1994 · Beat 'em up · Hack and slash

Kaze Kiri

NEC exclusive

Kaze Kiri takes place in Feudal Japan where the kingdom princess Shizuhime is abducted by a group of mysterious ninjas. A feared swordsman called Kaze Kiri, hero of the game, is given the task to rescue the poor girl and restore order. Our ninja can can use a broad variety of fightings skills - he can run, jump, dash and slash without mercy anyone who gets in his way.

Released: 1994
Platforms: TurboGrafx-16 Turbografx-16/PC Engine CD
Genres: Beat 'em up Hack and slash
Developers: —
Publishers: —
Themes: Action
Country: Japan

About

Kaze Kiri, also known as Kaze Kiri: Ninja Action, is a 1994 Japanese video game for the PC Engine CD-ROM² system. Developed and published by Naxat Soft the game was released only in Japan. It is a side scrolling ninja game set in feudal Japan.

Keywords

martial arts
ninja
brawler
multiple protagonists
multiple endings
infinite spawn

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Kaze Kiri is a side scrolling hack and slash game that has nineteen stages in total.

Story

Set in Japan during Edo jidai, the game begins when Shizuhime, the daughter of a warlord named Yoshikage is kidnapped by the ninja Hiei. Yoshikage sends the ninja Kaze Kiri to retrieve his daughter. Both Hiei and Kaze Kiri were trained by the same master, Gembu, and are rivals to each other.

Development

The game was developed by Naxat Soft, and was directed by Kazuhiko Inoue who also wrote the story.

The game features various graphical effects in the background, including parallax scrolling, and water transparencies.

Reception

Kaze Kiri received a mediocre score of 23/40 from Famitsu. Nick Rox writing in GameFan praised the game and recommended playing it. He compared the game as a combination of Ninja Warriors, Dracula X, and Strider. He praised the graphical effects in the levels, the size of the enemies, as well as the character animations. He explained the only flaw in the game was the music, which he felt was only adequate.

Retrospective reviews were also positive. French magazine Retro Game heavily praised the game. Retro Gamer magazine highlighted it as one of the most memorable games about Japanese warriors, opining it "perhaps doesn't quite live up to the hype generated by its rare status and price tag - its gameplay will lack variety for some - but is and undeniably stylish game that deserves greater exposure."