Last Ninja 2
Alternative title: The Last Ninja 2
Platform: Commodore 64
Controller: Joystick
Gametype: Undefined
Release Year: 1988
Developer: System 3
Publisher: System 3
Players: 1
Licensed from: Hugh Riley
Programmer: John Twiddy
Musician: Matt Gray
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With the scrolls now in his possession, The Last Ninja begins training a new order of Ninja. During a training session he is mysteriously transported to XXth-century New York. The Evil Shogun has returned! Torn from his own time, The Last Ninja must defend himself once more with nothing more than the belief in his own abilities. 

Last Ninja 2: Back with a Vengeance is an action/adventure game where the player, controlling a powerful ninja, must fight his way through opponents while collecting necessary items. The game is split into various levels, each of them depicting a different locale and divided into several screens. The view is isometric and the ninja can move in four different dimensions (he can also walk backwards) and jump. 

Enemies, armed with fists and various ninja weapons, wander around the levels. The ninja must fight them either bare-handed or with the weaponry he finds along the way; in either case, he has a number of blows and attacks at his disposal, as well as the ability to block. There's a special weapon, shuriken, which are thrown in a straight line rather than used for melee combat; if they strike an enemy, they'll instantly kill or at least heavily damage him. 

There are items scattered around the levels, such as keys, rope, a map or hamburgers (which restore health when eaten). Collecting these items and using them in a proper place is necessary for completing the game.

Design 

After the success of the first part it was easily predictable, that the team around Mark Twiddy of System 3 released a successor in 1988, thus a year later. The C64 community was already astonished by the technical possibilities of the old Commodore, but the successor was about to excel this highly. The graphics by Hugh Riley, which at that time had been chosen the best of the year in the Power Play, set new standards. Also remarkable is the music by Matt Gray, which mainly consists of rocky pieces and proves that the SID chip is rightly praised by many C64 music artists. 

Concerning the gameplay there is really nothing to complain about. The mistakes from part 1 were completely removed. So the control of your Ninja is much smoother than the forerunner and also the picking up and using of the items was simplified. The levels themselves are much more diversified and more compact. In the first part, there were extremely long trails, on which nothing happened except for some fights, but now you have items, crossroads or puzzles in every single screen. 

Also the by many hated hopping passages got less and (except for the boxes in the Basement level) one is not forced to land painstakingly exact, so one finds them a bit easier.

Required keys 

F3   / F5   = choose item and put into hand (Holding) 
Space   = choose weapon and put into hand (Using) 
F7   = pause on/off 
F1   = music on/off 
Run/Stop   = suicide 
J   = adjust movements of the Ninjas to the movement of the joystick on steps of 45 degrees 

Tips

There are different types of keys: for doors, for grates, for lids, unbelievable what you can open...
Trap door: beat yourself through this problem...
Map: this can release flashes of thought and simplify a lot...
Nunchukas: this problem consists of two parts from two places...
Shiraken: there was something about "You'll have to box clever to reach the stars"...
Stick: with this one could master unreachable heights...
Bottle: firewater does not only burn in the throat, fire and water are opposed elements...
Hamburger: an elixier for a real Ninja...
Credit card: you get extended credit if you get access. An uplifting feeling...

Trivia
There was a limited edition published of Last Ninja 2. Next to the normal content of the package (media, manual and map), it contained a Ninja mask and a throwing star made of rubber. The package was identical to the normal version, only a small limited Edition sticker made the difference.

Since 13.06.2008 the game is available as a download for the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console.


http://www.c64-wiki.com/index.php/Last_Ninja_2
