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After many long months spent meditating on a mountaintop, following his victory in Firebird's Ninja Master games, the Ninja is once again ready - ready to challenge Zerwin The Wizard for the ultimate title of Supreme Oriental Combat Master.

If the Ninja fails, death will be his only reward. So mind and body must be one, and both must be all-powerful.

The Ninja's quest takes place on a horizontally-scrolling road which leads to Zerwin's palace. This road is protected by the Wizards, bloodthirsty armed guards who attack the unsuspecting Ninja and throw darts at him. He can jump or duck to avoid the darts, but three powerful kicks are needed to fight off these foes.

Winged beasties also pose a threat - they rush up, arms stretched forward, and attempt to strangle the life from our hero. A single punch or kick will send one of the foul creatures flying off the screen.

At the end of each of the four levels a powerful guardian awaits the Ninja. The first to fight is a Terrible Indian Cobra; then come a Highly Technical Triple Armed War Unit, Ivan Dragovich, The Russian Master, and finally Supreme Oriental Combat Master Zerwin The Wizard himself.

Firebird/Tron Software's Ninja Master received 64% Overall in CRASH Issue 30.



CRITICISM

'Oriental Hero is so incredibly bad it's almost worth a look. There's everything you'd expect from the authors of Ninja Master rubbish gameplay, poor graphics and no lasting appeal.' BEN 24%

'Graphically Oriental Hero is excellent. And the tune for the title screen isn't bad either. But when you try to play, the tears set in! Wherever, whatever you do, you get killed before realising it. The terribly hard gameplay is a real shame, because otherwise Oriental Hero would be very addictive as kick-'em-ups go. As it is, you'll soon be bored.' NICK 52%

'I don't know why Firebird insists on throwing out all these martial-arts games -none are very good, and they're not presented well. Oriental Hero is totally unplayable; the graphics are very badly animated, with uninvolving backgrounds. Firebird should know better.' PAUL 15%

COMMENTS
Joysticks: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair
Graphics: large, crudely-animated characters
Sound: insipid title tune, and spot FX
General Rating: A crude follow-up to Ninja Master with unwieldy gameplay.
Presentation: 57%
Graphics: 47%
Playability: 21%
Addictiveness: 22%
Overall: 30%

The sequel to Ninja Master is a straight martial arts game, set in a contest in Outer Mongolia. The contest is played out over 4 rounds, each of which ends with a fight with a proven champion. The Indian Cobra for 300 points, a war unit for 400, and a Russian Master for 500 are the first 3 big challenges. Eventually you must beat Zerwin the Magician to take the ultimate title of Oriental Hero. The usual range of moves are on offer, with kicks and punches rather than fireball special moves.