JAJAMARU NO DAIBŌKEN (Famicom, 1986)
Happy Friday, everyone. Today I’m going to return to another favorite franchise of mine: Ninja JaJaMaru-kun. Last semester I reviewed Ninja JaJaMaru-kun for the Famicom. In short, it was pretty good, albeit kind of repetitive. However, the intense action prevented it from becoming overly monotonous. Apparently, the game was pretty successful because it would end up spawning numerous sequels. We’ll be looking at the first one today: JaJaMaru no Daibōken.
Developed by TOSE and published by Jaleco, JaJaMaru no Daibōken was the second game in the Ninja JaJaMaru-kun series and the last of the series to be an action platformer. Let’s see how the sequel to Ninja JaJaMaru-kun fared, shall we?
The story is that Princess Sakura has been kidnapped again, this time by the Catfish Pirate, and Ninja JaJaMaru-kun has to go save her. I’m assuming Damazu-Dayuu has been killed because he would never appear again following Ninja JaJaMaru-kun, and the Catfish Pirate would serve as the main antagonist.
The game is an action platformer, though this time it’s a side-scroller where you have to reach the end of the stage. First, the basics: the graphics are still fine for the Famicom, albeit not at all changed from the first game. Of course, there are new enemies, but they’re no more detailed than the ones in Ninja JaJaMaru-kun. The music is also okay, but most of the time it’s just a short track that loops endlessly.
The goal of the game is to get to the door at the end while killing enemies along the way. The controls are the same as the first game, where A jumps and B throws a shuriken. However, it’s a little more difficult as there are new enemies that sometimes require more hits to kill. There are skeletons, ghostly old men, red devils, geezers that throw bombs in the air, and other demons. Enemies still can’t kill you by touch, but almost all of them have projectiles, such as flames, bombs, and lightning rods. If you get hit by them once, you’re dead. Enemies technically don’t have to be killed, but are necessary for a decent score at the end of the level.
You can also shoot through rocks in this game, but so can the enemies. This means you can’t simply hide behind rocks until the range is short enough to hit your enemies. You have to always be on your toes and be ready for their attacks while trying to hit them.
Enemies are much more varied in this game. There are giant rolling skulls that are somehow invincible, devils that leave flames behind them, flying bats, and more. In certain levels, there’s a bee that will fly around, and if it touches the ninja, he will be stunned and unable to do anything until the bee flies away. This will give the other enemies an advantage, as the bee doesn’t affect them. Also, there’s no fixed number of enemies. They respawn, so even if you kill one creature, they’ll always come out of the ground a few seconds later, always keeping you on your toes.
The items have also returned and they are hidden within breakable rocks. While the invisible potion was featured in the first game, every other item is new—flashlights, which can be used to instantly kill enemies; dollies, which will allow the ninja to jump farther while running; and a super sword that can be used to kill any enemy, even the invincible skulls. This can be handy if you find yourself overwhelmed by them. However, there are bombs throughout these rocks more often than there are items. Like everything else, if you touch them, it’s an instant death.
There’s also a time limit in this game, and it’s actually much shorter than the first. It’s an instant game over if you run out of time, so it’s best to go through the level as quickly as possible!
Your giant frog also returns, but this time you have to find him under a rock instead of gathering all the required items. Riding the frog will render every enemy helpless, but the frog only lasts for a certain amount of time.
At the end of each level, there is a boss fight. Bosses will shoot lightning, throw bombs, and spit fire. In the same format as before, one hit from you kills the boss and one hit from the boss kills you. Your character doesn’t lose lives in these stages, so the boss battles are optional if you want more bonus points.
That’s JaJaMaru no Daibōken–every bit as action-packed as the first game. Due to the fresh new enemies and varied level design, it may take a long time for players to get bored. The challenge of getting past all of them while beating the time limit also adds to the game’s level of enjoyment, as does the addition of boss battles. Go ahead and pick this up, whether it be the Famicom cart or the upcoming compilation on PS4 and Switch.
Rating: 9/10