Back in the 8/16-bit eras side scrollers were the king genre. These are what made or broke your console, but it was difficult for third party developers to compete with the likes of Mario or Sonic. Still, nearly an endless number of these games were released across every available console, and because of the sheer amount it can be difficult to weed out the good from the bad. When I was a child my cousin owned a curious little game called Kid Niki: Radical Ninja, and I recall us staying up playing the game non-stop. It was one of the few good ones, and when I became a collector I absolutely had to add it to my collection. What I’ve discovered is that Kid Niki holds up surprisingly well for a title with simple graphics and gameplay even by NES standards.
In typical fashion there’s very little in the way of story here. Upon starting the game we’re treated to a sequence where a bird carrying a letter is shot down in front of a dojo, and our protagonist Niki bursts through the paper walls shouting “will help you!” From here you’re thrown directly into the action. This game is strictly two dimensional and your goal is to make it from the left side of each stage to the right, and the screen scrolls with you but only forward not back.
Niki is armed with only two basic abilities; he can jump super high like Mario, and he can twirl his sword directly in front of him to dispatch foes. Unfortunately the range on this is limited, and therefore you have to let them get pretty close in order to cause damage. Unlike many other side scrollers your sword is the only means by which you can dispatch foes, and you lose a life and must try again when hit just once. That means no hopping and bopping on enemies which detracts a bit from the platforming nature of the game.
The level designs are very simple by genre standards, but Kid Niki makes up for it with creative enemies and placement. A majority of the time you’re simple running, but enemies come from all directions which requires you to really stay on your guard. Furthermore some of your foes climb trees where they throw projectiles at you while others run at you from off-screen. I never felt that Kid Niki: Radical Ninja was particularly repetitive. The controls are extremely solid, and the enemy dynamics are a big part of what makes Kid Niki so darn fun to play.
The game even contains two power-ups, one that acts as a shield, and another which gives you the ability to shoot projectiles from your sword and they also serve to make the game more interesting. Because of the fact that you die when hit just once Kid Niki is very challenging because you are often assaulted by several enemies at once. It’s never particularly unfair or frustrating, and you have incentive to keep trying.
Easily the best part of this game however is its boss fights. The developers put a lot of effort into making these enemies memorable, zany, and pretty darn difficult at times. What’s interesting is the fact that every time you strike them with your sword you lose this weapon temporarily and must collect it from wherever it lands. The first boss you encounter is called death breath whose primary weapon you can probably guess just by reading his name, and his appearance as well as attack patterns are enough to make me laugh every time.
The horned witch is unique in that she splits in two every time you attack her. Meanwhile you’ve also got the mad monk who attacks with a text bubble as he calls you a ‘fool’ and more. These encounters are all extremely memorable, and I genuinely enjoyed each and every single one of them. Not only are these fights zany and intentionally funny, but they can also be quite challenging and can only be overcome with practice.
Kid Niki: Radical Ninja is a definite case of style over substance as far as graphics are concerned. The game features almost no texture work across its sprite based characters and scenery, and it’s early NES roots are pretty obvious from the start. With that said I really like the art style this game has to offer. Because everything is shaded in one color it gives the graphics a construction paper or pastel look, and it’s really interesting.
Unfortunately the game suffers pretty bad slowdown when there are a lot of enemies on screen at once, and this is a very common occurrence. In addition characters frequently flicker, and it can be so bad at times that it can be difficult to tell where enemies are because they’re almost invisible. It doesn’t really make sense because the graphics lack outlines and are very simple. Kid Niki is not a title that pushes the NES in any obvious way. It feels kind of cheap in this way. Outside of these technical issues the game is pretty decent when it comes to its graphics and style despite the limitations.
The soundtrack is also extremely charming with its bouncy beats and hint of Asian flair and instrumentation. There are only a few themes for each of the standard levels but they’re all catchy, upbeat, and quite memorable. My favorite part of the soundtrack is the boss music. The composer managed to strike a nice line between comical and dark, and it works really well in Kid Niki’s favor. The sound effects are quite well done, and I was very surprised to see that the game even contains some very simple actual voice samples. This is most noticeable when facing death breath as he shouts whenever breathing on you or trying to hit Niki with his head. It sounds pretty darn good by NES standards. The audio is actually pretty good in this game.
