GG Shinobi FAQ/Walkthrough v. 1.0 This FAQ copyright 2001 by Ezra Poetker(Epoetker.) All reproduction for public(not private) use without my express consent (epoetker@hotmail.com) is prohibited. The only sites currently given free dibs on my FAQs are GameFAQs, about.com, and RoyalRanger's NES site( nessite.myrmid.com. ) Actually, if you see a GameGear Faq on Ranger's NES site, you have to wonder what he's up to...anyway, if you see it on someone else's site, feel free to E-mail me about the infraction. Then I can send the five ninjas of death off to give 'im a nice beatdown. All other rights reserved. Version history: 9/8/01: First version posted to GameFAQs. Ah, the ever-present side scrolling ninja game. A rare breed nowadays( unless you count Sengoku 3,) but these things were oh-so-popular back in that numinous time known as "the day." GOOD ninja games were even better, and good ninja games that could be played on a handheld were enough to make one faint. Unfortunately, good ninja games on an unpopular handheld were consigned to an ignominous fate of invisibility among the poor black-and-white crowd. But thanks to the Magic of Emulation(TM), they be available again to the po' black an' white men tryin' to make it in this world. And it ain't just one ninja this time, either, it's FIVE, all with different weapons, abilities, and special moves. So it manages automatically to be deeper than 99% of the other ninja games available at the time. Heck, it's probably deeper than most early-generation Playstation ninja titles...only Tenchu seemed to put any real thought into the genre... Items, a.k.a. Life Cubes and less important power-ups: Life Cubes: Add two bars to your life meter, which is so amazingly important that I never neglect telling about their location. I might ignore 1-ups, but NEVER Life Cubes. 1ups: Grant you an extra life for Green to waste. Heart: Restores two life bars. Japanese symbol(Ninja Art, special, whatever): Pressing START and selecting this symbol will initiate a really cool fullscreen graphical sequence(for the Game Gear, anyway) of the ninja casting their particular Art. Bombs: Who said the game doesn't have a sadistic streak? Ninjas and their hobbies: Red: Your starter, his sword has the oft-neglected advantage of covering the front of the user pretty well with its wide swath. If there's multiple enemies coming at you simultaneously from different directions, the sword can be a pretty effective lifesaver. Red also has the power to summon earthquakes, which break rocks and kill all enemies onscreen. Pink: Gotta love those powerful bombs! Second in strength behind the sickle, they can save your butt time and time again. Pink is quite suited to quickly plowing through hordes of medium-strength enemies while only occasionally stopping to dodge. When you do need to, however, you can jump on the CEILING and crawl like Spiderman by pressing up and keeping jump held down to stick to flat surfaces. Then just press left or right to crawl along. Pink's also got the ability to release a huge light blast, which not only illuminates dark areas but stuns enemies like a flash camera. Probably gives them red-eye, too. Yellow: I might have underrated this guy, but still he's not all that much compared to his stellar companions. Full blast charges kill most enemies with one hit, but in cases where you get simultaneously attacked by two baddies at once, you're left frantically shooting weak blasts at your rapidly advancing foes. Stick with Pink or Blue for most close-in combat, and only bring this guy out when you need to imitate Jesus' "walking on water" bit. (Skeptical theory #2543: Jesus was really a just a ninja who used various arcane arts like this to fool his gullible followers into making him a God.) Oh, and Yellow's Lightning Barrier special absorbs quite a few hits before tanking, so you'll probably find some good use for it... Blue: Kusarigama butt-kicker. Wields the strongest weapon in the game, and if that's not cool enough, can use the sickle-and chain to swing from pegs a la Ladd from Bionic Commando. SUPER GOODNESS. And did we mention that he has probably the most useful Special Art in the game? Okay, so perhaps there's something better than being able to fly around in the middle of a tornado as invincible as you please, but if so, I haven't found it. Green: Unlike Yellow, his projectile is USEFUL(good), he can double-jump(very good, just hit jump again at the height of your jump to perform) and while he's doing his Ninja Flip(TM), he can send down a KILLER spread of five shuriken at once(awesomely good.) To counteract this amazing coolness, he's the second-weakest ninja and has the worst Art imaginable-he just blows himself up. Not only are there other people(koffkoffREDkoffkoff) who actually manage to do something USEFUL with their fullscreen death tech besides just killing people, this Art actually takes away one of your highly precious extra lives And if that wasn't bad enough, it also takes away ALL of your remaining Arts! In other words, you'd have to be a complete and utter fool to even THINK about using this Art except for the purposes of observing the Game Gear special effects. He does, after all, manage to resurrect himself on the spot after vaporizing his body, adding more support to the "Jesus as ninja" theory. Stage Walkthroughs: My preferred order-Highway, Docks, Valley, Forest. It's the only way to make sure you get all of the lovely cube power-ups, since many require the special abilities of a particular ninja. If there's any you think I've missed, feel free to E-mail me( epoetker@hotmail.com.) Highway: Great introduction to a game, having you jumping from car to car on a speeding highway. Although it probably violates the ninja rule of inconspicuousness. Every radio show in the country must have been picking up the battle... "Helicopter guy: This is the KKNC traffic helicopter, reporting a sig alert on the I-5, we seem to have several masked men climbing around on the cars, and...some of them do appear to be carrying explosives. We'd advise that you keep your windows rolled up and avoid any driving patterns that might provoke a confronta...oh, wait, there's a ninja who seems to be single-handedly slaughtering the hordes of bad guys. Ain't it just lucky how these things seem to work themselves out? All right, we're asking that everyone on the I-5 please try to drive close enough to allow said ninja to jump from car to car. We'd also ask you to please ignore any bangings on the roof of your car, however severe. And if you must put boxes out for the ninja, please do not put bombs in them...ah, too late. Rush, back to you." Side of building: Another fairly straightforward level, but be watching for all those guys who hurl themselves out of windows, carry hammers, or shoot arrows. ESPECIALLY the ones that shoot arrows, as they can kill you very quickly with your piddly four life bars. Speaking of which, as soon as you see the big red arrow indicating the way to the boss, go in exactly the opposite direction it points and fall down onto the top of the next building to get to the box with a life cube, which gives you an extra two bars for the upcoming boss. Boss: It's PINK! OH NO! Actually, as long as you avoid the climbing kamikaze bomb guys, slash just right before the helicopter hits, and try to forget that at the speed you're flying, there's no possible way you could possibly hold onto the plane, much less stand up and perform martial arts maneuvers, you should be fine. Soon, you'll beat him, and be rewarded with one of the best (albeit gayest) ninjas in the game. Harbor: Here's a quick lesson on how good Pink really is-he can hit guys out of Red's line of sight, and hit them a heck of a lot harder than a sword can. But that ain't all...you can also use his ceiling-climbing ability to get to the special weapon power-up that's unreachable by jumping. Just go up the first crane and scurry along under the beam that overhangs the box. Head back down and past the second crane (watch out for the bomb throwers, they DO actually aim for you,) watch the sky ominously darken, and head into the next section. The Ship: Collect all the power-ups on the deck and head into the door. After killing the rolling barrel guy and bomb guy on the ceiling, immediately head up there yourself to get the life cube on the other side of the gap. Jump over the crate and down to the next level to get a 1up thrown into the bargain! Now just jump down and head left to get to the next boss. Boss: A ninja AND a giant robot! They combined the two most powerful stinkin' things in the world! I mean, DANG, they did everything right! How could this plan possibly fail? Well, you CAN jump on that gigantic mace the robot shoots at you, and Yellow DOES make himself vulnerable after two mace attacks...try to figure out the rest for yourself. This guy will go down a heck of a lot faster than Pink anyway, since you're using Extra-Strength Bombs on him. Too bad he kinda sucks as a playable character. The Valley: I'll make it short and sweet: Use Yellow. Just walk on water right from the start until you get to the suspicious little platform with the blade-throwing girl and the box, and you have your next Life Cube. You're gonna need it for the next section...just keep going until you see the last waterfall and jump up the stone platforms to enter... The Cave: Possibly one of the hardest sections, what with all those "temporary invincibility" baddies wandering around. Switch to Pink, and if you want to light up those dark areas, just use his Light special ability. If you want to break the rocks, use Red's Earthquake. And if you're really up to running through your stock of Specials, use Yellow's Thunder Barrier to whiz through some of the tougher spots(I HAAAAATE those bouncing spiky guys!) Lots of power-ups here! You'll need them, since Blue's coming up! Boss: Use Pink or Yellow with him. Just stand on the tippy-top platform, dodge if Blue appears above you, and bomb or blast him when he appears right of you. He goes down, takes the whole waterfall platform complex with him, and joins your group. The Woodland: Choose Blue( his sickle is GREAT for taking out those tree-climbing guys quickly) and make your way to the top of the first tree. Jump along the top until you see a peg sticking out of a tree; just aim your sickle at it and you'll swing over to the fourth and final Life Cube! Head on back down the trees if you want to find some more less important power-ups, or just go left and head into... The Temple: The best strategy for those spear-spinning monks at the moment is just to stand in one place and swing really fast as they run at you. Blue's strong enough to take both them and the following spiky ball guy in one hit, so you shouldn't have any real trouble. Go into the first door( after picking up the Heart beyond it) to find the ever-so-cool laser-eyed statues. Go through the next door to take out another monk-spiky combo(careful...the misshapen sections of floor have a tendency to crumble under your weight, sending you back down to go up all over again.) Next door has another laser statue battle, next another monkspikie attack, next one more statue, and finally you're on the roof with the boss door blinking for you. Boss: Ugly face that splits into three ninjas. Pathetically easy at this point. Green's in the house, and Neo City, here we come! Frikkin' Neo City: There are so many looping paths in this place that I've treated each room seperately. Elevator subsection: Aw crud! All the elevators go DOWN! Use Green's double-jumping skillz to traverse this insanity. At the top, you have a choice of paths. Left takes you to the Water Pipe subsection, right to the Sickle-Swinging subsection. Water Pipe subsection: Two words: Use Yellow. Leads to Floating Mines subsection. Sickle-Swinging subsection: See above, but substitute "Blue" for "Yellow." Leads to Electric Beam subsection. Electric Beam subsection: Ummm...have patience, young one, and advance cautiously. Pick up all power-ups. The path on the left goes to the boss battle with Yellow, and the path on the right goes to the Monk/Spikes subsection. Monk/Spikes subsection: GRRRR-BAAAAAAH! Unless you want to use Blue's tornado, the only way to get through here is by some EXTREMELY precise shuriken throwing-basically the idea is to double jump, throw some shurikens on the way down, and hope that one of them hits the monk near enough behind to clear you a landing space. It's VERY tough, and if you have save states, now is the time to use them to the fullest! Bottom door goes to the elevator subsection, top to the sickle-spikes subsection. Floating Mines subsection: Use Green to hop the falling platform over to where the Special power-up is, then switch to blue and either use it right away or as you're falling to tornado to the left or right door. Left goes to the Room of Pain, right to the Green boss battle. Room of Pain: Ninjas beat the crap out of you with little chance for you to dodge. Use Yellow's Barrier ability to last longer, but bear in mind that the bottom exit just leads to the Elevator room again...However, the top one leads to the Spike-Block room. Battle with Yellow: Use Blue, and get ready to end up back in the Water Pipe room. Spike-Block Room: Use Red's earthquake ability, and Green, Blue, or Pink to climb, jump, or fly the distances. Top door leads to Descending Spikes room, bottom to Evil Dart Room. Descending Spikes Room:Should be self explanatory, but in case you didn't get it, use Red to earthquake the rocks and grab the power-ups. Left door to Battle with Blue, right to Rising White Stuff section. Battle with Blue: Use Blue to battle the red version of himself. Fairly simple. You end up in the Sickle-spikes subsection. Evil Dart Room: Just another hindrance, use Green to jump as high as you can over these things. Leads to Sickle-spikes subsection. Sickle-Spikes subsection: My, aren't I alliterative? Uhh...hope you're really, REALLY good with the sickle, or if you're lazy, just use the Tornado. Top door to Rolling Spiky subsection, bottom to Laser Corridor subsection. Rolling Spiky subsection: Use Pink to climb on the ceiling and avoid the Spikys. Left door goes to the Battle with Pink, right to the Buzzsaw subsection. Battle with Pink: Actually, Red still seems to be the best for him. Leads back to Spike-Block room. Buzzsaw subsection: Self-explanatory...dodge the buzzsaws that take off two bars per hit. Remember that you can move forward while crouched, it helps a bit. Also remember to use Green's double jumps. Leads to Spout-spike subsection. Spout-spike subsection: As you might have guessed, it's time to pull out Yellow again. Getting tired of all these platform jumps? Me too. This one leads to the Power-up subsection. Power-up subsection: Yep, it's a room full of power-ups that can only be reached by Blue's tornado. Avoid the bombs, grab the Arts and 1-ups, and don't die on the spikes unless you like losing all your Arts. Left door to Guard Robot subsection, right door goes to Spike-Block room. Laser-corridor subsection: Practically screams for Pink. Advance while crouched on the ceiling or the floor, and you should be just fine. You'll end up in the Spike-Block room at the end. Battle with Green: Use Blue again, end up in the Sickle-Swinging room. Rising White Stuff subsection: Pink is your only hope. Use his Light special to reset the rising white stuff. This room leads to the Darkroom. Darkroom: Use Light again and kill off all the rather easy enemies. Door leads to Platform-jumping section. Platform-Jumping Section: Use Green. If you make all the jumps, you can enter the top door to the Guard Robot subsection. If not, you end up back at the Sickle-spike subsection. Guard Robot subsection: Use Blue for his tornado moves, or green to double jump past the gaps left by the exploding robots. Enter the door to face... Black Ninja Boss: Well, he copies Yellow, Pink, Blue and Green, so it probably goes without saying that Red's the only one that can hurt him. Dodge well, hit hard, and get ready to face... Robot Ninja Boss: Actually, I think the Black Ninja was harder, but you're probably squeezed for HP right now. Still, his pattern is so easily predictable that if you can't beat him with save states, I seriously suggest another hobby for you. Once again, Red's the only one who can hurt him. Jump, slash head, dodge, lather, rinse, repeat. Ending: The only thing I'll say about it is that the running animation has to be the most tweaked I've ever seen in a game. This ain't Ryu Hayabasa's ultra-cool stride, it's more like Grant DaNasty from Castlevania 3. So, uh...that's it! Time for thanks: My cousin in Baltimore who introduced me to this game the first time, and led me to seek it out in the netherworld of emulation. He also got me interested in Civilization, and despite all this, his name is still escaping me at the moment. ISSChamp, who got me started on this whole crazy Game Gear FAQ business. Josh Baisley, friend next door who introduced me to Ax Battler and Crystal Warriors, the two other GG games I wrote FAQs on. Ninja Jesus, who not only pulled off the "walk on water" trick, but managed to do the "ressurrection" trick without having to blow himself into a million tiny pieces. May not be as impressive, but it saved a whole lot on the cleanup bill. This FAQ copyright 2001 by Epoetker. For questions, comments, flames, and random brain droppings, E-mail me at epoetker@hotmail.com.