The Legend of The Mystical Ninja

On the surface, Mystical Ninja doesn't seem to be punishing, the stylish and somehow cute visuals may deceive you but, as it turns out, this game can be masochistic, to say the least.

A lot of style is injected in the veins of this game, I loved the character design and environment quite a lot, every enemy has a lot to say within their forms and even the towns, the music is also good and charming. As for the gameplay, that's where things start to shake a little, the movement feels solid but the initial attack (you have 2 upgrades) feel way too short, like those NES games where you hit with your fists and you have to get too close to the enemy to hit them but they also con hit you, this can happen a lot when you have your basic weapon, is not that hard to get the better ones but it feels clumsy, the biggest problem may lay in the combat with the bosses, they're fun but their hitboxes in some cases are broken, particularly with the late boss fights which tend to feel like they're cheating, the final boss consists in 4 fights in 1, so good luck if you're not using save states at least in the middle of the fight. If not for the hitboxes, unfair difficulty and at times repetitive formula between stages, this game could easily be a great game, but it has aged for the most part well, if you happen to cross ways with it give it a shot for a colorful and punishing journey.