Segaiden #037: The Ninja & Pro Wrestling

Segaiden #037: The Ninja & Pro Wrestling

Author: Jeremy Parish June 30, 2023 Duration: 13:50

When did the lie that girls don't play video games gain credence in America? I remember seeing little nerds of all genders in arcades in the early 1980s, so that fallacy must have taken hold around the time that the Master System arrived. Certainly that would explain why these two games, both of which featured playable female casts in their original incarnations as Sega Ninja/Ninja Princess and Gokuaku Doumei Dump Matsumoto, saw their sprites replaced by men here on Master System. A weird coincidence!

However, it doesn't affect how either game plays, which is to say "pretty damn good." The Ninja delivers on the potential of Ninja Princess, presenting the same fundamental experience but with vastly smoother gameplay and all the arcade version's bonus stages restored. And Pro Wrestling may not be as good as the NES game by the same title that would ship a few months later, but it absolutely puts every other wrestling game on U.S. the console market in 1986 into a sleeper hold before pinning it for the count. 

Aw, look, I've finally picked up some wrestling lingo. I knew I could do it.


Jeremy Parish's Video Works by Jeremy Parish is a curated collection of his long-running projects diving deep into the history and design of classic video games. Rather than a single focused series, this podcast serves as an archive and hub for several distinct endeavors. You'll find episodes from Game Boy World, which meticulously documents every pre-Game Boy Advance handheld title in chronological order, offering a unique historical perspective. Another strand explores the interconnected world of "Metroidvania" games, analyzing the design principles that define this beloved subgenre. The Anatomy of Games segments provide thorough, thoughtful critiques of classic game design, breaking down what makes these titles endure. Each episode, whether originally audio or adapted from video content, carries Parish's knowledgeable and considered commentary. This podcast is for anyone with an appreciation for gaming's foundations, presented not as dry history but as an engaging exploration of the artistry and innovation that shaped the medium. Tune in for a consistently insightful look at the pixels and philosophies behind the games you might have played-or always meant to.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Video Works by Jeremy Parish
Podcast Episodes
Segaiden #035: Great Ice Hockey & Astro Warrior [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:19
An unlikely star emerges in this week's Master System episode: The Sega Sports Pad. Required for (but not bundled with!) Great Ice Hockey, this analog-ish trackball controller ultimately didn't have much purpose in terms…
Segaiden #034: Action Fighter & Black Belt [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 17:22
A pair of games based on popular media works? Well, almost. Action Fighter clearly draws its inspiration from 1970s James Bond and his transforming Lotus Esprit, but unlike James Bond 007 for Multivision, it doesn't wear…
Segaiden #033: F-16 Fighting Falcon / Transbot / World Grand Prix [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:04
I thought the main feature this week would be TransBot, a pretty OK shooter based on a pretty good arcade game that rectifies the failings of Orguss for SG-1000 while basically swiping the concept wholesale, but no. Tran…
Segaiden #032: Choplifter / My Hero / Teddy Boy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:16
Three episodes into the Master System run and already we have some familiar sights—but understandably so, since each of these games comes to Master System from arcades. So, while we may have seen Choplifter during our SG…
Segaiden #031: Fantasy Zone & Ghost House [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:16
Sega leads off its non-pack-in Master System lineup with a solid conversion of an arcade masterpiece and a respectable original title: Fantasy Zone and Ghost House. While the former suffers some compromises in the move f…
NES Works #105: Zelda II - The Adventure of Link [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 23:22
We end NES Works 1988 here with a game that (probably) actually shipped before December 1988 in scarce quantities. Aw, it's Nintendo's very first high-demand holiday rarity! They certainly would return to that well over…
NES Works #104: Bomberman / Robowarrior / Othello [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:11
A lot of shenanigans happening with the NES timeline here at the end of 1988, a situation that I'll explore more next episode. For now, it's worth noting that this episode brings us: Two games that may or may not have ac…
NES Works #103: Castlevania II - Simon's Quest [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:28
It's the most wonderful time of the year: Time for a Castlevania retrospective. As NES Works 1988 winds down, Halloween 2022 seems like the perfect time for a proper look back at Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, one of the…
NES Works #102: Platoon & Xenophobe [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:21
Sunsoft blew our minds with Blaster Master, but the company did not suddenly become some 8-bit powerhouse after releasing that game. Here's the rocky portion of their road to greatness, a pair of NES conversions that wil…