This game is one of the reasons why I still hold the SNES , and Konami, in the highest regard. It is without doubt one of the most innovative, challenging and fun games I have ever played. Ever played. I'm 39 in April and have been playing games since the late 70s and playing this game is up there with moments such my 1st game of Pong, or sit-down Star Wars.

What frightens me is that I only stumbled upon this game as part of a deal - it slipped into the SNES PAL release schedule with no fanfare and I got it as part of a "2 for 1" deal with Namco's Smash Tennis - which itself is a nice game - but it is simply unfair to compare that (or indeed most other games) with this masterpiece. I'm frightened to think that I could have gone through life not playing this! It is up there alongside Miyamoto's mighty 2D trilogy of Super Mario Bros 3, Super Mario World and Yoshi's Island - heady company indeed - but it really is that good.

Legend of the Mystical Ninja is an action based platformer with RPG elements. Spread across 10 levels - each made up of a forced perspective RPG-style area followed by a traditional 2D platform section,culminating in a boss battle. The RPG-section sees you roaming around a town, speaking to people, battling enemies and entering buildings searching for clues as to how to proceed.

The variety of things to do in villages is incredibly varied and faultlessly implemented. You can earn cash by doing jobs (implemented via mini-games such as Mole Attack and Painter), train at a gym to learn special attacks, gamble in a variety of ways (dice and horse races being 2 examples), take part on game-show style quizzes, search mazes for prizes and cash - it goes on and on. You can also do things just for fun - for example you can enter an arcade and play Air hockey, Breakout and the 1st level of Gradius (if you have the money that is). All of these mini-games are presented with such a very high level of slickness, charm and technical expertise that is hard to believe. You wonder how Konami squeezed it all onto a cartridge.

In the village you can power up with extra speed, energy, weapons, money and armour. You have an upgradable weapon with which to bash the weird and wonderful enemies. You start with a pipe , which when powered up gets longer (ooer!) but when powered up again becomes a yo-yo weapon with great range. You may also shoot at enemies by throwing coins at them - something only recommended if you're rich!

Once you have achieved a certain task or simply found a certain entrance, you enter a normal 2D platform phase - these are pretty tough - you face many tricky jumps and imaginative enemies and are brilliantly designed. Get to the end of this - and you are presented with a superbly designed boss with which you battle. Succeed and you are rewarded with an enjoyable mini cut-scene as you progress to the next level. The range of bosses is weird and wonderful - some of them even ended up in another Konami series - the 2D shooter Parodius.

The whole game just has a wonderful look and feel - I suppose its very "Japanese" and has all sorts of odd little icons and images. For example your weapon powerup icon is a cat symbol which I've seen in Chinese restaurants. Restart points are represented by a "lucky elephant". Apparantly the hero of the game exists in oriental folklore and was a thief who turned good - anyhow, the game is filled with humour and unexplained weirdness and most of all fun - something which seems to be getting rarer and rarer these days in a game.

This all sounds fine and dandy - but there's more. There is a 2 player simultaneous mode. Play along with a partner and the fun isn't doubled - its squared! You can play mini-games together in the villages and help each other when battling enemies but the 2 player game becomes inspired in the 2D platform sections. If one player lies down, the other can jump on his back - you are then in piggy-back mode! One player moving and jumping, the other attacking the enemies - you really have to experience this game like this - it is a blast on your own, but this just puts the gameplay fun through the roof.

Reviewing this game is hard simply because I don't want to spoil the surpises that await the player - I have already said more than I should have! Do yourself a big favour and get this game one way or another. It spawned 2 sequels on the SNES and 2 games on the N64 (the 2nd of which returned to its roots and resembles this game in its structure).

Great graphics, marvellous oriental tunes and superb spot effects go together with finely tuned control,inspired level design and humour. This game is quite simply a masterpiece - one of the finest games ever created and quite honestly puts games offered today to shame.

This game, or any game of this type, simply wouldn't be given the light of day today by publishers and it will be a long time before anything like it will ever be seen again - and its why I'm personally losing faith in the modern gaming scene.