Mystic Warriors (Arcade) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

A playthrough of Konami's 1993 arcade run-and-gun shooter, Mystic Warriors: Wrath of the Ninjas.
Played through on the default difficulty level as Spyros.
Mystic Warriors is the not-quite-a-sequel to Konami's 1991 arcade classic Sunset Riders. Both were created by the same team and the gameplay is virtually identical between them. Mystic Warriors isn't afraid to acknowledge its predecessor, either. The movie drive-in screen in the first stage actually shows a redrawn version of the Sunset Riders intro as you walk by! Awesome, right?
Instead of cowboys tearing up the old west, you now play as an unexpectedly diverse group of ninja stabbing, shooting, and otherwise ninja-ing their way across a variety of action movie cliches trying to rescue whichever of the other ninja get kidnapped during the character selection. It's all very strange, and it's all very pink.
But it is a fantastic action game. The gameplay is just as good as Sunset Riders ever was, but it has been amped up a bit. When enemies come close, you now can slash at them (Shinobi much?), and you get get magic items that will blast everything on the screen or make you invincible for a short bit.
The presentation is yet another impressive exhibition of the brilliance that defined Konami's games of the era. Everything is completely over-the-top - the first boss arrives for the fight in an oil tanker that crashes straight through and blows up a building, and the following stage has you on skis firing at a futuristic jet that looks like Baxter Stockman's flying seat-thing from Ninja Turtles 2. And just wait until you see the train boss - what a hilariously tragic bit of melodrama occurs during that fight!
The graphics really show Konami's art team at the top of their game - while I really don't like the weird pink/purple motif running throughout, it doesn't change the fact that the sprite work here is impeccable. There are so many flourishes and incidental details everywhere that, though in isolation they would be meaningless, are dotted so often throughout as to really make the levels feel "alive" than they do in most of platform-style games. If the first stage doesn't convince you of the sheer effort and talent invested here, you should probably get your eyes checked. Or go play a modern 3D game. The music is just as good, too. It tends to be a bit mellower than it was in Sunset Riders - it drops the guitars in favor of synth pads, woodwinds and strings - but the quality is outstanding, and it certainly has it moments where punches the music just as hard as Lethal Enforcers or Sunset Riders ever did. And of course, that includes gratuitous use of the famous orchestra hit.
It's definitely easier than Sunset Riders, but Mystic Warriors is a great follow-up that unfortunately never was ported to any home system. I can only guess that would be the reason why everyone sings Sunset Riders' praises while thoroughly ignoring this one - I imagine a lot of people have no idea this game even exists.
Either way, though, if you liked Sunset Riders in the slightest, you really need to play this one. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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