Ninja Jajamaru-kun - Onigiri Ninpouchou Gold

Saturn · 1997 · JP

Also known as: Ninja Jajamaru-kun : Onigiri Ninpouchou Gold (JP)

Publisher: Jaleco · Developer: Game Studio · Genre: Adventure

The game itself is a pretty standard 3D action-platformer - just get to the end of the level while killing bad guys along the way. By default, the camera always faces forward, so Jajamaru automatically strafes when moving left and right, which makes it a lot easier to control than most 3D games. The view automatically rotates at 90 degree angles whenever you hit a turn in a hallway, although you can also adjust the camera with the trigger buttons. Like the old games, Jajamaru's main weapons are his shuriken, although he can also find a number of spells to attack all of the enemies on the screen and such. There are boss encounters every few levels, which are a bit harder to deal with - the camera tries to stay focused on the enemy, so you're constantly circle strafing them. Unfortunately, it tends to get lost or hung up, which makes dodging their fire pretty annoying. The platforming aspects are awkward when they show up, but they're relatively rare.