41. Last Ninja 2

(Various Home, System 3, 1988)
Ninjas are back in the 100 Videogames list, in fact they're "Back With A Vengeance" (It says so right here on the poster.) Armakuni is no Mystic Warriors pink and green ninja though, Armakuni is the LAST ninja, clad head to toe in black, trained to mental and physical perfection, as fast as a cheetah, as deadly as a shark and as quiet as a snake. Armakuni is the most dangerous man on earth.

Just don't ask him to jump over a lake. PLEASE DON'T.

Last Ninja 2 was released at the end of the 80's for a variety of home formats. An isometric 3D adventure, Last Ninja 2 sees Armakuni, the last of an assassinated ninja clan, flung from ancient Japan into 1980's New York by the evil Shougun Kunitoki. Given no time to become accustomed to his frightening surroundings, Armakuni must rely on his training and mastery of the martial arts to track down his sworn enemy and end their rivalry.

Last Ninja 2 is an incredibly sophisticated game, with artistic graphics, fantastic dark music, well designed levels and an intuitive combat system. The various scenes in and around New York are nicely created and feature a wealth of puzzles to solve and brutal fights to overcome, be it by fist, staff or nunchunk. Armakuni must negotiate his new world and it's many obstacles and does so with the true spirit of a golden ninja warrior. Upon facing Kunitoki, a battle to the death will decide on Armakuni's fate once and for all (Well, until Last Ninja 3)
Last Ninja 2 is a well drawn, well composed and generally sound product, the real problem here isn't with Ninjas, or Shoguns, or New York...

..It's with lakes.

You see, Last Ninja 2 suffers from unbearable depth perception problems, which makes jumping an incredible chore. Despite being a finely honed ninja master, Armakuni seems unable to leap accurately or stick his landing. At the end of the first level (Central Park) Armakuni has to leap onto a moving boat then off again to cross a lake. Whilst the problem varies depending on the format played, this sequence is an absolute nightmare and is infamous in the retro-gaming community, having cost many frustrated players many lives.
Once the lakes are crossed, the player will not have to suffer a similar sequence until a much later level, but after the loss of a life or two, the damage may already have been done.

Last Ninja 2 has artistic graphics and an awesome music score, It has a nice range of weapons and some intriguing levels and puzzles. The C64 port is arguably the finest version and the one I'd recommend to anyone wishing to try it for the first time.
Those jumps can be so frustrating though, that many may never have the forgiving nature to commit to experiencing the full beauty of the game.