Ninja and throw the weapon out. THESE
WEAPONS WILL KILL YOU WITH ONE HIT!! Fortunately or unfortunately
these ninjas can only throw their weapons straight in front of them.
Yellow-Green--these ninjas throw knives at you. They may throw one or five.
The knives can be fast or slow.
Wolf--called "White Rain" in the manual. These annoying wolves come at you
from the sky. Best taken care of with the sword.
Earth Ninja--annoying opponent that appears underneath floors and tries to
hit you with its spear. You can tell where it will appear by
the moving dirt.
Mysterious Monk--another dangerous opponent. These folk come running at you
with spinning staffs (the manual says they are swords, but
they look like staffs to me). THE STAFFS CAN KILL YOU
WITH ONE HIT, and these monks will throw the weapon if
you are in the air.
Ghost of Fugitive Warrior--yet another opponent that can kill you in one hit.
These hulking brutes fade into existance slowly and
walk equally as slow. Yet, they can take quite a
pounding, and they swing their swords with notable
speed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
WEAPONS
You are armed with four weapons which are available to you throughout the game.
One of Ninja Spirit's merits is deciding which weapon to use in different
situations. Certain weapons work better in some situations than in others.
Use the SELECT button to choose which weapon you wish to use. The weapon icon
in the upper left corner of the screen will change to show what weapon you are
using. Below are a description of the weapons and comments on each. Names in
parenthesis are the manual names). Descriptions are from the manual.
Comments are my own.
You will notice that your weapons are shown with a light blue background. If
you pick up a certain powerup, this background will change to red. This
indicates that your weapon is powered up. Each weapon can power up only once.
SWORD (Righteous Cloud-the Magic Sword)--Can be used to attack in four directions.
Also effective against an enemy throwing knives and bombs. Increase
your power to increase your sword's range of attack!
Comments: Incredibly useful! With only four weapons to use, each had better
be pretty dang useful, and the sword takes the cake. The ability to
protect yourself from projectiles (knives and bombs) proves invaluable.
The four directions of attack are truely covered by the sword. In Stage
3 when gun enemies are coming from both sides and ninjas are coming from
above, the sword will take care of them all. When powered up, an arc of
energy moves in front of the sword, providing even more protection and
striking range. This should be the first weapon you power up--with some
exceptions.
SHURIKEN (Swirling Leaf-the Throwing Knife)--Can be used to attack in sixteen
directions. Can be thrown in succession. Increase your power and you
can throw three knives at once!
Comments: Looks like a shuriken so that's what I'm calling it. Don't let the
"sixteen directions" pop your eyes out. The sixteen directions comes into
play when the weapon is powered up. The shuriken can be thrown in eight
directions normally. When powered up, you throw one straight, and one
at an angle above and below the straight one. You are still throwing in
eight directions, just with extra help. Anyway, this weapon is useful for
distance attacks. It is difficult to work with unpowered, so go for the
powerup if you want to use this, unless the enemy is coming straight at you.
This weapon really shines in some areas of Stage 1.
BOMB (Bamboo Thunder-Bomb)--Can be used to attck in eight directions. This
weapon has tremendous destructive power. With increased power, you can
throw bombs in succession!
Comments: Why can't they use simple names? Doesn't "tremendous destructive
power" sound familiar? (Hint: Check the Weapons section of
my Bloody Wolf FAQ). Well this weapon is quite destructive. It's power
is its merit. It can get rid of those enemies requiring multiple hits to
kill (like the monks). Great for clearing out the area when enemies are
coming from all over.
SICKLE AND CHAIN (Rising Dragon-Sickle and Chain)--Can be used to attack in
eight directions. Effective at long ranges. Good for defending against
an enemy throwing knives and bombs. With increased power, this item
allows you to stage a "gyrating" attack!
Comments: A toss-up kind of weapon. It does have range, but its power is
not as high as the sword or bomb. I'm still working with this one. The
"gyrating attack" is the ability to "spin" the weapon. If you attack
in one direction and move the controller in a circular motion, Moonlight
will twirl the weapon to the direction you indicate--all with the weapon
still out. It's a great way to cover arcs of area without having to
continuously throw the weapon. With the right controller movement, you
can actually twirl the weapon completely around you, providing a type of
shield.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
POWERUPS
There are several powerups you can get in Ninja Spirit. They appear as a
piece of paper with a colored ball on it. The ball color indicates what type
of powerup it is. Descriptions are below. The label I am using is the ball
color.
Remember, ORANGE Ninjas carry all powerups.
Red (the entire powerup is flashing)--MOST IMPORTANT!! These are the powerups
that will powerup your weapons. Absolutely get these at all costs--except
at the cost of losing a life of course :)
Purple (not flashing)--The manual says this color is red, but it was purple
on my television. If yours is red, then the "not flashing" applies
to you. This powerup destroys all enemies on the screen. It is quite
useful, as enemies gang up on you like clockwork in this game. It lasts
for about three seconds, continously destroying enemies while it works.
Blue--gives you a shadow alter-ego. This is like the shadows in Ninja
Gaiden 2. The shadows mimic your movements, including weapon attacks.
You can have at most two shadows.
Yellow--places a protective fire shield around Moonlight (and the shadows if
you have any). This is not that useful as the damage is weak.
Enemies your sword can destroy in one strike will take two or more
hits from this before dying. Still, the extra damage can help, so
get it if you can, but don't kill yourself.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
STAGE STRATEGIES
This sections provides some strategies for the stages. It will list what I
believe to be the best weapon(s) to use, as well as any other info on the
stage I deem necessary. It will also give strategies on the boss of each stage.
Stage and Boss names are from the manual. Orange ninjas appear in all stages
and will not be mentioned as enemy types.
STAGE 1
Best Weapons--sword and shuriken
You will run into Green, Yellow-Green, and Earth Ninjas here. At the start,
use your sword on the enemies. The Earth Ninja can be killed by crouching and
attacking--you will stab through the floor. Powerup your sword with the first
available powerup and you will get through the temple part with no problem.
When you reach the outside (with the grass and platforms you can jump on), you
can either stay with the sword or use the shuriken. If your shuriken is not
powered up, use the sword. Yellow-green ninjas will jump up out of the ground
and throw five knives in an arc at you. Your sword can stop the knives. You
should have a shadow by now. The grass will slow your movement, so you may
wish to take to jumping on the light gray platforms.
When you reach the end with the two gray platforms in the ground, you will
notice that you can no longer go to the right.
Before you reach this point, perform a long jump in such a way that one of your
two shadows (you did get both of them, didn't you?) is near the top of the
screen. You want to get to the extreme right of the screen. Switch to the
shuriken. Now start throwing (use rapid fire). Yellow-green ninjas will
start jumping out of the two gray platforms in the ground. They will jump
straight up and throw knives. If your shadows are positioned correctly, you
can hit them while they are still jumping out. If your shurikens are not
powered up, you may miss a few. In this case, use the sword and just protect
yourself (press UP+attack to swing over your head) until they all come out.
After they all come out and go back into the ground (or are killed), the boss
will appear.
Boss--Asura
Don't let this boss' size intimidate you. Of course, if you don't have any
shadows, THEN you can be intimidated :) The shurikens or bomb will be most
useful here. The boss has four arms that will charge up energy and release
fireballs in eight directions. The screen gets cluttered with all those
fireballs going everywhere. If you have shadows and positioned them as I
mentioned earlier (one near the top of the screen), one shadow will be even
with the boss' head. This is the weak point. Put rapid fire to max and fire
until it's dead.
If you don't have any shadows (or just have one), just fire at a diagonal
from where you are. The screen corners are safe areas.
STAGE 2--The Two-axed Ogre
Best weapons--sword and bomb.
Forest stage here. Red ninjas make their first appearance here. You will use
your sword throughout this stage--the bomb is mentioned because you will use
it on the boss. Use your sword to destroy the bombs the red ninjas throw at
you. When you reach the clearing (blue sky), wolves will start coming at you
from above. Overhead swipes (UP+attack) will take care of them.
Fireballs will starts approaching you in the second patch of forest. You can
use bombs to get them, but I just kept with the sword and kept moving. The
red ninjas are here too, and things get ugly with the fireballs (which can
take a beating) and the bombs coming at you, so just keep moving, taking out
any red ninjas in your way.
Boss--The Two-axed Ogre
The Ogre appears on the middle tree. He will charge at you through the air
with his axes in front. He can kill you in one hit, so be careful. The bomb
is the way to go on this boss. You must jump around to avoid the boss'
charges. When you first start (when the boss music first starts playing), get
on the left tree and jump up the branches. If you are fast enough, the boss
will appear below you and start climbing up. If not, he will appear on the
same horizonatal level with you. Jump over him and fire down with your bombs.
Set the rapid fire all the way up. You will need to get a feel for when the
boss will charge so that you don't jump into his charge. When you are on the
ground, start firing at the position the boss was in while you were coming
down. If he appears on the center tree, get to the right or left side of the
screen. Watch carefully. When he charges, jump over him toward the opposite
side of the screen (fire at him while doing this--you want to get as many
hits in as possible. DO NOT jump straight up! You will fall on him and die.
While moving to the other side of the screen, turn and fire at the boss.
Keep jumping and firing at all opportunities and you will kill the boss.
STAGE 3--"Hanzo" the Fiend
Best Weapon--sword, shuriken (powered up) and bomb
Leaping green ninjas will start this stage off. Overhead sword swipes will
finish them. Also, the gun-toting foes appear here. These are very annoying
opponents. The run at you, then drop flat to the ground and fire at your
feet. Your sword works wonders here and I also believe you can see the
sickle and chain shine here as well. If your shuriken is powered up, you can
hit the gun enemies as soon as you see them, and thus get them out of your
hair. An unpowered shuriken will require you to crouch to hit them
if they drop before you fire. This wastes a precious few milliseconds that
gives the gun enemy behind you time to shoot. With the sword, you will only
be able to protect yourself (passive approach, but safe).
The blue ground will slow you down considerably, but be VERY careful if you
try to jump through it. I suggest you just walk the distance. If you want
to jump, use small jumps. The wolves will come at you later on while
traveling through this bog. The reason I say be careful is that the darn
staff monks come out in force here. If you are in the air, you will likely
be dead while coming down, unless you are using a powerful weapon (like the
bomb). The monks come from front and behind. I suggest using your sword.
The monks don't throw their weapons while you are on the ground directly
horizontal from them. When you hit them with your sword, it will move them
back a bit. Inch forward (and you wll be inching) while swinging.
It will be slow indeed, but the protection is crucial.
Boss--Hanzo the Fiend
Unless there is some hidden secret, this boss is crazy easy. Use bombs here
(with rapid fire set to max) and kiss this boss goodbye. If you have shadows
you can set one of them to aim at his head, but your bombs will damage him
through his sword. He moves so slow that you should be able to kill him by
the time he gets to you.
If he does get too close for comfort, just jump over him, get to the other
screen edge and continue firing away. All he seems to do is swing and walk.
STAGE 4--Den of Demons
Best weapons--Bombs and sword
The stage starts in a place which appears to look just like where you started
the game. Earth Ninjas appear, but two new opponents show their faces.
Black and Purple ninjas. The black ninjas move along the ceiling and won't
pose a problem at all if you stay on the floor. The purple ninjas are rather
annoying. They appear out of a puff of smoke and then throw their killer
sickle and chain weapons. Use bombs here completely. The purple ninjas can
take a hit from other weapons and still throw theirs. The bombs should kill
them before they do this. If they somehow manage to live, put the rapid fire
up--you DO have a powered up bomb here, don't you? Well, if you don't, use
the bombs anyway. The purple ninjas can only throw their weapons straight
forward, jump your way through this part of the stage. When you see the smoke,
hit the air (small jump) and fire at the smoke. The explosion should kill
them upon appearance. Keep going to the end of this part.
In the next part, everything appears normal except that there are holes in
the floor. The holes are filled with green spikes. The spikes and holes are
NOT very noticeable at all so you may end up falling into them before you
know it.
To counter this, take to the ceiling. Perform a large jump until Moonlight
attatches himself to the ceiling. Now the Earth Ninja can not reach you, but
the black and green ninjas still can. Absolutely use your sword here. You
can stab through the ceiling and kill the black ninjas (consider it inverse
Earth Ninja killing). Orange ninjas appear in the air here, so jump off the
ceiling to kill them then jump back on after getting the power up. Keep
heading the right to go to the next part.
Now the rock ceiling will start coming down slowly to crush you. Head to the
right quickly and do not stop for anything. Only grab powerups right next to
and in front of you. Going back is a deadly error. It can be done, but is
quite risky to go back to get a powerup and still try to beat the ceiling.
Red ninjas will be your opponents here, so your sword is your weapon (the
sickle and chain may work too). Jump and move as needed, but keep moving.
After the ceiling, the boss appears.
Boss--Enchanted Stones
The boss consists of two large square stones that move around the screen
attempting to crush you. The weapon of choice is the bomb. It seems the
boss can only kill you by pressing you against another surface like
the side walls, floor, ceiling or maybe the other stone. Jump around
avoiding the stones while firing at them. Be careful of getting cornered.
If a stone stops moving, it may be setting you up for the other stone to trap
you between them.
The stones have four areas on them that can be destroyed. The areas are
the ends of the cross-like decoration on the stones. When these areas
are destroyed, the stone may still move, so don't let the guard down if the
stone's decoration is completely gone.
Stage 5--The Tribe of the Nine Wind Demons
Best Weapon--Sword or Sickle and Chain
This stage requires you to jump up the mountain until you reach the boss.
You will use the rock platforms and the gray branch-things to hop up the
mountain. Red and green ninjas will be the opponents here, as well as a new
menace. Purple gas will emit from various places on the mountain. These gas
emissions can hurt you. There is no indication of where the emissions will
eminate, so you will have to watch and jump carefully so that you can adjust
your movement if you see a gas emission coming.
You can move to the right if you wish, but the boss is located up. Orange
ninjas are all around this place (they hang in the air if you are up the
mountain), so if you aren't powered up, hang around and kill some of them to
get yourself some powerups.
Boss--Evil Wind? (may be the Tribe of the Nine Wind Demons)
This boss appears riding a giant kite :) What you have here are nine people,
eight of which fire at you. They are all on the kite. Each of the eight
shoots three knives at you, so the screen can get quite cluttered with weapons.
The weapon of choice here is the sword. The middle person (dressed in yellow)
doesn't seem to fire at you, but this is the one I believe you have to hit.
You can kill the other eight people with a few strikes, but the yellow one
remains the whole while. The other eight people will regenerate after a while,
so keep attacking. The boss won't hurt you if they touch you, only their
weapons will, so you can just stand in a spot to attack and protect yourself.
To be aggressive, chase after the boss when they are far away, but keep your
protection up. If you are good with the "gyrating" sickle-and-chain attack,
you can use it here.
Stage 6--Thunderclouds
Best Weapons--Sword. Maybe sickle and chain too
Normal horizontal stage here, but wow do they turn up the heat! Enemies come
like ants on this stage. New opponents make an appearance here. First are
single versions of the stage 5 boss. IOW, one person on a small kite :)
They still fire three knives at you. The second opponent is more dangerous.
Once I'm sure of it, I'll put it in the enemies section. This opponent
moves notably fast and carries a sheath. When they near you, they strike out
with a sword. They can kill you with one strike (aren't you starting to hate
these type of enemies?). For these enemies, you want a distance weapon. A
powered up shuriken is good. Early in this stage, often you will see five
knives come out of the sky and converge at one point on the ground. If you
are at the point where they meet, you will be hit. I believe that the knives
can only hit you if they meet together. If one of them seems to strike you,
it should not do any damage. If you notice differently, let me know.
Also early in the stage, you will be traveling across rocky areas which are
slightly elevated from the ground. The staff monks appear on this stage, and
if they are on a lower portion of the ground than you, they will throw their
staffs. Use your sword to stop the thrown staff.
Continue onward until you meet the boss.
Boss--Ghosts of Fugitive Warriors
This fight gets crowded. When it begins, one fugitive warrior ghost will
appear and take a swing. Use bombs here. Another ghost will appear later at
the spot you are standing at. Quickly move away and fire. Soon a third
ghost will appear. I died trying to dodge their swords and ended up landing
on another ghost's sword. You need to pack in as much damage as possible.
That's all for now. Look for more in the next update!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIPS, TRICKS, AND SECRETS
Stage Select--you can find this trick at GameSages (sages.ign.com).
Sound Test--found at GameSages
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
CREDITS
God--for the strength, life, and intellect to do this FAQ
GameSages--for the Stage Select and Sound Test tricks
I hope you have enjoyed this FAQ. If there are any corrections, additions,
etc. that you see that need to be put here, please e-mail me and let me know.
Thanks for reading.
dhousto6@bellsouth.net
Dimetric Houston
The End
