Wrath of the Black Manta
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| Wrath of the Black Manta | |
|---|---|
 NA/EU Titlescreen |
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| Developer(s) | A.I |
| Publisher(s) | Taito |
| Platform(s) | Famicom/NES |
| Release date | JPN November 17, 1989 NA April 1990 EU January 24, 1991 |
| Genre(s) | Platform game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Wrath of the Black Manta (known as Ninja Cop Saizou in Japan) was a game for the Nintendo Entertainment System created by Taito in April of 1990. This side scrolling action game had the player control the Black Manta, a ninja who has to save children from kidnappers.
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[edit] Gameplay
In the game the player goes through five levels, using throwing stars and special abilities called the "Ninja Arts", to stop a gang and the evil mastermind behind a slew of kidnappings, El Toro. One of the kidnapped is a student of the Black Manta's sensei, Taro.
The Black Manta has many powers, which he gets after beating a level. The player can choose which power to use by pressing start. These powers can help the Black Manta defeat enemies and bosses more quickly. The Black Manta can save kidnapped children hidden throughout each level, however, it plays no role in completing the game and does not warrant any kind of special bonus.
Part of the last level is seen through a first person perspective. Towards the end of this stage, the Black Manta has to defeat one of the bosses from the previous levels.
[edit] Version differences
Before Wrath of the Black Manta was released to the U.S. and Europe, it was known in Japan as Ninja Cop Saizou, with several notable differences.
Graphically, many of the sprites and artwork were altered between versions. All of the cut scenes in Ninja Cop Saizou are different from those used in Black Manta. The graphics in these scenes are more in the style of anime or manga than the more realistic graphics used in the U.S. and Europe games. Tiny, the boss of the first stage, is also different in both versions, with the Ninja Cop Saizou version of him being more in the style of anime and manga and is a little more animated than the Black Manta versions. The Japanese game also has him shoot a projectile from his fists, where the other versions do not. The Rio de Janeiro stage on the Japanese game has a boss creature made of electricity, where in Black Manta the boss is replaced with the Voodoo Warrior. The backgrounds for these boss fights are different in both versions. Finally, the sprites used for jumping upward are different in both versions. The Japanese game's sprite is drawn to show speed lines rather than the Manta's feet while jumping upwards.
There are six stages in Ninja Cop Saizou where Black Manta only has five. The second stage in Ninja Cop Saizou is completely removed from Black Manta. This Japanese exclusive stage also has a floating eyeball boss that isn't in Black Manta. In the final stage of the game there are also a couple alterations. In the Japanese game, you must take on all of the bosses from the previous levels, where in Black Manta, you only have to take on one of them. The final boss is also completely different in both games. In Black Manta, the player only has to fight a character named El Toro using four of the "Ninja Arts". In Ninja Cop, the player has to take on a space ship which drops a variety of enemies from the game. After that, the games final boss transforms into an alien, which the player must fight normally, unlike having to use "Ninja Arts" like in Black Manta.
In addition to all of these aforementioned changes, both games have completely different soundtracks. Lastly, many of the Ninja Arts are learned in a different order between each game.
[edit] Development
When Ninja Cop Saizou was localized for North America and Europe, all of the game's cut scenes were replaced with more realistic drawings. It has been discovered that one of these particular cut scene drawings were copied from How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way by Stan Lee and John Buscema. The image in question (the face of an evil-looking man with a mustache) is notably featured when interrogating an enemy in the first level. [1][2]
