Mystic Warriors

is a ninja-themed side-scrolling action game released as a coin-operated video game by Konami in. It was developed by the same team that also produced the earlier arcade game, western-themed Sunset Riders, and features similar gameplay to its predecessor.

Story


Mystic Warriors is set in a dystopian future where an evil organization known as the Skull enterprise has taken over Japan and are now plotting a worldwide takeover.

The player takes control of one of five young ninja: Spyros, Keima, Kojiro, Brad, and Yuri, who are being targeted by Skull forces. The game can be played by up to two or four players (depending on the game's configuration); after each player chooses their character, one of the remaining members of the group will get kidnapped, prompting the remaining four to begin their mission.

During their journey across several regions of Japan, the four ninja eventually find and rescue their kidnapped friend. However, their reunion is short lived, and the rescued ninja soon performs a sacrificial attack to free them from an electric trap, killing himself/herself in the process. The rest of the game is spent with the remaining ninja avenging the death of their fallen comrade.

Gameplay
The game's controls consists of an eight-way joystick and two buttons for attacking and jumping. Like in Sunset Riders, the player can jump between higher or lower levels, as well as slide. The player character attacks primarily by shooting an unlimited supply of shurikens, or using their blade at close range. Unlike Sunset Riders, the player has a life gauge that allows their character to sustain three hits from enemy attacks (instead of just one) before losing a life. The game also includes other improvements that were not included in Sunset Riders, such as the ability for players to change characters after they lose a credit.

The player must defeat box-carrying enemies in order to obtain power-up items. These includes a shuriken power-up that can increase the player's shooting power by up to two levels (which differ between characters), food (sushi, tempura, udon, sukiyaki) that will replenish the player's life gauge, a blue orb with the kanji shinobi (忍) that will surround the player with a barrier for a limited period, a yellow orb with the kanji chikara (力) that will destroy all on-screen enemies, and various kinds of jewelry for extra points.

There are a total of nine stages in the game, in which its own boss awaiting to challenge the player. Like in Sunset Riders, each player will be graded at the end of stage by how much they shot the boss; the player with the highest hit percentage will received bonus points.

Soundtrack
The complete soundtrack to Mystic Warriors is featured in the 2-disc CD album Konami Amusement Sounds '93: Summer Edition, which was released on August 21, 1993, with the catalog number KICA-7616-7. Tracks 23-46 on Disc 2 are from the game.