Last Ninja

This was Last Ninja 2 with new music, a new introductory sequence, slightly changed graphics (most notably the screen border) and fixed bugs.

The protagonist of The Last Ninja series is Armakuni, the sole survivor of a ninjutsu clan that was destroyed by an evil shogun named Kunitoki.

Each location was presented as a map of static isometric screens, with the player's character restricted to predefined paths (the scenery was inaccessible).

Items would flash briefly when a screen was first entered and could be picked up when standing close to them, usually triggering a crouching animation that was also often employed when using the object.

In 1993, John Wells created a series of previews, music and a map for one level of a fourth game which he tried to convince System 3 to make.

[2] Originally set for an early 2004 release, a new Last Ninja game was shown at the E3 2003 Expo in Los Angeles, but has since been delayed.

For Last Ninja 4, I think you need to do something that recreates that kind of 'wow' factor of the original game, and in my mind it wasn't good enough to wear that badge – so why cash in on a great name?

It'll either be a retro version with updated graphics but the same gameplay, or something that's going to be an epic, like a Final Fantasy game but with a more arcade feel".

[7] Virgin Media included him on the list of top ten video game ninja heroes, but commenting the series itself "hasn't aged all that gracefully".