Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Developed by TOSE and published by Bandai in North America in 1986, Ninja Kid is an unusual early NES action game that combines platforming, shooting, an overhead world map, and randomized stage objectives. It originated in Japan as GeGeGe no Kitarō: Yōkai Dai Makyō, a licensed adaptation of the popular manga and anime series. For the Western release, the protagonist was replaced by the generic Ninja Kid Kyo, while much of the bizarre yōkai-inspired enemy roster remained.
Rating: 6/10
For this playthrough, two complete loops are shown, with the second loop beginning at 29:28.
Kyo travels through eight areas of Demon Island, each represented by a small overworld map containing entrances to different “fighting fields.” The objective is to repeatedly clear these stages until a scroll appears. Taking the scroll to the central shrine unlocks Shangri-La, where the area's main demon boss awaits.
There are four main types of fighting fields. Guerrilla Warfare requires you to defeat ten enemies, while Dog Fight turns the action into an airborne shooting sequence with the same basic objective. Poison Field requires collecting ten floating spirits, and Blazing Inferno has you guide a fire spirit around the stage to light ten candles.
Each mode uses several possible layouts, with the game randomly selecting one whenever you enter. This gives Ninja Kid considerably more variety than many other NES action games from 1986, especially since individual stages are short and rarely overstay their welcome.
Once a field is completed, two doors appear. One safely returns you to the overworld, while the other transports you to a separate miniboss battle. Certain items can reveal which exit is safe, turning what would otherwise be a blind gamble into another small strategic element.
Defeated enemies and specific actions can produce a surprisingly large assortment of power-ups. These include stronger weapons, temporary invincibility, speed boosts, extra lives, exit-revealing helpers, and whistles that allow Kyo to summon allies during major boss encounters. There is more going on beneath the game's simple appearance than might initially be expected.
The controls are reasonably smooth and responsive for such an early NES release. Jumping and attacking are straightforward, and despite the large number of enemies that can appear, the difficulty is actually fairly moderate compared with many games from the same period. It feels more like an arcade-style score attack than a brutally demanding platformer.
Visually, Ninja Kid is also respectable for 1986. The backgrounds are simple, but the colorful sprites and strange enemies give the game plenty of personality. Flying eyeballs, demons, monsters, and other supernatural creatures betray its GeGeGe no Kitarō origins and make it far more distinctive than the generic Western box art suggests. The music and sound effects are functional but much less memorable.
The biggest problem is repetition. Although the four mission types provide good initial variety, the underlying objectives never evolve very much, and the randomization cannot completely disguise how often the same ideas are recycled.
There is also no proper ending. After defeating the boss of the eighth area, the game simply begins another loop at a higher difficulty. This makes sense for its arcade-inspired design, but it leaves progression feeling somewhat unrewarding.
Ninja Kid is nevertheless a surprisingly solid early NES release. Its overworld structure, randomized stages, multiple objectives, power-ups, miniboss detours, and summonable helpers were ambitious ideas for 1986.
It lacks the depth and progression needed to remain compelling for long periods, but as a short arcade-style action game it is varied, accessible, and more enjoyable than its obscurity might suggest. It is not a forgotten classic, but it is certainly one of Bandai and TOSE's more interesting early NES efforts.
Developed by TOSE and published by Bandai in North America in 1986, Ninja Kid is an unusual early NES action game that combines platforming, shooting, an overhead world map, and randomized stage objectives. It originated in Japan as GeGeGe no Kitarō: Yōkai Dai Makyō, a licensed adaptation of the popular manga and anime series. For the Western release, the protagonist was replaced by the generic Ninja Kid Kyo, while much of the bizarre yōkai-inspired enemy roster remained.
Rating: 6/10
For this playthrough, two complete loops are shown, with the second loop beginning at 29:28.
Kyo travels through eight areas of Demon Island, each represented by a small overworld map containing entrances to different “fighting fields.” The objective is to repeatedly clear these stages until a scroll appears. Taking the scroll to the central shrine unlocks Shangri-La, where the area's main demon boss awaits.
There are four main types of fighting fields. Guerrilla Warfare requires you to defeat ten enemies, while Dog Fight turns the action into an airborne shooting sequence with the same basic objective. Poison Field requires collecting ten floating spirits, and Blazing Inferno has you guide a fire spirit around the stage to light ten candles.
Each mode uses several possible layouts, with the game randomly selecting one whenever you enter. This gives Ninja Kid considerably more variety than many other NES action games from 1986, especially since individual stages are short and rarely overstay their welcome.
Once a field is completed, two doors appear. One safely returns you to the overworld, while the other transports you to a separate miniboss battle. Certain items can reveal which exit is safe, turning what would otherwise be a blind gamble into another small strategic element.
Defeated enemies and specific actions can produce a surprisingly large assortment of power-ups. These include stronger weapons, temporary invincibility, speed boosts, extra lives, exit-revealing helpers, and whistles that allow Kyo to summon allies during major boss encounters. There is more going on beneath the game's simple appearance than might initially be expected.
The controls are reasonably smooth and responsive for such an early NES release. Jumping and attacking are straightforward, and despite the large number of enemies that can appear, the difficulty is actually fairly moderate compared with many games from the same period. It feels more like an arcade-style score attack than a brutally demanding platformer.
Visually, Ninja Kid is also respectable for 1986. The backgrounds are simple, but the colorful sprites and strange enemies give the game plenty of personality. Flying eyeballs, demons, monsters, and other supernatural creatures betray its GeGeGe no Kitarō origins and make it far more distinctive than the generic Western box art suggests. The music and sound effects are functional but much less memorable.
The biggest problem is repetition. Although the four mission types provide good initial variety, the underlying objectives never evolve very much, and the randomization cannot completely disguise how often the same ideas are recycled.
There is also no proper ending. After defeating the boss of the eighth area, the game simply begins another loop at a higher difficulty. This makes sense for its arcade-inspired design, but it leaves progression feeling somewhat unrewarding.
Ninja Kid is nevertheless a surprisingly solid early NES release. Its overworld structure, randomized stages, multiple objectives, power-ups, miniboss detours, and summonable helpers were ambitious ideas for 1986.
It lacks the depth and progression needed to remain compelling for long periods, but as a short arcade-style action game it is varied, accessible, and more enjoyable than its obscurity might suggest. It is not a forgotten classic, but it is certainly one of Bandai and TOSE's more interesting early NES efforts.
