Kid Niki: Radical Ninja was one of my favorite games on the original Nintendo Entertainment System. I was sure it was a once off title instead of turning into a full blown franchise, but I’ve only recently discovered that I was mistaken. The game spawned two direct sequels, but they were released only in Japan on Nintendo’s Famicom console where the franchise is called Kaiketsu Yanchamaru. I haven’t yet tracked them down, but judging from screenshots they look like entirely different games. That’s why I’m not as eager as I would otherwise be to acquire them. This leads me to the Game Boy installment called Ganso!! Yancha-Maru. Not only is this the only portable installment in the franchise, but it also highly resembles the first installment. These two facts piqued my interest, and the low price of entry and the import friendly nature of the original Game Boy didn’t hurt either. Ganso Yancha Maru isn’t as good as the original, but it’s still a lot of fun.
There’s nary a mention of the story or introduction sequence to be found here. Because of this there’s really no telling what the scenario entails, but I imagine it’s a typical rescue the princess tale like in the original. Whatever, it doesn’t really matter anyway. This title is a two dimensional side scrolling action based platformer. You move from the left side of the stage to the right at which point you move on to the next area. Ganso Yancha Maru is a pretty short game with only four worlds consisting of three levels apiece with a boss awaiting at the third stage. The different sections of the game aren’t based specifically on themes or anything, but rather they serve to introduce new gameplay elements as you progress. You cannot jump on enemies’ heads and must instead rely exclusively on your sword (which spins in front of your character oddly enough) to damage foes. Rather than featuring ninjas and the like this time around most of your enemies are based on animals and simple monsters instead of rival ninjas.
The original focused on action above everything else, but the developers took a different route with this portable installment. Ganso Yancha Maru puts special emphasis on platforming for this iteration. You’ll find heavy focus on moving platforms this time around, multi-tiered level designs, and more. It’s a nice contrast from the original game, but in my opinion the platforming is just a little sloppy here. It’s tough to get the proper momentum going, and the main character slips a bit on all surfaces. The most annoying aspect of this game comes into play in the third world. You’ll find that many of the moving platforms are off-screen, and remain out of view until you jump in their general direction. This makes for some very tricky jumps because it’s hard to tell at what elevation the platform will be on, and which direction it’s going to be moving. You’re forced to jump blindly forward, and that’s never a good thing. In other areas platforms shrink in size and it can be difficult to bypass them when you have only a small window through which to jump.
Some power-ups were also added to the mix here. The developers added breakable blocks to the design which almost makes it feel like a Super Mario Bros. title. Hidden within these are where you’ll find most of your special items. Coins serve the same function as they do in so many other similar titles; if you collect one hundred of them you’re granted an extra life. Next up we have a scroll that grants temporary invincibility, and a shuriken item that allows you to shoot ninja stars with every attack but you’re limited to only ten at a time. Additionally each level has a hidden bonus area in it wherein you can stock up on coins by destroying all of the blocks. When you’ve completed a level you are allowed to participate in a bonus game in which you play for items which include coins and extra lives. With all of these features this title definitely has more content to offer than the original, but unfortunately most of the charm is lost. The NES title featured some of the most hilarious and unusual boss fights, but those featured here are largely generic and standard. Even with the new mechanics the game just isn’t as fun or memorable. Ganso Yancha Maru feels like a generic platformer for the original Game Boy, and this fact is very disappointing.
Graphically the game is actually pretty decent. The character looks almost identical to how he did in the original Famicom release, and many of the enemies are instantly recognizable as well. The spinning sword effect is a little toned down, but that’s understandable because it now moves. Unfortunately the rest of the visuals are a little disappointing. The backgrounds are generally rather plain with only minimal details. I’m very disappointed that the original art style didn’t make the transition to the small screen particularly well. The old pastel Japanese watercolor methods used for the backgrounds in the original are gone replaced with generic pixel art of this era. It’s highly disappointing, but the graphics in general are perfectly acceptable. There’s very little slowdown, and every item and enemy are nicely drawn and easy to make out from the inanimate objects. The soundtrack for the most part sounds like it was derived almost entirely from that of the original release on the NES. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but some original music would have been nice. Everything sounds pretty good by Game Boy standards, and the transition between hardware for the soundtrack is very well done. The original Nintendo version is still slightly better.
