Kamen no Ninja - Hanamaru [Model CAP-JE]

仮面の忍者 花丸 © 1990 Capcom Company, Limited.
(Kamen no Ninja - Hanamaru)

Kamen no Ninja Hanamaru is a side-scrolling platform game.

Hanamaru, a ninja boy in training, is sent on a mission to investigate bizarre happenings and disappearances. In a local theme park called Leisure Island, children have been mysteriously disappearing, and these disappearances are being attributed to a ruthless rival gang of ninjas. Equipped with his red mask and a mechanical hawk, it is up to the brave Hanamaru to journey throughout the park's fourteen areas and to rescue the captive children.

The young ninja can run, jump, or allow his hawk companion to attack enemies at long range. He can also collect special scrolls to increase his magic powers and cast various spells (press Down and B to activate them) - they range from lightning attack (kills all enemies on screen), ground shake (kills all enemies on the ground), Fire Hawk (unleashes the hawk super dive attack), and super jump (increases jumping speed for a short amount of time).

Various special items are also available throughout the game, such as extra lives, invincibility, and battle cards. Battle cards are a very important part of the gameplay - every now and then, Hanamaru encounters a boss that he must fight in a really unusual way (and apparently loosely based on the traditional Japanese disciplines of Ninjutsu). Boss battles are round-based, and the player must pick a card with a higher face value than his opponent, and the difference represents how much damage the player (or the boss) takes.

Thankfully, Hanamaru can collect special battle cards along the way - some can double or triple the face value of a card, whereas others prevent the boss from being able to attack for a round or help Hanamaru regain some life.

Although most of the game offers traditional side-scrolling platformer action, several levels try out very different gameplay styles (Hanamaru can ride a Skateboard in some stages or fly through the air with the help of his hawk companion).