The third in the Last Ninja series sees you as Armakuni, the Last Ninja. He is drawn again into a battle with evil Shogun Kunitoki. The battle will take place among the temples of Tibet, the source of the Last Ninja's mystical strength. The Shogun intends to corrupt these Buddhist temples, to destroy the source of power for Armakuni and his emerging Ninja brotherhood. Armakuni must stop the Shogun's evil scheme.
The game retains the mix of martial arts combat (hand-to-hand and with various weapons), puzzles involving various objects you find on your way, and navigating your way around obstacles. However, it also introduces Bushido, necessary to complete each level. Bushido is earned by fighting honorably, by fighting enemies with the same weapon as them or in hand-to-hand combat, and not fleeing from a battle. Read More »
The levels correspond to the elements that combine to make up a Ninja's power, Earth, Water, Wind, Fire and Void.
Sat, 13 Dec 2008 by Kelvin Green
1. Drake
15 Jun 2008, 18:10 BST
This part has really got some phenomenal music. I'd even say it's the best of any C64 game.
2. Cooldued59
18 Jun 2008, 05:48 BST
The amiga remake had better graphics but what I heard was a downgraded gameplay.
I really hope they make a new one.
3. Will
23 Jun 2008, 04:06 BST
That intro was amazing back in the day, youd load up the game just to watch it.
4. slangman
23 Jun 2008, 19:20 BST
When this comes out i am gonna download this along with the other two that are currently up on the VC.
5. Mr 64
25 Jun 2008, 09:01 BST
A fitting end to the Last Ninja saga. Although it was released on nearly every format under the sun, the three games released on the C64 were by far the best. Stunning presentation, better than many 16-bit games of the era, offer a mind blowing scene for this finale. In the true Last Ninja tradition, it's rock solid so you'll have your work cut out to complete it.
6. Mickeymac
09 Jul 2008, 04:48 BST
Wow, I don't even know how to describe what I just saw! That looked like the greatest thing ever! Now I'm jealous of you Europeans!
7. vsync
08 Aug 2008, 09:50 BST
The gameworld was a bit weird in this one, kinda looped and strangely interconnected which I had a hard time with. The gfx and audio is top, and the enemy-ai that really aren't aware of their surroundings kinda make up for your lacking any real ninjaskills.
Seriously, Armakuni is one of the worst ninjas ever! All he can do is somersault and depending on who is holding the joystick hardly even that. Style over Substance has however never been an issue in commodore-related retrogaming
.
8. Ricardo91
25 Aug 2008, 22:43 BST
@Mickey. It really doesn't look that great lol. Though it does loop kinda cool, especially the opening cutscene.
9. timp29
05 Sep 2008, 06:22 BST
I can't wait for this to come out. I played I and II to death growing up and they easily rank amongst my favourite games, but I never got a chance to play III.
10. Mickeymac
07 Sep 2008, 19:54 BST
@Mr. Cheez
Yes, that was a blatant exaggeration, but still, it does look pretty awesome, and it has a ninja in it, which is instant-win in my book.
11. The Fox
12 Dec 2008, 01:46 GMT
That brief loading as the game renders the background each time you enter a new screen seems annoying. Still looks pretty good for a C64 game, though.
12. Corbie
12 Dec 2008, 04:29 GMT
I used to love the Last Ninja games on the C64. I put many an hour into these games back in the day. Now if only they'll bring the C64 games to the US.
13. timp29
12 Dec 2008, 04:34 GMT
@Vsync
Armakuni's ninja skills involve taking multiple hits from weapons before dying like a regular person
14. Adamant
12 Dec 2008, 04:38 GMT
A bushido system in a ninja game? Did these people even know what a ninja was?
15. Mr 64
12 Dec 2008, 08:26 GMT
I actually dusted off the C64 and had a go on this a couple of weeks ago and it was even harder than I remember! Still, it's a great game.
As for System 3's notions of what a ninja is, yes they did take rather a large amount of artistic licence. I blame Godfrey Ho.
16. Mayhem
12 Dec 2008, 14:28 GMT
Although not the Samurai bushido, ninjas often did have their own code of honour. Reyn's music in this game is terrific, almost as good as Matt Grey's for LN2.
17. The Fox
12 Dec 2008, 14:52 GMT
Well, video games and movies always strained the definition of "ninja" as far as possible.
18. SNK
12 Dec 2008, 17:40 GMT
another class game from the c-64,i hope (way of the exploding fist) and (target renegade) comes to the vc
19. President_Leever
15 Dec 2008, 20:35 GMT
Wow, that's some crappy AI! Actually made me laugh. Fights look kinda tedious as well. Anyway the presentation and overall atmosphere is impressive, haven't seen anything like it on C64.
20. Betagam7
18 Dec 2008, 00:55 GMT
According to the forums this game is faulty and locks up on the 2nd level, anyone else experienced that?
21. Drake
18 Dec 2008, 17:02 GMT
I have - I've emailed Commodore but didn't get a response yet.
22. Betagam7
19 Dec 2008, 22:28 GMT
They have now officaly acknowledged it. I'd get a cheeky complaint into Nintendo and they might reinburse the points. I'm almost tempted to get it and do the same to see if I get some free points
23. Mayhem
28 Dec 2008, 00:56 GMT
I had a think about why this might be happening and I'm reminded of the issues I had when I tried to convert my LN3 original disks for Retro Gamer back when they had the games on their cover mount CD (issue #18). There is some seriously nasty copy protection going on, and I wonder if the emulator they are using isn't equipped to deal with it. IIRC the images need a fair bit of patching as well to get them emulator working.
However you don't get to see things go tits up until you try changing disk sides... which happens at the end of level one! The similarity may be more than coincidence here. LN1 and LN2 I got working fine but LN3 I didn't have the time to get patched so RG used a cracked copy instead on the CD!
24. Betagam7
31 Dec 2008, 12:33 GMT
Still a bit naff when its a professional outfit putting the game out for a retail release. Poor show and kind of illustrates the slapdash nature of the VC as opposed to a superior service like Live Arcade.
25. Mayhem
02 Jan 2009, 11:37 GMT
Oh indeed, not condoning it, just trying to rationalise why it might have happened. As said, you don't see any issues until wanting to load level two...
26. moosa
08 Jan 2009, 08:03 GMT
This looks stunning.
When will they fix this, so I may download...?
Better question: when will this be released in NA? =[
27. Bass X0
08 Jan 2009, 22:36 GMT
Commodore Gaming isn't able for whatever reason to release C64 games on the VC outside of Europe.
28. Betagam7
09 Jan 2009, 11:16 GMT
Why is this still available for download? SHouldn't Nintendo have pulled it?
Anyone else think the problems with this may be affecting the release of C64 games for the future?
29. timp29
05 Apr 2009, 11:40 BST
Has there been any word on whether or not this game has been patched yet? I for one would love to play the second level. Hopefully its easier than the first lol.
30. Drake
25 Jul 2009, 22:23 BST
Nope, still no patch! Incredibly ridiculous/lazy.
31. timp29
12 Sep 2009, 02:26 BST
Drake you guys should downgrade this games rating to a 1. I want my 5 quid back
32. Ristar42
21 Sep 2009, 22:15 BST
I cant believe this game is still up when its just one level. Seriously, that is really bad if they have never fixed it!
33. timp29
22 Sep 2009, 04:32 BST
Yup, this virtual console offering stands as a festering turd of a memento to a brilliant original.
A word of warning to all reading this, do not download this game unless you want to own the ONLY broken virtual console offering in existence.
34. Betagam7
28 Sep 2009, 12:55 BST
I sent an email to Nintendo yesterday and got this rather unconvincing reply back. Can anyone confirm they have indeed "fixed" it:
Thank you for your email.
If there was an issue with the game we would have solved it, the game itself is safe to download and we hope you have many hours of fun with it.
Best regards,
Sam Malcherczyk
Nintendo Service Centre
35. Betagam7
17 Oct 2009, 00:44 BST
As a further amusing update to this sorry tale someone claiming to be a codestorm employee is now trolling the thread about this over at VC-forums:
http://www.vc-forums.com/last-ninja-3-fixed-t14066.html?p=135745#post135745
36. timp29
20 Oct 2009, 16:00 BST
Awww man... now I have to download it again and figure out how to do level 1 again. Thats going on my to do list for about 1 months time from now.
Lol who was that doofus?
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