Controls

HUD

Life Gauge: Every time Joe is hit by an enemy attack, this gauge will decrease. When it it empty, Joe will lose a life.

Shuriken Counter: Displays how many shurikens Joe currently has. This will decrease whenever one is thrown, but more can be collected.

Ninjitsu Selector: Displays the currently selected ninjitsu technique. You can choose which one you want by pausing the game.

Lives Counter: Shows how many lives Joe has. If you lose all your lives, you can either continue the game from the current section by using a continue. You have 3 continues.

Basic Moves

CROUCHING

To crouch, hold down on the d-pad. Joe can move whilst crouching, allowing him to avoid projectiles whilst also letting him get closer to an enemy.

JUMPING

Joe has two different types of jump -the first is a standard jump, where he will leap several feet into the air. You have total control during a jump, and can quickly change direction if needed. Joe's second jump is a somersault. To do this, whilst at the tip of a jump, press the jump button again. The timing for this has to be fairly precise otherwise Joe won't somersault. The somersault jump needs to be mastered though as there are a couple of points in the game where it has to be used to get from one place to the other.

SHURIKENS

Throwing shurikens is Joe's main method of attack. He can throw them whilst standing, jumping or crouching, and throws straight ahead of him. Shurikens can take the majority of enemies out with just one hit. You do not have an infinite supply of shurikens (unless you cheat) so use them carefully and always try to collect as many as possible from the item boxes.

SHURIKEN SPRAY

Whilst doing a somersault jump, if you press the shuriken button, Joe will release 8 shurikens at once. These will fly out all in front of him, and are pretty much going to kill or damage any basic enemy in the game. This comes at a price, as it uses 8 shuriken in one go instantly.

CLOSE RANGE ATTACKS

If Joe is close to an enemy (or is out of shuriken) he will use a melee attack instead. He will slash the enemy with a shuriken when standing, and kick them when crouching.

Items

Dotted throughout the first and second parts of each round are small boxes. Breaking these open reveals items, which are collected by walking over them. There are many hidden boxes throughout the game to discover, try shuriken spraying certain areas to reveal them.

SHURIKENS

There are two different types of shuriken items. The first is the one with a single shuriken on it -collecting this will give you 5 shurikens. The other type is an item with two shurikens on it -collecting this gives you 20 shurikens.

POWER-UP

When collected this will make Joe's attacks stronger. His shuriken will glow yellow and do far more damage than usual, and he will use his sword for close-range attacks. It also gives Joe the ability to block certain enemy projectiles whilst walking or crouching forwards. However, if he gets hit, he will lose this power-up.

HEALTH

There are two different types of health items. The items with smaller hearts on them will add a couple of points back on to the life gauge, whilst the ones with larger hearts on them will fill the life gauge up completely.

NINJITSU

Collecting this gives you an additional ninjitsu attack to use in the current round.

1-UP

This gives you an extra life. One of the rarest items you'll find throughout the game.

BOMB

These bombs are a trap, which will hurt Joe if he gets caught in the blast. They will explode a few seconds after they are revealed, but if Joe moves over a bomb, it will instantly explode.

Ninjitsu

There are four different ninjitsu techniques to use. You can only use one per round, unless you find a ninjitsu item (see above) or use the mijin technique. To select which ninjitsu technique you want to use, pause the game with the start button and then press left or right to cycle through the choices.

JITSU OF IKAZUCHI

A lightning bolt will hit Joe, creating a barrier around him. This barrier will absorb several enemy attacks before vanishing.

JITSU OF KARIU

Joe will summon several fire dragons, which will burst out of the ground and spin around him. These dragons will destroy any normal enemy on the screen, and will also do some damage to a boss.

JITSU OF FUSHIN

Joe will go into a stance. When he can move again, he will be able to move faster and jump much further than usual for a short amount of time, or until the next section of a round begins. This makes some of the game's more difficult jumps a piece of cake.

JITSU OF MIJIN

This ninjitsu will cost a life to use. Joe will stab his sword into the ground, and then explode! The explosion will kill every enemy on the screen, or damage a boss. Joe will then form himself back together. As long as you have plenty of lives you can do this ninjitsu technique over and over again, and it has the added advantage of filling up the life gauge to maximum after it is used.

Options

The options menu lets you change various things in the game. The level setting will change how difficult the game is. The harder this setting is put on, the more damage enemies will do, and you will also start out with less lives. You can also set how many shurikens you have (default is 50) and also change the default button layout. There is also a sound test option.