Ninja Gaiden Upgrade A

Hack description

This hack is primarly designed for Speedrunners and Players who enjoy replaying the Original Ninja Gaiden regularly but want more variety in Gameplay. The hack features few tweaks to the Core Gameplay, new Jump mechanics as for example seen in (The Messenger), a Weapon/Technique switching mechanic with ability to Recharge, a Level Up System, additional HUD information and few minor graphical changes and missing sprite fixes and redrawn sprites. It comes in different Versions specifically adjusted for each category of Players.

If you play on a Emulator, its highly recommended to remap the 'Select' button to L/R for the best experience as this hack relies heavily on Weapon/Technique switching and is using the 'Select' button to Recharge.

General changes:

- Added a Total Timer based on the in-game clock for accurate Speedruns without a millisecond reset in between the Stages or losing a life, only counts when the game is playable and stops when a Boss lost his last HP. Timer is inactive when watching a Cutscene.
- Added a Damage Counter to keep track of how often the player has received damage, goes up to 99 Hits.
- Added a Usage Counter for how many seconds are left when using 'Time Freeze' or 'Invincible Fire Wheels'.
- Added a Statistic Counter with a new method of Scoring, for details scrolls down to 'New Scoring System'
- Increased 'Invincible Fire Wheels' start time from 9 to 10, 'Time Freeze' from 5 to 10. Both require Lv.3 and at least 3 kills for a Recharge and have 6 seconds Recharge limit.
- 'Invincible Fire Wheels' starting milliseconds changed from 96 (60) to 60 (3C) to be same as the following seconds.
- 'Time Freeze' and 'Restoring Physical Strength' redrawn to look similar to the other pick ups.
- Score Bags redrawn and reworked to function as EXP packs for the Leveling System.
- HUD redrawn and redesigned. Title Screen and In-game Font replaced with the Font used in 'Zen - Intergalactic Ninja' and added a shadow effect to it. Cutscene Font replaced with the Font from 'Kirby's Adventure'.
- Ryu's color in-game and Cutscenes is now Blue for the entire Game, just like PC Engine Version of NG1, NG2 NES, NG3 NES.
- Fixed the missing Sprites on the Statues. The SNES port is also missing the same Sprites on the Statues but it was fixed in the PC Engine release.
- Reduced the playfield on the top of the screen to prevent Players from dying by going off-screen or softlocking the game in some areas.
- Keep the current Weapon/Technique after beating a Boss.
- Removed the slow movement when changing direction mid-air.
- Removed Mid-air sword glitch when pressing down.
- Changed the respawn when dying in Stage 6-4 and 6-5 to 6-3 instead of 6-1.

Optional changes:
- Added a 'Next' EXP Counter, this will replace the Statistic Display in the HUD.
- Added a optional Sword Tweak (alters Slash Jump) to fix the Sword mid-air when multi-jumping. Thanks Lonkelle for reporting.

Level Up System:

Lv.0 Gameplay similar to the Original Ninja Gaiden but with 'Upgrade' tweaks.
- Removed the slow movement speed when changing direction mid-air.
- No pushback on taking damage if Ryu has 20 or more 'Spiritual Strength'.

Lv.1 Armory Upgrade
- Dual Slot allows to carry 2 Weapons/Techniques and switch between them by pressing 'Select' button.
- 'Time Freeze' and 'Invincible Fire Wheels' can be turned on/off and the usage-time is stored separately.
- Picking up a Weapon/Technique will be placed into a empty Slot without using it instantly or else it will replay the Primary Slot, useful for 'Time Freeze' and 'Invincible Fire Wheels'. Changing Slots with 'Time Freeze' or 'Invincible Fire Wheels' to Secondary Slot will decrease the timer by 1 second each time to prevent it from being overpowered.

Lv.2 Movement Upgrade
- Double-Jump is always enabled and can be performed from anywhere.
- Multi-Jump works similar to the jumping in (The Messenger), each kill or destroying a object adds one more jump.
- Wall-Jump increases the movement speed when jumping from walls, can be chained together with Double Jump and Mutli-Jump.

Lv.3 Spiritual Upgrade:
- Recharge allows to get more usage-time out of 'Time Freeze' and 'Invincible Fire Wheels' by pressing 'Select' when the usage-timer is at 1 second left. Ryu will recharge the usage-time based on how many enemies have been killed previously with each method. It requires at least 3 kills with 'Time Freeze' or 'Invincible Fire Wheels' to perform a recharge cycle. Recharge counter can be stacked up across multiple pick ups and Recharge up to 6 seconds for each method.
- Refresh converts all collected Experience Points into Spiritual Strength each time another 100 EXP has been gained, it keeps refilling until the collected Experience Points are zero. It can be performed unlimited times as long there is enough EXP to collect. Ryu will lose all currently collected EXP on losing a Life.

Check the README file for more details and changes.

Contributor	Type of contribution	Description
magus	Original Hacking	ASM Hacking

Reviews

Ninja Gaiden with RPG Mechanics	Mureisky	2024-04-19	Version 1.00a
Overall I enjoyed the hack. Double jumping made the game much more enjoyable. Having the same velocity when you jump backwards as you jump forwards fixed a big annoyance I've had with the game. Being able to swap between Ninja Arts was much appreciated. Wish there was stand alone patches for these 3 features. Didn't enjoy Master difficulty. Basically have to abuse jump and Slash, and the Invincible Fire wheel to beat the last stage bosses. Stage 6-3 you almost have to do a perfect run to beat the level.

Good, but not useful for me	valziman	2024-01-18	Version 1.00a
This does so much that I want and so much that I can't abide. Really great ideas but unusable if you want to avoid the RPG mechanics, double jump, etc. I wish it was split up into more than one hack.

Definitely an Upgrade. Excellent Quality	NoReason	2023-11-20	Version 1.00a
This hack gets better the more you play and understand. I am not a speed runner but I thoroughly enjoyed all versions of this hack and it has quickly become my favorite. Understanding the benefits of levels and using the select button is not necessary but will elevate your enjoyment of the game past waiting for the Double-jump. The Double-jump is a huge, super-fun, game changer. The TASBot version starts you with a Double-jump and all of the cool improvements but you die in one or two hits. It is my favorite version and is great for quick challenge runs.(What does TASBot mean?) The inclusion of a Hit Tracker that persists through continues is a fun way to challenge yourself or compete with friends.The progression system is an ingenious idea and replacing the score bags with Exp Up items is a great way to do it. There is a small issue of Ryu's sword not working when in the air and pressing down + attack. This is only of concern when attempting a regular attack when the spinning blade is equipped I definitely recommend this EXCELLENT, high quality hack.This hack gets better the more you play and understand. I am not a speed runner but I thoroughly enjoyed all versions of this hack and it has quickly become my favorite. Understanding the benefits of levels and using the select button is not necessary but will elevate your enjoyment of the game past waiting for the Double-jump. The Double-jump is a huge, super-fun, game changer. The TASBot version starts you with a Double-jump and all of the cool improvements but you die in one or two hits. It is my favorite version and is great for quick challenge runs.(What does TASBot mean?) The inclusion of a Hit Tracker that persists through continues is a fun way to challenge yourself or compete with friends.The progression system is an ingenious idea and replacing the score bags with Exp Up items is a great way to do it. There is a small issue of Ryu's sword not working when in the air and pressing down + attack. This is only of concern when attempting a regular attack when the spinning blade is equipped I definitely recommend this EXCELLENT, high quality hack. Try it with the RIP Enemies hack for a near-perfect Ninja Gaiden experience!

Transforms how you play the game, in an amazing way.	Lonkelle	2023-08-07	Version 1.00
This took my favorite game and made it better. Some of the later levels feel perfect with the double jump and almost all levels feel great with a multi-jump Messenger tech (tho I think it should be an always addition rather than a Level 3 tech). Anyway, this simple new technique adds complexity and multiple new paths to save seconds and get the lowest time possible. I played it on Normal but I'll move up the difficulties as I get better. PS. Race me? This is my best time using a mobile emulator (590): https://cloudup.com/cnMZoA1dPUQ

Ninja Gaiden made Action RPG	trifalger	2022-11-23	Version 1.00
Wow this is great! I chose the Easy + EXP Counter patch for easy difficulty and leveling up. It's such a neat feeling of progression to get experience drops from items and to look forward to leveling up and gaining a new ability. Level 2 is the biggest improvement that I can see in that it unlocks the double-jump ability. I think I made it to level 3 which seems to extend the time limit on some item effects. If you die, say from falling, your experience points reset to zero but that doesn't seem so bad since there are so may EXP drops. It really adds something to the game to make you want to play through it again to get fully upgraded and see how overpowered you can get. Granted, I played it on Easy so maybe not-so-overpowered on harder settings. This also includes some palette swaps that are a great improvement and movement/knock-back mods that are almost identical to the free movement hack and a must-have. The new HUD design is great too! I tested this with the RIP Enemies hack and it worked pretty well and made for a really complete experience.

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