The Last Ninja Collection Brings Seven Retro Games To Switch In 2025

Ive heard about these games...but idk, I think i'll pass.

The last NES game I ever rented was The Last Ninja and I loved it. I'm certainly looking forward to this collection.

Was International Karate an arcade game? It looks like a game I played in the local 7-eleven back around that time ('85).

Well I'll be a ninjas uncle! Definitely enjoyed my experience with the last Ninja games way back when they were released on Wii VC! Well the first two original Commodore 64 games were. There was a fiasco with the third one where it was released with some severe bug that made it impossible to finish so it was removed from the Wii shop. Then people were issued refunds.

I remember it only released on the European Wii shop but never made it to the states. After the refunds for the botched download had to be sent out Nintendo basically gave up on putting Commodore 64 games on Wii.

Anyway that was then and this is now. This is definitely a collection I'll be getting as i did enjoy my time playing the first two on wii. I did play last Ninja 3 on an emulator once and man that intro! I never owned a Commodore 64 back when they were still popular and the Wii VC was my first real experience with the games.

I don’t know too much about Commodore 64 games, but that International Karate game looks familiar.

Oh, day one! Nice collection

Isn’t this the game where the nerd went off because he couldn’t land on a passing boat in the game?

I never knew there were more of these but considering the games would be complicated to play I may take a passed on this collection. I don't even know what a Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum is.

Nah. These are too ancient, even for me.

Definitely interested in this although age has made the ninja games rather fiddly. I think these were all System 3 games, so maybe these guys have some in on licensing their old games and if so can we get Myth too.....?

As for the VC Last Ninja 3 controversy and withdrawal, as I recall it was actually a poster on this site who blew the whistle on that one. I think the Commodore games being removed was unconnected though and something to do with company issues.

@TheBoilerman Karate Champ (Data East) is pretty similar but the IK games were home games. The weird one is Way of the Exploding Fist which has basically identical assets and gameplay but seemed to share no developers, if anybody knows what the deal was there.....?

I‘ve backed for that. I‘m with The Last Ninja since 1987 💝 Amazing to play this on my Switch everywhere 🙏

Don’t know about a Commordore, but I definitely had a Commodore 64 back in the day. I remember enjoying IK+ but I don’t remember much about The Last Ninja, other than it being very hard.

C64 was my childhood and the Last ninja games were my favourites on the system so I'm definitely going to buy this.

TLN3 on the C64 was a showcase for gaming at the time. 3d isometric viewpoint, beautiful animation and overall one of the best games of 1991. However, these games haven't stood the test of time in several ways. Great to see them ported to the switch but personally - some things are better left in the past.

Proof that not every game deserves a compilation, some are better served by oblivion.

I met the legendary composers of the two first.

Ben Daglish (R.I.P) and Matt Gray.

Anyway. These games were designed for real Joysticks (Competition Pro / Zip) and not Analogue sticks and D-Pad.
Expect awkward controls.
I won't buy them as i refuse to play them without proper Joystick.

International Karate was one of my first C64 games, and Last Ninja and Last Ninja 2, two of my favourites. That isometric jumping on the first stage of the first game was really frustrating though.

I still play these games sometimes, and I do remember all the effort of having to get my Wii points back for LN3 (and Nintendo Life changing the VC review score as you couldn't progress past the first stage).

I have a lot of nostalgia for these titles, hopefully they handle the 50Hz well in the emulation (the Turrican collections did OK) but certainly interested in them on Switch.

@Toastmaster such great music in the Last Ninja. Rob Hubbard's IK soundtrack is great too, and seems to take some inspiration from Sylvian and Sakamoto's Forbidden Colours (which I only learned years later).

Well being an old man in his 40's that grew up with some of these games (Last Ninja) and still remembers their amazing C64 sound track (The Wilderness), as well as other System 3 games... I'm very excited!

i can attest i had both the c=64 and the amiga. this collection BLOWS so hard. play once and wonder wtf have i done? terrible collision, controls input is like waiting a day to pass. save your money and retroarch these. you will agree with ne. total frustration!!

@Smug43 boo you 🙃🙃🤣🤣 I'm excited!!

@Toastmaster @Smug43 I LOVED Last Ninja 2 as a child (that music on the C64 version is incredible!!) but yeah, the controls have... not aged well... and it's insanely difficult.

Maybe they'll include a modern control scheme and quality of life adjustments though? The collection isn't out until 2025...

Yesh, classics right here! I love IK+ too, so that's a nice bonus!
Still gutted they canned the new game.

@NeonMullet Some games really do hold up for me, Stunt Car Racer, Buggy Boy, last Ninja 2 and International Karate I still play now and again. I also have a great deal of Nostalgia for Platoon, as I had the 'Hollywood' pack much better than the NES version.

I have nightmares about the first game on C64, jumping on those turtles to cross the river, you had to be pixel perfect, my god, just got so frustrated with it.

Omg yes! Hopefully last ninja 3 works this time.

These games were my intro to gaming, so the nostalgia is very very strong. Interestingly the sound track for last ninja 2 alone is phenomenal and has some significant similarity to my untrained ear with some rob zombie work much later on.

Previously on Wii VC last ninja 3 was unplayable and was removed as past level one would never load.

I’m sure time is not kind to these games, and I doubt many will enjoy, but i do think they are an essential piece of gaming history, even if it’s just the musical work of ninja 1 and 2.

PSA: I am very biased on this one

EDIT: Don’t normally do this but had to support this kickstarter

Last Ninja 2 & International karate I played here. Ha ha, good memories

Wild! I love the idea of more C64 games on Switch! I'd love a Boulder Dash collection (to go with the, uh, two other Boulder Dash games and also the third on the way). The two Pixel Games UK C64 collections I've played on Switch are good too (the Monty Mole one and the one that has Horace Goes Skiing).

I love that the Switch is getting all these ports of these deep cut games that released either in limited markets or weren't that popular in certain parts of the world.

Nice! I need to back this. Always excited for retro stuff. I'll get the physical tier.

Instant "Diamond Ultimate Supporter - Tier 5" as soon as I read news about it here. Thank you Liam for writing about it!

I still can't believe that this is happening, I lost hope (long time ago) for something like this. Thanks to this collection I'm keeping my Switch.

@Clyde_Radcliffe Last Ninja 2 is a true classic.
Matt Gray made the great Central Park theme, while Ben Daglish made the legendary title theme.

Modern control scheme isn't really a thing for games that only supports one button and 8 way controls.
I don't remember if they added more buttons on CD32 version of Last Ninja 3, but were playable with a CD32 pad...

I own a Mayflash Adapter for Switch/PC/Wii U/PS3/Android/Raspberry/PC Handhelds etc. and a USB Retronic DB-9 Adapter which supports over 30 real controllers on Commodore, Sega, Atari etc.
I also have a real Zip Stick connected to it, made by the original company and not the modern one.

I wonder if it will be possible to use it in this collection.

@timp29 I own the physical version of Last Ninja 3 on my CD32 console and it works.

@Ristar24 Yeah. Commodore 64 and Amiga have a huge amount of memorable game music.
There is new remixes from C64 and Amiga frequently at "Remix Kweed" (C64) and "Amiga Remix".

I have met a bunch of these music legends and got physical games signed.
Rob Hubbard, Chris Huelsbeck, Ben Daglish, Matt Gray, David Wise, Grant Kirkhope. In fact i even met probably 15-20 people from Rare too who worked on Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Banjo etc.

The legend Martin Galway sadly never travelled worldwide to meet fans.

For International Karate at 1:57 in, I realize there is no way to actually get that view. To get that view of the world trade center you would have to be in Jersey City looking east, but the statue of Liberty has her back to JC so it would be the back of her.

I'm not complaining at all, I get the creative license, but as a kid I never realized this, but as an adult I'm like, "OHHHHH that's cool"

@TheBoilerman I dont believe so, its possible you are thinking of Karate Champ

@Toastmaster Great list, Tim Follin also really impresses me on C64, the Ghouls 'n Ghosts intro and soundtrack was so atmospheric. The various Ocean loaders were also great, sometimes better than the games themselves!

LOTS of 80`s nostalgy here. Love this idea and this selected collection. Needless to say, first day buyer here.

Last Ninja was super hard from what I remember. Hopefully there will be a rewind feature.

@Ristar24 Yes, Tim Follin, and there were David Whittaker, Mark Cooksey and others.

The Ghosts'n Goblins music on C64 is by far better than the music on Arcade, NES, Sega versions etc.
There is probably over 100 modern remixes of C64 version.

Mark Cooksey composed for Ghosts'n Goblins, Commando, Bomb Jack, Paperboy, Space Harrier etc.
His memorable C64 music were not used on Arcade, NES, Sega etc. either. C64 always had the best music.

Martin Galway made sure it were never boring with long loading times. He made the Ocean Loaders, and also the legendary music in Green Beret, Rambo First Blood 2, Comic Bakery, Arkanoid etc.

There is probably a million who started a game on C64 just to listen to the music.

@Flickumbicus You just have to try the best versions, C64 ones.

I’ve played one of these back on the wii eshop years ago. It was either 1 or 2, the game played terrible on there and was as stiff as a milkman’s freshly starched and ironed tighty whities, but the soundtrack was amazing.

@Toastmaster ok yeah that Central Park theme is the one I remember, and as far as I could get. But it was very nice to just put the controller down to listen to that. All the bad taste from playing the game left my mouth once I gave that a listen. That game has no business sounding that good, it’s one of the best for sure.

Bangkok Knights is a bad game on C64 but has some incredible loading music. I hope that loading music in general is available in this collection, as the Last Ninja games have some memorable tunes too!

Does anyone know how to get the trousers to fall down in IK+ without a keyboard?

@TYRANACLES The original composer Matt Gray who made the Central Park music, did make a modern version of it a few years ago.
You can find it on his official YouTube channel.

Matt Gray also made a very good remix of Rob Hubbard's "Monty on the Run". Also on his channel.

Anyway. Nice to see so many C64 fans here.

@NeonMullet I played a lot of UK specific software probably, and cassette was the most popular format here. Back then I pretty much bought what was in my local WH Smith! You can always add software to the mini (or the larger version) with a USB. I miss those old tape loaders that way though. Platoon is way better than it has any right to be (at least the first two stages), I have the NES cart too, but it's poor next to the C64. Stunt Car racer is almost as good as the Amiga. I'll certainly be looking out for this in Switch too.

'The Spectrum' is the next device from Retro Games which I'll also be picking up.