Monday’s News – The Last Ninja Collection + Bonus Games Announced

For today’s retro gaming news, The Last Ninja Collection + Bonus Games has been announced for Steam. This follows the conclusion of its highly successful Kickstarter campaign.

The full list of games in the collection include,

• The Last Ninja (C64 and Amiga, 1987)
• Last Ninja 2 (C64, Amiga, and ZX Spectrum, 1988)
• Last Ninja 3 (C64 and Amiga, 1991)
• Last Ninja: Remix (1990)
• International Karate (C64 and ZX Spectrum, 1985)
• IK+ (C64, Amiga, and ZX Spectrum, 1987)
• Bangkok Knights (C64 and Amiga, 1988)

Extra Details on the Games

Here’s some extra details about the titles as found on Steam and System 3’s page about the collection.

The big highlight is obviously The Last Ninja series of games, with the complete trilogy available in one package. Various versions of each is available so that players can relive the version that they grew up playing. The ZX Spectrum of Last Ninja 2 is also included.

Concerning Last Ninja: Remix, it is also being referred to as “Ninja Remix” on Steam. Where the original trilogy was developed for 8-bit computers, this is a remixed version of the game for 16-bit systems. It features improved graphics, sound, and a revamped game introduction.

The bonus games are early fighting games. The first is International Karate, which was rebranded as World Championship Karate when it was released in the USA. It has the distinction of being the first European-developed game to receive a CES Showcase Innovations Award at the 1986 Chicago event and won many other awards (as stated on the Steam page).

It would later receive a sequel that is commonly known as IK+. Incredibly, it has a 3-player mode! That’s really impressive for a game released in 1987! Additionally, the game was a big hit not only in Europe, but also in the United States of America.

Finally, there’s Bangkok Knights, which was one of the first fighting games to showcase large sprites and distinctive characters to fight against. Although in the list I shared above says that the game was published in 1988, I think one version of it came out in 1987 (before Capcom’s Street Fighter).

The collection will be available physically for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch, at least if you make a qualifying pledge on the game’s Kickstarter page. Although the trailer for the collection also shows a physical version for the Xbox One, that version will be a download code per some policy requirements from Microsoft.

Also Worth Pointing Out

In addition to the above, there are a few other things I’d like to share.

For example, there was a version of The Last Ninja released on the NES that isn’t in this collection. However, it is available on Nintendo’s eshop. A link to it can be found below.

Even though the Kickstarter for this collection has ended, as of this writing, pledges can still be made. This is important to note, because according to the Kickstarter, they aren’t producing more beyond what is pledged by backers.

If you want a physical version of the game, you need to be a “Gold Supporter – Tier 3” for your chosen system. This requires a pledge of £55, which comes out to about $73. Again, the systems that will have physical releases include,

• Nintendo Switch
• PlayStation 4
• PlayStation 5

There is a Gold Supporter – Tier 3 for Xbox One, but that one is only for a download code.

All pledges for the Gold Supporter – Tier 3 will also include a PC download version of the game, along one’s chosen console version.

Looking at the Kickstarter page, I don’t know how long this opportunity for late pledges will continue. If you want these games physically, you probably want to make your pledge soon.

Links:
Steam Page
System 3 Page
Kickstarter Page
The Last Ninja + Bonus Games Announcement Trailer
The Last Ninja (NES/Famicom) Available on the Nintendo eshop