------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Last Ninja, from Jaleco/System 3
walkthrough by |tsr (k.gifford) 1998.5.19

Notes
~~~~~

This game is a blast for joypad users like me (joycard sansui sss forever)
and a hell for joystick users due to all the diagonal action you have to do.

You start the game only with your fists and get various weapons as you go
through the game. The Nunchaku is the best weapon due to its speed, but you
also need the shuriken (throwing stars) in the final battle of the game. The
moral: DON'T USE any shurikens before the final battle.

It's important to remember in this game that you don't need to fight everyone
you meet. Also, you'll notice that when you knock down a guy, he'll slowly
recover and get back to beating the crap out of you. He won't recharge, 
though, if you move to a different screen.

The walkthrough
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Level one

You start out in some building in Central Park. Walk up (= upper left
corner of the screen) and between the curtains. A mohawked dude is walking
around this screen. Walk to the white button on the wall and punch it to
turn it brown. Avoiding the guy, walk back south and go down the trapdoor
that's now opened up. Pick up the key here and walk out the door.

Go right once you're outside the door, then right again to a burger stand.
Feel free to pick up the burger on the stand (avoiding the hot sexy shuriken
dude). Walk one more screen right and you'll find some bathrooms, and yet
another guy with a staff. Stay against the right side of the path to avoid
having to fight him and walk into the women's room. Press B while inside
and you'll pick up the nunchakus.. well, half a nunchaku.

Leave the bathroom and go left, then take the lower right exit on this 
screen. Go to the lower right again to a screen with some more bathrooms
and a cop. Wait until the cop is leaving the bathroom area, and run to the
door. Go in and pick up the second half of the nunchaku. If you want, you
can now leave the bathroom and beat up the police offisa with your complete
nunchaku.

Go back up, then left one screen. Pick up the shuriken on the ground, but
don't use them yet; you'll need them. Go left another screen. Here we have
a juggling dude who pelts you with pins as he entertains you (a very practical
and fun form of assault). Keep moving past him and go left another screen.
Get the map on the ground and move to the rungs on the wall; you'll go up
to the ledge. Walk left and jump the ledges to get to the staff. 

Go back east and climb down. Go right, past the juggler, and go up and you'll
be back where you started. Go to the gate and use the key to open it (use the
key on the righthand side of the gate).

Take that path and you'll get to a stream with a cheap boat going around it.
I swear that this is the hardest part of the game; it's made much harder by
the perspective. To get on the boat, wait until it's exactly horizontally
aligned with you, then jump forward. To get to the other side, wait until the
boat is about to hit the brick wall, then jump forward again.

Go a screen left. This screen has some killer bees on it; go to the upper
path until you're at the water. The idea here is to stay on the path until
you're about to enter the water, then jump. You'll jump offscreen and appear
on an island.

Equip the staff and walk over to the boat. Press B to use the staff and you'll
hit the boat and start it moving. Switch back to nunchaku and try to hit the
lowest part of the island. Jump here and you'll be back at the bee screen.
Go left a screen and there'll be yet another body of water. Move against the
fence and stand next to the water. Jump onto the boat, and do another jump
immediately upon landing. Go up and you'll finally leave Central Park...

Level two

Go to the right, to a crosswalk. Wait for the light to turn green and then
run across the street before you get hit by something. Walk along this
sidewalk back left. There's a door at the end of the sidewalk that's blinking;
kick it open and walk in. Beat up the dude inside if you want; all you need
is to take the sword and leave.

Walk right two screens to the crosswalk, and this time wait for the light to
turn red before crossing to the next screen. Stay away from the red building,
and its angry flower pot throwing tenant, and walk right to a screen with a
phone booth. Go right two more screens. Collect the hamburger and the bottle,
then walk to the lower left along the crosswalk.

Follow the sidewalk left until you reach an orange shack. Go inside and press
B for a key. Now, from the shack, walk right two screens and to the upper
left three screens, back to the flowerpot screen. Walk up/left one more 
screen, wait for the light to turn red, and cross. Move to the upper right,
wait for the light to turn green, and run across. Keep going to the upper
right between the grass and the building. There'll be a screen with an empty
burger stand. Move right one screen from here, to a screen with a guy and a
manhole. Beat up the guy and stand to the right of the manhole. Use the key
you got to open the manhole and walk in.

Level three

Follow the path to the right. Run by the evil guy and into the black door.
Now go to the next black door you see. Beat up the cop and get the key on the
ground. 

Leave the room, go back left, and do a jump over the pit. Jump again on the
next screen, and be ready to jump over a spider when the path starts to go
down and left. You'll eventually run into a grate. Stand on it and use the 
key to open it. Walk in and you'll fall to the bottom of a ladder. Go right
to a screen with 3 doors; beat up the dude and take the middle one (the other
two lead to certain death, of course). 

Follow this path until you find another 3 doors. Take the leftmost one and go
right. You'll need to jump a couple of times on this screen to avoid the
rats. This path leads to two doors; take the left one and kill the guy in the
room it leads to. Make the bottle the Holding object, and walk up to the torch
on the wall. Use the bottle and it'll turn into a Molotov cocktail!

Go right to a screen with an alligator. Walk until you're close enough to the
gator to start throwing bottles at him until he dies. Walk through the door.

Level four

Beat up or avoid the evildoer and grab the (not exactly wallet size) credit
card next to the door. Go right, get the piece of chicken, and go right a
again. 

There's a box of white powder here; use the chicken next to this box and 
you'll dip it into the powder. Going one more screen right leads to a
panther guarding a door. This is kind of hard to do correctly; the idea is to
get as close as you can to the chair next to the door. Eventually you'll get
just below the chair and the panther will be on the other side of the door
about ready to pounce on you. Keep inching over until he jumps, then hit B
immediately. You'll drop the poisoned chicken and he'll eat it and die 
horribly.

Go the control panel and use the credit card to open the elevator door. Walk
in and come out in a blue floored room. Walk to the lower left offa the 
screen, then go through the door on the upper right corner.

Walk up to the computer and press B to get a code number. Go right to leave
the room , then walk left. Go through the white door here to go to a green
office. Move below the desk against the righthand wall and hit B to hit a 
button and reveal a secret door. Go up the ladder on the wall and run to the
door.

Now we're in the kitchen; beat up the guy here and take the burger on the
floor. Take the white door to reveal a room with a big fan. Here, you need
to hug the wall and press Up to keep on walking to the north. The fan will
blow you toward the ledge but as long as you continue holding Up you'll
eventually go out of range. Jumping over the fan is right out.

Walk up to the gate to the left of the fan and press B. Walk in and you'll
be on a very narrow ledge. Jump over the crack and move offscreen. Beat up the
guy here (occasionally, he might fall at a place where it'll be impossible
for you to walk past him. In this case, just wait until he gets up then
smack him around again).

Follow the ledge and climb up the ladder to the roof. Run up along the edge 
of the building. When you reach the next screen, you'll see a helicopter fly
from the left and go off the right side of the screen. Jump onto the small
ledge at the far right of the screen and hit B. Eventually you'll get the
helicopter ladder and fly off...

Level five

You find yourself on a roof on this swank mansion. Move right until you
reach a window. Position yourself next to the line above the right side of
the window and press Down to jump through the window.

Go left two screens, downstairs and to a guy guarding a grey door. Go to the
brown passage to the right of the grey door to an office. Beat the guard and
get the key next to the desk on the left wall. Walk out of the office and go
upstairs to the next screen.

Use the key to open the door and go through. Take the rope on the right side
and go back to the blue hallway. Walk right and then through the topleft
passage.

Beat up the guy here and get next to the black door. Use the rope here and
the door to the kitchen will open. In the kitchen, take the key and go left.
You'll come out of a green door and reappear in the office. Go left out of
the office and use the key on the grey door. Go through to the house's
basement. Go downstairs and beat the guard and move to the fusebox to the left
of the black door. Hit B to turn on the lights and go through the now visible
doorway.

This room has electrified walls so be sure to watch where you're going while
walking to the door on the righthand wall. Here is a steam machine; hit
Select and B until you're not using any weapons, then punch the fusebox on the
right side of the machine. This diverts the steam, letting you walk through
the door to...

Level six

Beat up or avoid the dude here and go right. Walk to the safe on the righthand
wall and make the code number your Holding object. Press B, input the code
number and press B again to open the safe door. There's an orb inside, but
don't get it yet.

Switch weapons to the shurikens (i hope you haven't used any). Now press B to
take the orb; Kunitoki's ghost will appear behind you and start attacking.

Two hits from Kunitoki kills you, so just keep on moving and avoiding his
attacks until he is standing inside the pentagram on the ground. When he's
standing inside the star, throw a shuriken at him (shurikens are the only
things that hurt him). 

Kunitoki will fall to the ground if you hit him. Now you've got a hard task
ahead of you: you need to go to each point of the star and hit B to light the
candle on each point. You have to light all five candles before Kunitoki gets
up again; else you'll have to start all over again. (You might want to 
practice getting to all five points on the star as quickly as possible before
picking up the orb.) It's important to make sure you hit the correct points;
otherwise you'll kick at air instead of lighting candles.

Anyway, once you kill off Kunitoki, put the orb back into the safe to complete
the game.

Passwords
~~~~~~~~~

Level 2: 611111612314901
Level 3: C444444F5041DG4
Level 4: 7000008036058C0
Level 5: HCDCD8081086048
Level 6: BG9G9F5FCFD950F

Start game with 15 lives: HHHHHHHHHHH0HHH