Kid Niki: Radical Ninja is a game about a ninja who runs through a wall to save his girlfriend, and that is the best thing about it. Irem developed the arcade original, released in Japan as Kaiketsu Yanchamaru in 1986. Data East brought it to the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987, and the home port is what most players know.
The Spinning Sword and the School of Chirin
Kid Niki trains at his Ninja School in Feudal Japan. A bird falls at his feet, struck by an arrow, a note tied to it. Princess Margo has been kidnapped by the evil Stone Wizard. Niki yells “Will help you!” and bursts through the school wall. That is the whole setup, and it earns its place.
The Spinning Sword is the core of the game. The manual says it “has been passed down from generation to generation from the School of Chirin,” which is more backstory than most weapons of its era get. Niki can also collect Bells for extra offensive power. The Golden Bell lets him launch a projectile every time he spins his sword. The Silver Bell wraps a spinning force field around him. Both power-ups run on a timer, so the boost is temporary.
Seven rounds, one boss at the end of each. Side-view platforming, single player or multiplayer, action throughout.
Two Versions, One Haircut
The arcade original and the home port differ in small ways. Text translation is the obvious one. The stranger difference is the hair. Kid Niki’s spikes are wild and punk rock, with a ponytail in back. Yancha Maru’s spikes are subdued, pulled into a topknot. The arcade keikogi is yellow; the home ports make it red.
Those changes matter more than they sound. The arcade game ran on Irem-62 Hardware, the same board as Kung Fu Master, and that lineage shows in the pace. The home version keeps the pace but trades the yellow for red and the ponytail for the chonmage, and the character reads differently in each.
Hard Numbers
- Developer: Irem
- Publisher: Data East, Irem
- Platforms: Commodore C64/128/MAX, Apple II, Family Computer, Nintendo Entertainment System
- Original arcade release: 1986, Japan
- Home release: 1987, international
- Genre: Platform
- Modes: Single player, Multiplayer
- Rounds: Seven, with a boss at the end of each
- Published critical score: 6.9/10
Release Schedule
| Version | Year | Region | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arcade (Kaiketsu Yanchamaru) | 1986 | Japan | Irem |
| Home port (Kid Niki: Radical Ninja) | 1987 | International | Data East |
The seven-round structure is where Kid Niki starts to fray. Seven bosses is a lot of repetition for a game built on one attack. The Spinning Sword is the only real verb Niki has, and the Bells only widen it for a limited amount of time. When the timer runs out, you are back to spinning.
That is the trade the game makes. It has a clean hook, a great opening, and a power-up system that never quite becomes a second idea. The punk-rock hair and the burst-through-the-wall energy promise a game with more attitude than the mechanics deliver.
Still, the arcade original earned its port. Irem built something fast and legible, and Data East carried it to the home market without breaking it. The differences between the two versions are cosmetic, and the cosmetics are the most interesting part: a haircut and a keikogi color tell you which version you are playing before you press start.
Kid Niki: Radical Ninja is a good game with a great premise and a thin moveset. It is worth playing for the opening alone, and worth finishing if you like the rhythm of seven rounds and seven bosses. It does not reinvent the platformer, and it does not need to.
Score: 6.9 of 10.
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