Surf Ninjas

n/a

Surf Ninjas
System(s): Sega Game Gear
Publisher: Sega
Developer: NuFX
Distributor: Tec Toy (BR)
Licensor: New Line Cinema
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code US 1993-08 $34.9934.99 2510 BR 199x 077090 AS 1993 2510

Surf Ninjas is a Sega Game Gear action game based on the film with the same name. The game itself plays a major role in the film's plot.

Story

The "Surf Ninjas"

Johnny and Adam are teenage surfers who live in Los Angeles with their father, Mac. Two weeks before Johnny's 16th birthday, ninjas attack the teenagers, but they are defeated by Zatch, a mysterious warrior with an eye patch. A follow-up attack results in Mac's kidnapping, though Zatch is able to protect the teenagers and their friend Iggy from the ninjas. Adam discovers that the video game on his Sega Game Gear matches the events happening around him and finds he can control some events through his Game Gear. Zatch reveals to Johnny and Adam that they are actually the sons of the king of Patu San, whose land and monarchy was overthrown by the evil Colonel Chi when the boys were young. It is their destiny to return to Patu San, overthrow Colonel Chi, and free the people.

Gameplay

Pause menu and treasure screen

Adam's Game Gear

The game is an action platformer played as the teenage surfer and martial artist Johnny McQuinn. Johnny moves with and and crouches with . He rolls on the ground with or . He jumps with . He can do a double spin jump, which allows him to jump higher, by pressing twice quickly while holding or . This maneuver expends some jumping power, which is indicated by an icon in the top-left of the screen (blue is full energy, white is halfway tired, and red is exhausted); his jumps become shorter as he becomes more tired. Double spin jumps are necessary for much of the platforming in the game.

Johnny attacks by punching with , which he can also do in mid-air. If he is close to an enemy, he throws the enemy with . He can perform a high kick with + or a sweep kick with +. He can do a jumping kick with + while in mid-air. He can also do a projectile attack with +, which are limited in quantity. He has four different projectile attacks (fireballs, shurikens, death stars, and katanas), which work similarly and share ammunition.

The player can bring up a status screen by pausing the game with  START . This screen shows Johnny's vitals: Health, Strength, Reflex, and Fight. Johnny's Health goes down as he takes damage from opponents but can be recovered by finding items. It is also indicated by an icon under the jumping power icon (blue is full health, white is halfway defeated, and red is close to being defeated). His Strength goes down as he fights, but it recovers as he rests. His Reflex and Fight are his speed and attack power, which can be upgraded by finding items.

The status screen also lets the player summon Zatch, a powerful ninja who temporarily replaces Johnny and does big damage to enemies, or get a hint from Johnny's brother Adam and his Game Gear. Zatch and Adam Hints are limited by items. The player can also switch Johnny's weapon and check the inventory of items (Zatch, Game Gears, Weapons, and Gold) from this screen. The player can choose Use Treasure to enter a store where Gold can be exchanged for items, including healing items.

Johnny loses a life if he runs out of health or falls down a bottomless pit. He is revived near where he was defeated as long as the player has lives remaining. If the player runs out of lives, the game ends but can be continued from the beginning of the stage. The player starts with one continue but can buy more with Gold.

Weapons

	Fire
	Shurikens
	Death Stars
	Katanas

Items

	Heart
	Restores 12 units of Johnny's Health.
	Game Gear
	Gives the player another Game Gear to use to receive a hint from Adam.
	Zatch
	Gives the player another opportunity to summon Zatch.
	Coin
	Gives the player 20 Gold, which can be used to purchase items.
	Weapon
	Gives the player 5 projectile attacks.
	Johnny
	Gives the player an extra life.
	Yin-Yang
	Increases Johnny's Reflex meter.
	Double Dragon
	Increases Johnny's Fight meter.

Treasure

These items can be purchased with Gold through the pause menu.

	Slow Time
	Slows the game's timer to give the player more bonus points at the end of the stage. Costs 35 Gold.
	Zatch
	Gives the player another opportunity to summon Zatch. Costs 20 Gold.
	Health
	Fully restores Johnny's Health. Costs 25 Gold.
	Extra Life
	Gives the player an extra life. Costs 25 Gold.
	Weapon
	Gives the player 5 projectile attacks. Costs 10 Gold.
	Continue
	Gives the player another continue. Costs 50 Gold.
	Game Gear
	Gives the player another Game Gear to use to receive a hint from Adam. Costs 3 Gold.

Stages

	Palace Restaurant
	Docks of Venice, CA
	Island of Patu San
	Jungle of Patu San
	This stage can be completed in two ways: by finding the hidden cave or by fighting the boss. The player must find the hidden cave and recover the Kwantzu sword in order to defeat the final boss. The cave can be found by finding and standing on top of a stone structure. There is a Game Gear item there that allows the player to receive a hint on how to enter the cave. The player must stand on top of the stone structure and perform the following sequence of moves: crouch kick (+), crouch (), stand, and kick (+).
	The Caves of the Ancients
	The entrance to the cave is hidden in the previous stage. The player finds the Kwantzu sword at the end of the stage.
	Colonel Chi's Prison Camp
	Colonel Chi's Fortress

History

Development

Sega Game Gear in the film Surf Ninjas

In an unusual example of cross-media marketing, the game is an important plot point in the film. One of the characters has a Sega Game Gear and uses it to control events in the movie. The movie shows gameplay footage of the game.

New Line Cinema and Sega of America established a financial relationship in which a video game would be developed for the film. In turn, Sega partially financed the film. Game designers began developing the video game when the film was only in its scripting phase, receiving creative input from director Neal Israel. Screenwriter Dan Gordon said that he wrote action sequences that would both suit the film and serve as a springboard for the video game. The video game was released in August 1993, before the film's release.

In conjunction with the Game Gear title, a Sega Mega Drive version was also planned but never released.

Versions

Whilst the PAL region version was planned for release in Europe, it only seems to have been released in Southeast Asia with the standard PAL region multi-language box and manual. This cartridge has the same ROM as the North American version.

Production credits

• Producer: Carl Mey
• Producer for NuFX: Patrick Quinn
• Designers: Patrick Quinn, Lou Haehn
• Programmer: Ed Hellesen
• Artists: John Cortecero, James Learned
• Animators: Jon Murfey, Scott Nychay
• Music & SFX: Brian Schmidt, John Seigesmund
• Product Marketing: Scott Steinberg
• Lead Testers: Richie Hideshima, Todd Morgan
• Manual: Carol Ann & Neil Hanshaw

Source:

US manual

Magazine articles

Main article: Surf Ninjas/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in Sega Visions (US) #14: "August/September 1993" (1993-xx-xx)
also published in:

• Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #50: "September 1993" (1993-xx-xx)

Artwork

• 

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 70 Freak (IL) 75 Game Power (IT) NTSC 35 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 65 Hobby Consolas (ES) 82 Power Unlimited (NL) 84 VideoGames & Computer Entertainment (US) NTSC-U 70 Video Games (DE) PAL 17

	62
Based on 8 reviews

Surf Ninjas

Game Gear, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Game Gear, AS†
Cover
Cart Manual

Game Gear, BR
Cover

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
?	CRC32 284482a8 MD5 63f72877317fd3c17b0d867ea3169f56 SHA-1 23e493f7c19ffb17e67392289c5a72dc9d0d6d9e	512kB		Cartridge (US)