Especially Keranu and stevek666...have you guys ever played Ninja Golf? I finally got my hands on this game last week, and I must say it lived up to my expectations. A side-scrolling ninja beat-em-up combined with a golf game. Only the brilliant minds of the post-Warner Atari could have come up with this.

In all seriousness, this game isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Neither the golf portion nor the beat-em-up are all that great, but somehow they actually work together. After teeing off you have to hoof it to the ball while defending yourself against ninjas (of course!), frogs, sharks, bird eggs (or poop, I'm not sure which), and some unidentifiable creature that pops out of the ground and chucks an unidentifiable blob of something at you. Each area of the course (greens, rough, water, etc.) has a separate side-scrolling section and enemies. I was also amused by the appropriate little ditty that plays whenever you enter a new area (the Jaws theme plays when you go into the water for example). You can defend yourself with kicks, shurikens you pick up on the ground, or jumping. There's also the typical health potions, invincible shields, and 1-ups to look out for. Once you've reached your ball, you take another swing then go back to the side-scrolling action again. Upon reaching the green you have to hurl shurikens at a fire-belching Asian-style dragon (nicely done). This part reminded me a bit of the bonus scenes in Shinobi. Kill the dragon and head to the next hole.




So yeah, not the greatest game ever, but an amusing diversion. I can make it to the seventh hole (nine altogether) before things get too fast. I wonder if the game has an ending, I am hoping for something appropriately cheesy if it does.
