Ninja JaJaMaru-kun

The game was a commercial success, selling nearly 1 million units. An arcade video game port for the Nintendo VS. System was released in April 1986. A remake, Ganso JaJaMaru-kun, was released in 1999 for the WonderSwan. Released for Nintendo's Japanese Virtual Console on 26 December 2006, and in PAL regions on 21 September 2007, as part of Ninja Week for the Hanabi Festival promotion. It was released on the North American Virtual Console on 22 October the same year. The game was released on the Nintendo Switch through the Nintendo Classics service in May 2021.

• Title — Ninja JaJaMaru-kun • Developer — Jaleco • Publisher — Jaleco • Platforms — Family Computer Arcade MSX WonderSwan • Released — Famicom 15 November 1985Arcade April 1986MSX'WonderSwan15 April 1999 • Genre — Platform • Modes — Single-player, multiplayer • Arcade System — Nintendo VS. System

• Illustration — JaJaMaru-kun has stunned an enemy at the center of the screen in the first level of the game. In Ninja JaJaMaru-kun, the player takes control of JaJaMaru, who sets out to rescue Princess Sakura from the pirate lord Namazu Dayuu, or "Catfish Pirate". JaJaMaru can run, jump, and throw shurikens at enemies, all of which are taken from Japanese folklore and are introduced before a level begins. Each level has eight enemies total, who give chase to JaJaMaru if he occupies the same floor as them. Defeating enemies will cause their spirit to appear and ascend to the top of the screen, which can be grabbed for additional points. Once all the enemies are defeated, JaJaMaru moves onto the next level. JaJaMaru can destroy bricks scattered in levels, some of which yield power-ups when destroyed. These include a cart that temporarily makes JaJaMaru invincible, a bottle that allows him to walk through enemies, a red ball that increases speed, coins that yield extra points, and 1UPs. Some bricks contain bombs which will kill JaJaMaru if he touches it. Collecting three different power-ups will summon a giant frog named Gamapa-kun, who JaJaMaru will ride and be completely invincible and be able to eat any nearby enemies. During levels, Sakura will sometimes drop flower petals that can be collected for points, while Namazu will drop deadly bombs. Collecting three petals will transport JaJaMaru to a bonus level, where he must throw shhurikens upward towards Namazu while avoiding his bombs. Bonus points are awarded for hitting Namazu, while hitting a bomb will send the player to the next level instead.

• Illustration — Ganso JaJaMaru-kun cover art Ninja JaJaMaru-kun was developed and published by Jaleco for the Family Computer in Japan on 18 November 1985. The game is a spin-off of Ninja-Kid (1984), an arcade video game originally developed by Japanese company UPL, known for games such as Atomic Robo Kid. Jaleco had previously ported the game to the Famicom in early 1985, and decided to re-use the Ninja-Kid character for their own home console game, now named Ninja JaJaMaru-kun. The name is believed to come from the name of a character from the Japanese educational show Okaasan to Issho, who was named "Fukurokouji JaJaMaru". A Nintendo VS. System port was released by Jaleco for arcades in April 1986. Ganso JaJaMaru-kun is a remake of Ninja JaJaMaru-kun released in Japan on 15 April 1999, by Jaleco for the WonderSwan. It is an enhanced version of the original Famicom game with better control, though it uses monochrome graphics due to being an original WonderSwan game. Ninja JaJaMaru-kun was added as a playable game to the Nintendo Classics service in May 2021.