{"id":77,"date":"2008-10-18T13:16:30","date_gmt":"2008-10-18T18:16:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.zephyrusanemoi.com\/blog\/?p=77"},"modified":"2020-02-06T20:11:37","modified_gmt":"2020-02-07T02:11:37","slug":"the-man-in-red-knows-something","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zepfhyr.com\/blog\/2008\/10\/the-man-in-red-knows-something\/","title":{"rendered":"The man in red knows something."},"content":{"rendered":"

Purple pajamas\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00c2\u00a0white shoes\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00c2\u00a0ninjas for hire in New York City\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00c2\u00a0Seriously. This one writes itself.<\/h4>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Ooohhhh! Crouchy.<\/p><\/div>\n

There are three types of games you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re likely to see on this website. There are the games that are so incredible that I absolutely must tell you about them because I want you to have this wonderful experience that I did. There are the games that are so terrible, I have to warn you against them so that you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t inadvertently spend money on utter crap cough-cough<\/em> Moto Roader<\/a> cough<\/em>.<\/p>\n

And then there are the games that I just happen to stumble across and simply must tell you about.<\/p>\n

Wrath of the Black Manta<\/em> is one of those games.<\/p>\n

I recently came into possession of the NES on which my brother and I cut our teeth. This thing is so used that many games actually play more reliably if you leave the game in the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153up\u00e2\u20ac\u009d position, rather than the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153down\u00e2\u20ac\u009d position. If you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m talking about, you didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t own a NES, and you probably have no idea why you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re here. Thank you for coming. Please be quiet so as not to disturb the faithful.<\/p>\n

One of the games that my brother had acquired since we stopped sharing everything was Black Manta. At first, I could only assume that this game would be horrendous beyond belief and that the person that last owned it was crying themselves to sleep in a mental institution trying to solve the riddle of a ninja wearing all purple in New York City.<\/p>\n

The only way to describe this game properly is to show you. And so I shall\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

I have never seen a phone actually ring like that.<\/p><\/div>\n

The story of the game is told through a variety of cut-scenes composed of still images above text.<\/p>\n

The first cut-scene starts off with your character receiving a phone call from your master. My first thought was of course, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ninjas have phones?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

My second thought didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t occur until the second or third time I played through the opening sequence.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

And why am I looking through my pajama leg?<\/p><\/div>\n

Clearly, ninjas do not need to sleep. But must Black Manta wear his ninja clothing in the middle of the night when ninja-ing is not actually occurring?<\/p>\n

Of course he does, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a freakin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 ninja.<\/p>\n

So the phone rings and then apparently your master teleports through the phone to land in your living room, because lo and behold, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right there in the next image.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Y’know, my name is actually Jim, right?<\/p><\/div>\n

This is the part where I started to get bored, so I skipped past the rest. From what I was able to glean off the words flitting by, lots of children in New York are being kidnapped and the police and FBI are useless, as always.<\/p>\n

So, being a ninja, you decide to put a stop to it. Why? Who the fuck knows? Your master just poofs into existence and suddenly you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re off killing guys in green jumpsuits firing guns at you.<\/p>\n

Badly.<\/p>\n

So once the gameplay begins, it quickly becomes apparent that you are more than a ninja, you are a superhero. You can jump the height of four oil drums without breaking a sweat, which is impressive in its own right. Further, you can summon forth fire balls to crawl across the ground and seek out your enemies, surround you for half a second to kill anyone that gets too close, launch across the screen to blow up those who oppose you, and generate an illusory ninja that stands on your head and throws real ninja stars.<\/p>\n

Not even joking about the fact that your mirror image stands on your head. That has to be the most effective illusion ever.<\/p>\n

The only drawback is that the game tries to show you that you have all of these abilities, but doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t bother to point out that you must hold down the attack button to trigger them. Thus, I spent the majority of the first game I played only throwing ninja stars and getting my ass kicked.<\/p>\n

So you fight through the level, continually grabbing this tougher baddie in red to interrogate him, but apparently believing him every time he says he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know anything, choosing to let him go so that he can just run ahead 30 feet in the level to do it all over again. I mean, they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even bother recoloring him so that you can pretend its a different guy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Honey! I blew up the midget!<\/p><\/div>\n

When you do finally reach the end of the level, you find a note telling you that Tiny is waiting in the next building. Very convenient. When you enter the giant whole in the wall of the otherwise structurally sound abandoned warehouse in the middle of NYC, you find the largest dwarf ever birthed from the depths of Hell.<\/p>\n

Being the largest dwarf in history has its advantages, but one-on-one combat is not one of them. Tiny, so infuriated by the fact that his disproportionate body makes him incredibly in-agile and therefore incapable of taking on a ninja, he throws a temper tantrum, leaping into the air and shaking the ground with such force upon landing that a single brick always falls directly on the head of our hero.<\/p>\n

This is where not knowing how to use your ninja powers bites you in the ass.<\/p>\n

Finally, once you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve thrown enough ninja stars into Tiny\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chin that the giganto-dwarf goes down for the count, you are rewarded with another cut-scene. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t bother reading this one, either. The man in red makes an appearance while he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talking to his boss and Manta decides it is time to head to Tokyo.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

You think this looks silly, I can throw ninja stars without letting go of the sheet.<\/p><\/div>\n

For some odd reason, when he gets there, rather than walking across the ground to get to his location, he decides to stand on what looks remarkably like a building from the previous level in the middle of nowhere. Ninjas wearing blankets on their backs are soaring through the air at you and provide you with the perfect opportunity to steal one and practice your ninja blanket-surfing skills.<\/p>\n

This is pretty much the point where I gave up for the night, as suddenly I was accosted by a hundred green ninjas with blankets of their own that are capable of performing dogfighting maneuvers while throwing fireballs at you. After the sixth time I had died, I realized I had all I need to review this game.<\/p>\n

So, what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the verdict? is Wrath of the Black Manta a game worth owning? If it ever hits the Virtual Console, I highly recommend picking it up. You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t beat the $5 price tag that it would wear and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s certainly a lot of fun. The first level is a little challenging until you pick up the control scheme and realize the most effective way to kill the enemies is to wait until they run right up to you and you can stab \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcem up close and personal.<\/p>\n

If you can find it on the NES, I recommend it, as well. While not as lasting as other ninja games, like Ninja Gaiden, the ability to use so many powers, and methods to increase your life from three hits to eight through the course of a level makes the game much easier, if a bit hokey.<\/p>\n

I know I will be trying to finish the game in the coming weeks, and can definitely recommend it to a friend without feeling like I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m secretly punishing them.<\/p>\n

(Originally posted August 19, 2007)<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Purple pajamas\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00c2\u00a0white shoes\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00c2\u00a0ninjas for hire in New York City\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00c2\u00a0Seriously. This one writes itself. There are three types of games you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re likely to see on this website. There are the games that are so incredible that I absolutely must tell you about them because I want you to have this wonderful experience that I did. There […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[128,135,136],"tags":[47,73,76],"class_list":["post-77","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-classicgamingsporadically","category-games","category-video-games","tag-gaming","tag-nes","tag-nintendo","post-preview"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8,"url":"https:\/\/zepfhyr.com\/blog\/2008\/10\/welcome-to-cgs\/","url_meta":{"origin":77,"position":0},"title":"Welcome to CGS","author":"Jared Cash","date":"October 16, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Total Recall, easily one of the worst games I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever played, is redeemable for only one reason\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Virtual glory-holes. Thanks to Retroforce Go! for helping me discover this. \u00a0 \u00a0 Welcome to the first (reposted) issue of Classic Gaming Sporadically. This is just a space where I will throw up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Classic Gaming Sporadically"","block_context":{"text":"Classic Gaming Sporadically","link":"https:\/\/zepfhyr.com\/blog\/category\/games\/video-games\/classicgamingsporadically\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/zepfhyr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/totalrecall.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/zepfhyr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/totalrecall.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/zepfhyr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/totalrecall.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/zepfhyr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/totalrecall.png?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/zepfhyr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/totalrecall.png?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1667,"url":"https:\/\/zepfhyr.com\/blog\/2010\/04\/on-why-nintendo-need-not-yet-be-afraid-of-apple\/","url_meta":{"origin":77,"position":1},"title":"On why Nintendo need not (yet) be afraid of Apple","author":"Jared Cash","date":"April 7, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been seeing a lot of Apple fans rabidly proclaiming the iPhone the ultimate mobile gaming machine and the death-knell for Nintendo's and Sony's portable platforms. However, as lifelong gamer and the owner of 3 generations of Nintendo's portable hardware and 4 separate devices in that family, I can say\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Apple"","block_context":{"text":"Apple","link":"https:\/\/zepfhyr.com\/blog\/category\/apple\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67,"url":"https:\/\/zepfhyr.com\/blog\/2008\/10\/mixed-messages\/","url_meta":{"origin":77,"position":2},"title":"Mixed messages?","author":"Jared Cash","date":"October 17, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Help Zeph get back to his point and get a free copy of CGS posted online, just for you! So I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m out browsing around the Interweb, and I come across a strange advertisement (seen above). Now, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m what you would call a video game enthusiast. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve played a few rounds\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Classic Gaming Sporadically"","block_context":{"text":"Classic Gaming Sporadically","link":"https:\/\/zepfhyr.com\/blog\/category\/games\/video-games\/classicgamingsporadically\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/zepfhyr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/halo.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1474,"url":"https:\/\/zepfhyr.com\/blog\/2009\/10\/minimalist-videogame-characters\/","url_meta":{"origin":77,"position":3},"title":"Minimalist videogame characters","author":"Jared Cash","date":"October 27, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Infinite Continues recently posted a set of images of video game characters reduced to a handful of shapes and colors. They are rather remarkable and would make excellent iPhone wallpapers, so I will probably be converting several for my iPhone soon. Infinite Continues is a blog that started similarly to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Games"","block_context":{"text":"Games","link":"https:\/\/zepfhyr.com\/blog\/category\/games\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3195,"url":"https:\/\/zepfhyr.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/no-youre-wrong-nintendo-should-not-exit-the-hardware-business\/","url_meta":{"origin":77,"position":4},"title":"No, you’re wrong; Nintendo should NOT exit the hardware business","author":"Jared Cash","date":"May 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"With Nintendo reporting a loss of $456 million dollars last year, armchair-CEOs have once again begun clamoring for Nintendo to \"get out of the hardware business\" and start making games for iOS, Android, and PCs. I've said it before,\u00c2\u00a0but it bears repeating: This is the wrong solution. Nintendo is not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "iPhone\/iPad"","block_context":{"text":"iPhone\/iPad","link":"https:\/\/zepfhyr.com\/blog\/category\/apple\/iphone-ipad\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1248,"url":"https:\/\/zepfhyr.com\/blog\/2009\/10\/social-gaming-on-the-iphone\/","url_meta":{"origin":77,"position":5},"title":"Social Gaming on the iPhone","author":"Jared Cash","date":"October 6, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"A lot of media attention (at least, gaming-media) has been given to Plus+ since its announcement. I began this post then to talk about the other lesser-publicized (and in several cases, better) social gaming networks, but stopped due to life getting in the way. 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