Surf Ninjas (Game)

Surf Ninjas

GAME » on August 1993

Amiga (Platform)Amiga CD32 (Platform)Game Gear (Platform)PC (Platform)

A video game tie-in with the martial arts family film of the same name, unique in that the game itself, along with the Game Gear, are featured prominently in the film.

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Overview

The Evil Colonel Chi

Surf Ninjas is a side-scrolling action-platformer developed by NuFX and published by Sega (Company) for the Game Gear (Platform) in August 1993.

A video game tie-in with the martial arts family film of the same name, Surf Ninjas puts players in the role of teenage surfer Johnny McQuinn (Character) as he travels from Los Angeles (Location) to the fictional Asian island of Patu-san to defeat the forces of the evil Colonel Chi and reclaim his princehood.

The movie later received computer adaptations by Creative Edge Software (Company) for the Amiga (Platform), Amiga CD32 (Platform), and DOS PCs in 1994 (with the Amiga versions published by Microvalue (Company) and the PC version published by Capstone). These are different from the Game Gear version and feature more adventure game elements on top of side-scrolling beat-'em-up action. The Amiga versions are notable for its bizarre differences with the source material (such as the hero being changed to a buff white brawler who can rip out the hearts of ninjas).

Gameplay

The Jump Meter at the Upper Left and the Health Meter Right Below it.

Much in the vein of Double Dragon, Surf Ninjas is a horizontal combat platformer. As the player navigates the environment they will encounter enemies which the player can usually avoid by just jumping until they reach the boss which the player must defeat. Jumping does feature prominently in the game in the form of the jump meter. As the player jumps continuously they deplete their jump meter until they can only do short and low jumps. In order to traverse certain parts of the game (i.e. crates) they player needs to have a full jump meter forcing them to pace and moderate their jumps with a certain amount of precision. The player can also do a double spin jump higher jumps by tapping the "2" button twice and holding it on the second tap. On top of this the play can also throw fireballs or shurikens as well as equip bladed weapons. Finding random triangles will give the player the ability to summon Zatch a warrior ninja who can instantly defeat any enemy on the screen.

In the options menu the player can go to the options menu at anytime to select weapons or check their character status. They can also go to the menu to ask Adam (the younger brother) for a hint. When selecting this option Adam will pull out his Sega Game Gear and a hint will appear on the screen of the in-game Game Gear.

Relationship to the Movie

Yup, the Sega Game Gear in a Sega Game Gear game.

Surf Ninjas is an early example of a video game/movie tie in however Surf Ninjas takes this concept one step further. Sega of America wanted to have the Game Gear featured prominently in a film as a form of advertising for the platform. After contacting New Line Cinema the idea of Surf Ninjas seemed appropriate and Sega began development of the video game version of Surf Ninjas when the writing and story boarding process for the film had barely begun. While they received input from the director and writer of the film the developers took many liberties and released the video game weeks before the film's release.

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