So from what I gather, your father was killed and a wolf mourns him. If you hadn’t guessed it, the ninja is the wolf. It’s supposed to be a plot twist at the end and, well, it isn’t.
This game is very Japanese. There’s even text in Japanese. You start off in this dojo or something and you’ll notice right away that you can jump very high. Also you can collect power ups that gives you two shadows to fight with you much like in Ninja Gaiden 2. Your sword is your primary weapon but you can also throw projectiles.
Other levels include a forest, a cave where you can fight upside down, and inside some Japanese building. Honestly I have no idea what these places are. There’s some areas where you walk on rocks with a spooky sky and have to face some big zombies at the end.
That brings us to the bosses which most are pretty huge. The first boss alone is as big as your TV screen. There are some bosses like in the woods that remind me of the Predator. They are mostly pretty easy if your character is powered up. Your shadows can be a tremendous help.
The graphics are simply amazing. The bosses are very detailed and rivals that of even the Genesis. The levels all look cool and like I said, it’s very Japanese. I’m actually surprised most of the original game is intact because back in those days, they tend to Americanize games out of fear of not understanding their culture.
The music and sound effects are just ok. Sorry, I’m just not crazy about them. I like some of the digital screams which is rare in a Turbo game, but the sounds are typical Turbo fare. The music isn’t anything exciting or mind blowing. It’s like I said, very Japanese.
So no, I would call Ninja Spirit a Ninja clone or anything. It is its own game. It has some amazing graphics and a dark atmosphere but just be prepared, it’s very Japanese.