Kyatto Ninden Teyandee/Samurai Pizza Cats (NES, 1991)
Graphics-8 Sound-7.5 Control-7.5 Challenge-6/7* Story-6.5
Level Design-7/7.5* Frustration-5.5/6.5* Fun-7/7.5* Originality-6
Overall Score-7.5
*Hard mode
+
Five different playable chars, for of which with one unique traversal ability each. Can switch between them on the fly from the get go (one (catton) can destroy boulders, one (meowz) can dig through certain dirt tiles - similar to dig dug/yoshi's island, one (batcat) can fly, one (spritz, turquoise & orange) can swim much faster, ; these abilities use a rechargeable stamina bar)
One ammo-based sub weapon per char which can be upgraded twice - Castlevania/Ninja Gaiden
Choose your own path (level select map screen - 3 levels at a time)
Some detours and alternate paths leading to optional items
Smart bomb attacks for most chars (level 3 specials, orange and turquoise chars don't have it, white's is stronger but more expensive)
Some interesting level design (minor platforming puzzles involving multiple abilities, blobs of water in the air that you can swim through, wind effect - SMB2 JP/Ninja Gaiden 2)
Decent-pretty good cutscenes (and plenty of them), Some large and detailed (if not that well animated) sprites
Decent variety
Can change your attack direction mid-attack to hit two enemies at once
A couple of decent bosses (second to last one has two forms)
Unlockable hard mode via a code (at the title screen: on controller 2 hold A & B and on controller 1 hold Select & B, then press Start twice.) - Levels are not much harder until the late game as you just take 2x damage, can still farm items and enemies don't take more hits to kill but bosses are a bit harder as their helpers take several more hits to kill and some like the pogo goblin have harder patterns. Can't restore health in the last level
+/-
Password save
Unlimited continues
Can farm placed items by re-enter the room they're in
Can't crouch
Very easy first level and boss
Can't move while attacking (only jump)
After you upgrade to your final level of Special attack, getting another Special Power Item will downgrade you back to your first Special attack - can be bad since some enemies drop such an upgrade
Sub weapon power is reset after each level
Short door maze in level 7 (or 8 if including the intro level)
Sometimes no mid-level checkpoints but pretty short levels
Pretty forgiving hit detection
-
Some control/interface issues (the white char's sword attack looks like it should hit enemies behind you but doesn't, double tap running and you don't stop after letting go of the d-pad - have to press the other direction, have to switch back to the main char/white char for the stamina bar to recharge, can't speed up cutscene dialogue - only skip the whole scene)
Very easy first four levels, Very easy vampire boss
Repeats certain enemies a lot
Not being able to jump down through platforms that can be jumped down through sometimes leads to minor backtracking (sometimes it's used for puzzles)
Could've tested you more on using your different movement abilities
Notes:
-"At times, if you press the D-Pad at the right moment, during the animation of your final/level 3 Special Attack, you can have a stronger attack" - I don't think I was able to trigger this, but it's mentioned in a guide
Level Design-7/7.5* Frustration-5.5/6.5* Fun-7/7.5* Originality-6
Overall Score-7.5
*Hard mode
+
Five different playable chars, for of which with one unique traversal ability each. Can switch between them on the fly from the get go (one (catton) can destroy boulders, one (meowz) can dig through certain dirt tiles - similar to dig dug/yoshi's island, one (batcat) can fly, one (spritz, turquoise & orange) can swim much faster, ; these abilities use a rechargeable stamina bar)
One ammo-based sub weapon per char which can be upgraded twice - Castlevania/Ninja Gaiden
Choose your own path (level select map screen - 3 levels at a time)
Some detours and alternate paths leading to optional items
Smart bomb attacks for most chars (level 3 specials, orange and turquoise chars don't have it, white's is stronger but more expensive)
Some interesting level design (minor platforming puzzles involving multiple abilities, blobs of water in the air that you can swim through, wind effect - SMB2 JP/Ninja Gaiden 2)
Decent-pretty good cutscenes (and plenty of them), Some large and detailed (if not that well animated) sprites
Decent variety
Can change your attack direction mid-attack to hit two enemies at once
A couple of decent bosses (second to last one has two forms)
Unlockable hard mode via a code (at the title screen: on controller 2 hold A & B and on controller 1 hold Select & B, then press Start twice.) - Levels are not much harder until the late game as you just take 2x damage, can still farm items and enemies don't take more hits to kill but bosses are a bit harder as their helpers take several more hits to kill and some like the pogo goblin have harder patterns. Can't restore health in the last level
+/-
Password save
Unlimited continues
Can farm placed items by re-enter the room they're in
Can't crouch
Very easy first level and boss
Can't move while attacking (only jump)
After you upgrade to your final level of Special attack, getting another Special Power Item will downgrade you back to your first Special attack - can be bad since some enemies drop such an upgrade
Sub weapon power is reset after each level
Short door maze in level 7 (or 8 if including the intro level)
Sometimes no mid-level checkpoints but pretty short levels
Pretty forgiving hit detection
-
Some control/interface issues (the white char's sword attack looks like it should hit enemies behind you but doesn't, double tap running and you don't stop after letting go of the d-pad - have to press the other direction, have to switch back to the main char/white char for the stamina bar to recharge, can't speed up cutscene dialogue - only skip the whole scene)
Very easy first four levels, Very easy vampire boss
Repeats certain enemies a lot
Not being able to jump down through platforms that can be jumped down through sometimes leads to minor backtracking (sometimes it's used for puzzles)
Could've tested you more on using your different movement abilities
Notes:
-"At times, if you press the D-Pad at the right moment, during the animation of your final/level 3 Special Attack, you can have a stronger attack" - I don't think I was able to trigger this, but it's mentioned in a guide