CHARLIE NINJA

Developer: Mitchell corporation Year: 1994 Genre: run-and-gun

Sometimes, certain combinations of things sound like they shouldn’t work, but come together in a surprising and delightful way – pineapple and pizza, Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue, Puyo Puyo and Tetris. Well, you can add fighting game moves and run-and-gun gameplay to that list, as Charlie Ninja pulls off the unlikely fusion very well.

Charlie Ninja’s plot, what little there is, centres on a tiny ninja (or two, in co-op) trying to bring in wanted men for bounties. To do this, they must venture through bizarre worlds which seem to represent a hyper-stereotypical version of the USA, from the old West to a military battlefield and some rather run-down backstreets. Enemies are caricatures, from gun-toting cowboys to Rambo-esque soldiers and meathead football players. It’s all pretty amusing, up until you come across some of the less socially acceptable examples

– for example, the only female enemies are revealed to actually be men dressed in cheerleader garb, and the tomahawk-throwing native Americans look suspiciously like white dudes playing dress-up. The worst example is a boss named Freddie who is nothing more than a horrendous gay stereotype – he dresses in leather, poses effeminately and attacks you with kisses.

But if you can stomach the un-pc nature of what’s going on, you’ll find a rather well-constructed game. The level designs are pretty simplistic, so the game relies on good combat to entertain. Thankfully, as well as the standard running, jumping and power-up grabbing, your ninja has some cool special abilities. The game tells you about temporary invincibility, activated by pressing both jump and shoot at the same time, but there are a few extra Street Fighter-style specials that can help you out in a pinch, including a spinning kick and an uppercut. This adds a little bit of extra depth beyond the standard run-and-gun formula.

Although we can see how some of its graphics wouldn’t have been appropriate in the eyes of home console manufacturers, the changes needed to bring Charlie Ninja to the home would have been relatively minor. Mitchell Corporation just wasn’t in the habit of producing home conversions of its games in the mid-nineties, so it never happened. If you’re not upset by what you’ve heard here, give it a try.

Charlie has managed to conceal himself here, allowing an enemy attack to pass through him. He’ll have to uncloak to attack. These pink barrels contain pick-ups including new weapons and power boosters. You can shoot them open, but it’s more fun to get...

■ These flame jets will hurt your ninja, but not the enemies. Oddly, though, if you reveal a cluster of spikes from a pick-up box, the enemies will react to it. ■ Freddie here wouldn’t have flown with console manufacturers, even in the mid-nineties – a...