Last Ninja 2

STORY / GAMEPLAY
The evil shogun Kunitoki is back and this time he has sought refuge in the sprawling city of New York! Your mission starts on the roof of a warehouse somewhere in this big city controlling Armakuni in his attempt to avenge the massacre of his clan by the evil shogun. The action takes place through various locations within the NY city and the game's concept follows the first episode, granting us with a nice adventure beat 'em up experience! As a martial arts specialist, you may use your fighting techniques (kicks and punches) and your physical skills as you leap in the air as a well-trained ninja! Your health bar is crucial when fighting with opponents and the opponents are too many, from ninjas to cops, who may also carry weapons rather than their bare fists and kicks! But once they are defeated, you can collect their weapons and use them for your own sake! The game's controls are a bit awkward. Playing in a pseudo-3D environment and, in order to fight, you must hold the fire button while choosing a particular direction to kick or punch your opponent (or even collect an object!) This can be frustrating at times since your ninja has to stay still on screen rather than moving around to avoid the enemy hits. Last Ninja 2 is divided into six different sections. After leaving Central Park, you will wander around the streets of New York and you'll finally find yourself down the dark depths of the city's sewers investigating until the opium factory is reached. At the top of this factory, a helicopter will be awaiting to whisk you to the final battle in Kunitoki's secret island!

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The graphics are impressive on all 8bit versions (particularly on the C64). The BBC Micro version is very good in its level details and coloring while the varied sprites are well animated. The landscapes have lots of color while retaining great details to make convincing scenes! Note that the game looks way better compared to the Amstrad CPC version (!), the latter being colorless (although its higher resolution at 320x200 pixels). As far as the sound goes, the BBC Micro version features sound effects during gameplay but no in-game music (in contrast to the CPC, ZX and C64).