Last Ninja 3

Graphics, music and presentation would deserve a 10: the intro and ending mini-movies are marvelous, absolutely stunning for the C64 and one of a kind, and in-game backgrounds and sprites are the best of the series. Still, the gameplay is too hard and controls aren't great; items to pick up and puzzles to solve are nearly impossible, and the Bushido thing was a pain in the arse. This said, it's more enjoyable with a life cheat and a playthrough at hand.

Great production values; this is presented so well. Then when I start playing, I remember what a poorly-designed level-wise game this was, especially incoherent after Last Ninja 1 and 2 flowed so well each. Very buggy, as I replay and remember how I get stuck in the scenery EVERY TIME trying to retrieve an item that's not indicated except via a vague scroll hint.

This and Vendetta made me rue System 3 handing coding duties to Stan Schembri, even though I have tons of respect for his earlier work.

This third and final entry into the Last Ninja series is undoubtedly the weakest. It is a shame though, since the production values are incredible; the game features an amazing intro movie (easily the best ever seen on a C64), a brilliant ending cinematic, and in-game music which is nothing short of stunning (especially the wind and earth levels, very moody and atmospheric).
Where it all falls apart is the gameplay. The levels are incoherent and the screens don't "connect" logically like the first two games. Then there's the combat, which feels very clunky and unnatural, and the enemies often glitch and get caught in scenery whilst trying to follow you! I don't understand why System 3 didn't just re-use the brilliant gaming engine from Last Ninja 2, rather than have Stan Schembri code up an inferior one for this game.
The puzzles are quite obscure in this game compared to the first two games, and the requirement to build Bushido adds no value to the gameplay and feels gimmicky at best.
Having the ninja run around in outer space in the final level prior to the final confrontation was a bizarre choice for level design as well.
Overall, this isn't a bad game per se, it's just that the first two entries (particularly the second one) set the bar so high, leaving LN3 feeling rushed and unpolished.

People too slow to run away from the first enemy and unable to adjust to the slightly different controls give lower votes here. While I understand, I don't agree. The atmosphere of the game (not just the intro) stands the test of time. Gameplay is faster paced and you can escape enemies by summersaulting. Riddles are cool, you have to "build" more parts. Graphics extremely good and sprites being real-time-erased in those spots where they disappear behind elements. Last Ninja 2 may be a tad better, but this still is ace. I created a version using SuperCPU RAM as cache so loading times were strongly reduced and screens built up extremely fast.

Easily the most impressive graphically and sonically in the series, but it falls down a bit on the gameplay. The puzzles are a bit too obscure, and then there are bugs which take off some of the polish. Also the game seems to chug in areas.
Still an amazing game to play and experience though. The intro and outro is pure class. The game in between is however not as well designed as it's predecessors.

The third installment brings a lot of new puzzles and introduces some interesting ideas. Control over the character is pretty similar to the second part but somehow it feels a little bit different and less trustworthy, especially when you do some jumping. Graphics are OK, more vibrant and full of details but in some case it looks to me like it is a bit distorted. Solid production but without any hopes to surpass "The Last Ninja 2".

I loved the first game, and adored the second. It took me a while to complete them but I manged to do it, and later on I didn't mind an occasional play.
But he third... Never really got into it. I completed it only with the solution at hand, not willing to try it by myself. Thechnically it resembles the other two games, but actually ii doesn't. It lacked personality, levels are dull and this bushido thing is just annoying.

I never owned any of the last ninja games...
I tried them with friends but ultimately I could never get past the awful controls and jumping. I feel I've let down the C64 world but I always thought they were dull... I'm half tempted to track them down on ebay, especially on cart, and give them another try. Thoughts?

The review says 10/10. That would mean, the game is flawless and perfect, yes? Perplexing score.. I strongly disagree. This is the WORST LN game, in my opinion. After the game loads, you're immediately confronted with an attacking enemy. Thank you.. ! >:-/ The controls feel horrible. Slow and laggy (delay feel). Ninja gets stuck, where it shouldn't. Very frustrating controls! And very bad bugs in later levels. To sum up: Nice graphics. Nice music. Great intro. Horrendous controls, which brings down the gameplay. It's simply NOT a joy to play. Since gameplay is regarded as one of the most important factors, I'd give it more like 4 or 5. Perfect? No! At best, it's decent.

This is such an impressive game. LN3 has stunning intro and end sequences, the graphics are even better than in LN1 and 2, and I absolutely adore Reyn Ouwehands music. Too bad the actual gameplay gets even more in the way than it did in parts 1 and 2. Why do the controls feel even worse? Why do enemies alway come back from the dead? The game is close to unplayable without cheating. And why doesn't the disk version have some kind of fast loader?
Too bad, because the presentation of this game is absolutely stunning.

It also has a cracking ending. Check it out on C64endings!

Wish I had a chance to play this amazing achievement. Missed out sadly

Looking at the manual I just realised my mum used to work in next door to the System 3 office in Harrow, Now Marks & Marks solicitors. I wonder if they have any Ninja 3 carts laying around

Prefer Last ninja Remix to this.

A very atmospheric game, largely due to the five elements theme, and Reyn Ouwehand's majestic musical score.

Alas, it's Achilles' heel is the poor combat system. The puzzles are a bit on the obscure side also.

Feels like a precursor to "Shenmue": beautiful, atmospheric, yet playtested by someone with a masochistic streak ... I never could derive much pleasure from endless screens of fiddly combat and cheap deaths. Magnificent show of 8-bit programming and art design skills, though.

I have played all the last ninja games, unfortunately I could never really keep playing. As with the others I find this boring.

Well I was (am) a huge last ninja fan; bit this third part never got me.
Maybe it was the annoying 'fall down'paths. Or the fact that somehow the music didn't fit. (Reyn Ouwehand is otherwise quite the briljant musician though!)
Don't know.. Far better than the awful Amiga version with the (too big) 'funny walking ninja' in it (look at Amiga Ninja Remix, THAt was the way to go)

Shame Ninja 4 never saw the light of day..

8/10 for the superb intro, but to be honest I liked Ninja 2 much more (a minority opinion, I know).

I downloaded this a while ago on the Wii but there's some sort of bug in it that stops you playing the game to the finish which is a shame luckly I got it on the C-64 emulator

This is such an awesome finale to such a great series.. Ive had all 3 on the C64 and Amiga too but for me the C64 were indeed more special

A good game but last ninja 2 is my favorite

I didn't like this sequel much. The grafix were all in all great but the gameplay felt a lil bit slow and too overloaded

Sublime. Getting everything possible out of the good old 64. Graphics are perhaps the most powerful and wonderful ever seen. And the music is simply beautiful. The setting has the right and essential asian and ancient atmosphere for a Ninja game (so woefully lost in Ninja 2). This restored honour for Armakuni after the weaker Ninja 2.

Check CSDb for my special version of Last Ninja 3. It includes a scanned and re-worked version of the cover artwork shown here as Hi-FLI picture, and more.

A good game but not as good as Ninja 1 & 2

You can't deny this game oozes with class, from the lush presentation to the awesome tunes and the detailed graphics. Maybe it was too detailed and I agree with Elf, it seemed a little cluttered in places. I guess something like this is like a piece of old art, it should be looked at, for sure, but not touched.

Little question: when you have the superb isometric engine of LN2, why write another one?

Graphics are too messy, incrediblely stupid ai (if exists one), not as playable as the first two games. Never liked this one and kept playing the first two games. 4/10 for the sake of the music and the name "last ninja"

Good game but I have some problems with it.. First off, the fighting is worse than in the previous games.. All you can do here is pretty much just keep hitting until they're dead.

Also, the levels are not logically connected.. If you start on a screen and walk east, south, east, and south you end up in the screen you started (just made that order of screens up to illustrate but that's how it is in the game).
This makes for very confusing levels.

I also don't like how you actually can't see the objects on the level itself but have to rely on some thing in the menu to see if you're near an item.

But don't get me wrong, I love the game though.. It gets it right where it matters - fun!

I just didn't like the jump animation. But intro. Graphics, gameplay and music are awesome. My preferred is LN2 though..

I prefered LN2.
I found the graphics to be too busy and messy. I prefered the simple beauty of LN2. However still a fantastic game

Oops, I forgot I noticed one bug. But it didn't botter me that much. Was in the last level trying to pickup a potion by the wall and I was trying to get closer to the wall and was walking in space eventualy, but managed to get to next screen.

Why the bad comments? I played LN3 ones more on my ccs emulator and loved every minute of it: Great intro, excellent graphics, amazing music and good ending. OK sometimes the sprite collision is a little messed up and the enemies are dancing around or blokking you, but I think it's due to the fact the sprites programmed with faster movement and OK it's not an easy jump in the dungeons. With a trainer: eventualy you make it. I like the maps (more to explore) and harder puzzles. The makers of LN3 put great effort in the different puzzles, intro, music, ending, story and atmosfeer. Actually I cannot choose: I like all the 3 episodes as whole (except last ninja remix only music is ok). It's the best damn triology I know in the history of C64 gaming. Each episode a little diffrent with it's own flaws or positieve things, but fantasticly put together(graphs, sound, atmosfeer). By the way: didn't have any trouble with bugs with the Censor crack on emulator.

1, 2 and 3

Graphics and music are excellent. The game intro belongs to the best ever on C64 (next to Newcomer). The game is not easy, but solvable without cheating. The controls aren't as clean as in LN2/Remix though. There were some tricky jumping sequences in LN3, but not as many/hard/frustrating as in LN1.

Great GFX and music, but the magic isn't there. It's got bugs all over, and the level design is confusing. Stick with LN 1 & 2 instead.

Just downloaded it and played through it for the first time today. I thought it was enjoyable. Beautiful graphics and sound, but I have to admit it was let down by the collision detection (in particular the jumping sections were ridiculous) and there was no logical continuity in the maps which made it confusing at times.

Spent a fortune at the time getting this on cartridge only to give up on it as the jumps were impossible. Big let down.

Superb startup and lovely shaded sprites and backgrounds but it never had the charm that the first 2 had. For me this felt like just another ninja game which wasn't really fit to carry the Last Ninja name. I seem to remember a ridiculous jumping section that had to be pixel perfect or you were brown bread! A huge disappointment.

The first C64 game with a "movie" presentation: only for that, the game vote is 10.
But for me, LN2 still the best game ever (vote 11)

This is the weakest link on the Last ninja's nunchakas-chain. Full with bugs, hard jumpin' scenes... Out of ideas?The music and the graphics is great(like the previous episodes), but the others... What a pain... LAST NINJA 3. :One broken shuriken in the collection... 4/10

Possibly the biggest let down in C64 history, such a shame

Truss I don't agree with you. This one wasn't as good as LN1 and LN2, but it is probably the third best C64 game ever.

Last Ninja is like the Alien-Movies. Part 1 & 2 are awesome, Part 3 just sucks. This time the control of the Ninja is horrible and the level design is confusing.

I loved the Last Ninja series they were a landmark in gaming. The puzzles and strategy used were fantastic a game series way ahead of its time. LN 3 I thought was a lot harder with the puzzles and I got lost not knowing where to go. But it had amazing graphics and that intro wow gave me chills. 9/10

I hear people say that LN2 was the best. I agree yes, 2 was MUCH better. But if I look at the gameplay, graphics and music, omg it sounds GOOD at LN3!!! I still knew the first day I played it and it was wonderfull and I really enjoyed this one!! Pitty that on emulation the game has a lot bugs but still I give it a big 10!!!

Even if many people tell part 3 is by far not as good as LN2, I liked this game really much. Ok, I liked all three parts very much. So all I can tell is that it's really worth playing and I think it's a good conclusion of the trilogy.

The Last Ninja 3 was the weakest game in the series. It was bug ridden, the level design sucked (it makes noe sense), the graphics were so detailed that they actually get in the way of themselves (the graphically best game in the series is LN2, less is more) and I don't agree that it had more puzzles in it than the other two games. Only the first and fourth level have any amount of puzzles, the other levels are just walking around picking up stuff, and the fifth level isn't even that. I have to say though that the game IS very good, it's just that it pales compared to the other two. It was the best C64 game released in the 90s, no doubt.

Polished enough with nice touches, but just not as *playable* as LN2. The magic was gone by the time this was released...

Actually I've only played this on my PC with emulator... I'll get back when I've tested this "for real".

Last Ninja II was MUCH better, especially the gameplay and leveldesign made more fun. LN3 was to confusing and I didn't liked it, even if with perfect music'n stuff.. 4/10

I have played the game to completion on a C64 back in the day, and it ran incredibly smooth. No bugs whatsoever. The intro is incredible, gets you in the right mood and Reyn's amazing soundtrack and Levy's awesome graphics keep it rolling. The C64 version is actually better than any other platform (played the Amiga and ST versions as well) and the puzzles are just as challenging as those in the previous parts. A more than worthy part of this highly immersive trilogy.

This has got to be one of the best C64 games! The graphics are delightful (if a tad slow) and the music is terrific. That intro is spectacular too. I found the joystick control can be a little difficult to master which can get frustrating sometimes. But still, I give it a 9/10!

The lemon reviewer gave this game 100% (10/10 everywhere, so cut the crap people this game must be the best game ever for the C64!

Great puzzels, great intro music, great game, but never ending story! I love this game...

As loathe as I am to say it, this game just doesn't meet the the craggy oriental heights of the original two games and fails in many areas. I remember when I first played... It just didn't feel like the Armakuni I'd grown to love anymore. Something about it just seemed artificial... Even moving Armakuni around didn't feel the same, as if he were on speed or some kind of amphetamine! (check out the somersault to see what I mean)
Still, I must tip my hat to the music, as the melody on the first level is gorgeous.

It's the only game I'm still looking for.
Could't somebody please send me a copy of the game on tape. I know about the emulators... But I want to play this on my real C64 and not on my PC.

Last Ninja III is at least equal to part II of the triology graphic and musicwise, just awesome. Unfortunately part III didn't get that much attention because lots of people already owned an Amiga by that time.

Incredible graphics & music

Last Ninja 3 is OK. Nothing more and nothing less. Part 2 is still unbeaten in my opinion. LN3 does not deserve rank 1 in these game charts...

There's a fool named Marauder 2000,
Who's opinion is total Shithousen,
his brains in his arse,
his words are a farce,
His brain cell count less than a 1000!

Classy - not as good as Last Ninja 2, but really great nonetheless. Wonderful graphics, good tunes and nice puzzles - the collision detection is quite dodgy and fights can be messy, but the emphasis is more on collecting objects this time, so it's OK.

Lord of the woods: Rating a game low just because the emulation is buggy is a very stupid thing to do. Isn't that more an issue for your emulator? Please direct your comments to the emulator, not the game.

Last Ninja 3 is a fantastic game. It has some of the best graphics on the C64. The sprite collision is a little annoying, but that's about the only fault I can find. Last Ninja 1 was better, but number 3 is deserving of a top 3 spot in any list. Another gem from System 3!

Worst Last Ninja game ever!
Havent played the original on C64, but on PC emulation the game is so full of bugs and the gameplay is horrible! Last Ninja 2 was much more better in gameplay. Afterall the graphics are excellent in pt. 3.

This is an _ok_ game but doesn't even deserve to be in a top ten! Cut the crap people!

Hmm, well it looks like a worthy edition to the series but I wouldn't know. I never got around to buying it on the C64 and the PC emulation of it Ive got is so riddled with bugs that its completely unplayable - I cant even get off the 1st screen and Ive got a pretty powerful PC got damn it!

I only played this game on the Amiga and it was irrating and horrible! I havent tried the C64 Version yet and im sure this will be more pleasureable.

On of the best games ever made for the C64. The music rocks, gameplay is great and the music was from a classic height. Spent many months on this game !!! Love to the C64 for ever !!!

Well, well. Look's like the third chapter just makes us playing even more than the others. I just love the first levels music. Thanks everybody!!!

Peace!

Guess what: I didn't know there was a LN III out there, incredible, isn't it? By the time it came out I had a long break from computing until DOOM came out.
However, LN I and II seem to have a different quality from this third one. Maybe too much elements from the first two versions are starting to get repetitive. I will try it on PC.

After playing (and absolutely loving) LN1 and LN2 I was totally disgusted by this buggy, glitchy pathetic travesty of a game. What a disappointment this thing was: the memory still hurts... Sob

What can I say... Great music and great graphics. In my oppinion the best game ever made on C=64

Surely a good game, but I prefer part 1 and 2.

I am a great fan of the original Last Ninja, and I always thought that what made the game superb was the astonishing feeling created by the graphics, sound, plot and setting. That’s why I hated LN 2: Armakuni seemed to me totally out of place in modern New York. LN 3 is far better, with its Tibet setting but, despite the graphical better detail, it lacks the variety of the original, which stands still as the best of the bunch and one of the top C64 games ever.

This game has the best intro ever made on the C64, but unfortunatly it ends there.
This game has to many bugs. I could only play level 1 on my C64. After that it crashed.
And even now on the PC I can't finish the game because it crashes in level 4 (enemies are suddenly invincible, including the final boss)

Brings back great memories! ;-)

Great graphics, moody music. Come on you guys!!! The intro movie was very filmic too! Tried to get the Cartridge version, but it nver materialised in my locale. One of the best looking C64 games ever. It is nice to leave the joystick alone, enjoy the music and just look at the ninja get killed too.

By FAR, the WORST game in the series...

This game was great but not as great as the others in the series, all we can do now is wait for the last ninja 4 (it's true it's comming for the PC in the winter of 2002). Hope it's gonna be better then this one...

By FAR, the best of the Last Ninja series...

This was meant to come out on cartridge, it was meant to be sooooooo good.
but it is only rubbish.
it spoiled the trilogy, with bad graphics, bad gameplay, lack of originality, too much loading, bugs, and possibly too much hype...

Wow! Whit Turbo Charge I think is one game whit best graphic ;-) and the sound like good

Too many sequels spoil a game???

Maybe so in this case, I didn't bother to play this as much as the other two games, I bought LN Remix hoping it was a new game but alas no