Kid Niki: Radical Ninja

"Kid Niki knocks evil into oblivion with... a twirling sword?!"

Kid Niki: Radical Ninja is an NES game that was released in 1997 by Data East. It's a generic game of the sidescrolling platformer variety, but there's something strangely appealing about it that makes it classic, albeit somewhat underrated and unknown.

Story: 2/10
Kid Niki doesn't depend on the story at all, but for what story that is there, it's pretty poor. The story from what I can understand by watching the intro is this: Kid Niki is sitting in his ''Ninja School'', and suddenly someone shoots down a bird passing by with an arrow that is carrying a message. It's a plea for help from someone in a nearby castle, apparently. Kid Niki says ''WILL HELP YOU!'', and makes his way off towards the castle (and for some odd reason decides the best way to get to the castle is to go all the way around it rather than just go east towards the front of it from the get-go). That's all there is to it... no awards for best story here, not by a longshot, but since it doesn't bank on the story to be fun, that's alright.

Graphics: 7/10
The graphics are fairly simple and colorful. The background looks sort of like a cartoon with all the bright colors and round shapes, and the character sprites aren't much different. They too are bright and colorful, and seldom get away from the cartoon vibe that the background gives off. The cartoon look isn't that bad though, as Kid Niki himself looks like something out of Dragon Ball with his ninja get-up and spiky hair, and the enemies' designs are really pretty cool looking, save for a couple of enemies that look like Scream movie rejects.

Sound: 4/10
The sound effects are alright. They sound clear and all, but there's not much variety. You never hear much more than a jumping sound or the twirling of Kid Niki's sword during the main stages, but during some of the boss stages you can hear some rather amusing voice samples, which all sound coincidentally like an old man gasping for air.

The music, on the other hand, can either be good or bad depending on how often you play the game. There are only 4 or 5 different pieces of music to be spread about 7 levels and the bonus levels within them, and some of those pieces can become annoying very quickly, like the first stage's theme. It's the same 10 second track over and over again, and it's extremely upbeat. The music can start to get on your nerves after a while, but it rarely gets unbearable enough to take away from the game.

Control: 9/10
The controls to the game are incredibly simple, and there are few problems with them. Kid Niki responds to d-pad commands very sharply and accurately, and his jumps are controlled almost as easily, but they can take a few minutes to adjust to as Kid Niki can apparently defy physics. Kid Niki's sword attack is performed simply, and its duration can be controlled by how long attack button is held down. Other than the small issue with physics during jumps, the controls are pretty flawless. Very slick.

Gameplay: 9/10
Playing the game itself is pretty fun, and that's what really counts. The goal of each stage is to get to the end and defeat the boss awaiting you basically, but along the way there're many enemies that try to stop you, like masked soldiers, kung-fu monks, flying ninjas, and birds. Kid Niki has no choice but to knock them into oblivion with his twirling ninja sword. There's no more to any of the stages than that except for the hidden bonus areas and occasional items that appear, but it's the simple gameplay that makes the game so fun.

Kid Niki doesn't present a whole lot challenge wise... intentionally, at least. You'd probably have no problem getting from the beginning to end of each stage if it weren't for the annoying method by which the enemies respawn. They constantly respawn to make the game more exciting, but when you have to make precision jumps across gaps, it can become very annoying because they respawn ridiculously quick on the edge you're trying to jump on after they fall off. Beyond those unintentionally hard spots, few enemies give you true difficulty until later in the game when they obtain odd attack patterns. The bosses are all pretty difficult though, mainly due to the fact that it's incredibly hard to find out what you're supposed to be hitting on some of them, and even then it's still hard to hit the spots due to lofty hit detection. Also, every time you hit them in the wrong area, your sword flies off of them towards the edge of the screen where you have to go chase after it, which can become cumbersome. Overall though, the challenge progresses well from stage to stage, and will most likely keep you interested enough to finish the game.

Replay: 5/10
Well, the game only takes about 15-20 minutes to beat, but it's really pretty fun. There's no real reason to play through it more than once, though. You don't get any new endings or special options unlocked, so it does leave something to be desired, but it's still a fun game to play from time to time.

Overall Score: 8/10
Kid Niki is a rather fun, cartoony sidescroller that is easy to control, but has some minor drawbacks in the sound department and some issues with respawning and hit detection. Despite those few cons, it's my belief that this game is a very worthy edition to any NES game collection, and ought to be bought should the opportunity ever present itself.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/26/02, Updated 06/26/02