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Ninja fun for all the family here, in this conversion of the Sega coin-op. You play Joe Mushashi, a graduate of the Ninja school. Being the most respected ex-pupil, you are invited back to the annual graduation ceremony. Unfortunately, Bwah Foo, an ex-pupil turned bad, kidnaps the entire junior class and demands a heap of gold by Wednesday.

Each level, or mission, involves travelling along the horizontally scrolling play area, killing Foo's henchmen and rescuing the captive students. Not as easy as it sounds. Foo's followers are many and varied. The majority of them are easily dealt with, as they only use unarmed combat. But there are lots of them, so you often find yourself messing with them while a more powerful opponent sneaks up on you. These tougher baddies are equipped with shields and sabres or guns.

When you've collected all the kidnappees on any one level, you go up against an end-of-level baddy who's usually massive, always heavily armed and invariably hard to kill. After this comes the bonus level involving three platforms, several dozen Ninja and a hearty helping of shuriken. This bit is especially impressive because it's sort of 3D. Your opponents come flying out of the screen at you and your shuriken go flying into the screen at them.

It's very much like Shadow Dancer, but without the dog. It may not be as sophisticated but the playability's there. I like it lots and because of that I may well give it 82%.

The forerunner to one of this year's better games is pretty good in its own right - especially at this price.