Mystic Warriors

Mystic Warriors: Wrath of the Ninja
Mystic Warriors arcade flyer
Developer(s)	Konami
Publisher(s)	Konami
Designer(s)	Hideyuki Tsujimoto
Composer(s)	Junya Nakano Yuji Takenouchi
Platform(s)	Arcade
Release date(s)	1993
Genre(s)	Shoot 'em up
Mode(s)	Single player 2-4 player co-op
Cabinet	Upright
Arcade system	Mystic Warriors-based hardware
CPU	Motorola 68000 @ 16 MHz
Sound	Z80 @ 8 MHz K054539 (x 2) @ 48 kHz
Display	Raster 288 x 224 @ 60 Hz 2048 palette colors

Mystic Warriors: Wrath of the Ninjas (ミスティックウォリアーズ -怒りの忍者-, Mystic Warriors - Ikari no Ninja^?) is a ninja-themed side-scrolling action game released as a coin-operated video game by Konami in 1993. It was developed by the same team that also produced the earlier arcade game, western-themed Sunset Riders, and features similar gameplay to its predecessor.

Story

The main characters, as shown during the game's attract sequence

Mystic Warriors is set in a dystopian future where an evil organization known as the Skull Enterprise has taken over Japan and are now plotting a worldwide takeover. The player takes control of one of five young ninja who are being targeted by Skull forces: Spyros, a ninja hailing from USA and the group's de-facto leader, Keima, a blue-haired ninja outfitted as a kabuki performer, Kojiro, samurai-like ninja, Brad, an African-American ninja and streetwise Buddhist monk, and Yuri, a spear-wielding kunoichi and the game's only female playable character. The game can be played by up to two or four players (depending on the game's configuration); after each player chooses their character, one of the remaining members of the group will get kidnapped, prompting the remaining four to begin their mission. During their journey across several regions of Japan, the four ninja eventually find and rescue their kidnapped friend. However, their reunion is short lived, and the rescued ninja soon performs a sacrificial attack to free them from an electric trap, killing himself/herself in the process. The rest of the game is spent with the remaining ninja avenging the death of their fallen comrade.

Gameplay

The game's controls consists of an eight-way joystick and two buttons for attacking and jumping. Like in Sunset Riders, the player can jump between higher or lower levels, as well as slide. The player character attacks primarily by shooting an unlimited supply of shurikens, or using their blade at close range. Unlike Sunset Riders, the player has a life gauge that allows their character to sustain three hits from enemy attacks (instead of just one) before losing a life. The game also includes other improvements that were not included in Sunset Riders, such as the ability for players to change characters after they lose a credit.

The player must defeat box-carrying enemies in order to obtain power-up items. These includes a shuriken power-up that can increase the player's shooting power by up to two levels (which differ between characters), food (sushi, tempura, udon, sukiyaki) that will replenish the player's life gauge, a blue orb with the kanji shinobi (忍^?) that will surround the player with a barrier for a limited period, a yellow orb with the kanji chikara (力^?) that will destroy all on-screen enemies, and various kinds of jewelry for extra points.

There are a total of nine stages in the game, in which its own boss awaiting to challenge the player. Like in Sunset Riders, each player will be graded at the end of stage by how much they shot the boss; the player with the highest hit percentage will receive bonus points.^[1]

Soundtrack

The complete soundtrack to Mystic Warriors is featured in the 2-disc CD album Konami Amusement Sounds '93: Summer Edition, which was released on August 21, 1993, with the catalog number KICA-7616-7. Tracks 23-46 on Disc 2 are from the game.^[2]

See also

• Mystic Warriors-based hardware

References

1. ^ Konami. Mystic Warriors (in Japanese). Arcade. Level/area: Operator's manual, page 2.
2. ^ "Konami Amusement Sounds '93 Summer - GAIAPOLIS - VGMdb". http://vgmdb.net/album/4389. 

External links

• Mystic Warriors at GameFAQS
• Mystic Warriors on the Killer List of Videogames