Ninja Gaiden (NES)/Act 6

This is the final act of the game. It includes the most difficult portions of any stages in the game and requires skill to defeat the multiple bosses at the end.

Stage 6-1
This stage starts off right where the previous Act ended. From the location of your fight with Malth, you must now run far to the left. You will first encounter a machine gunner, with a bat quickly appearing from behind. If you continue running left, you can outrun the bat. As you approach the first platform, a demonic hunchback creature will be waiting to pounce on you. Rush towards him and as you do, an eagle that appears from the right will be forced off the screen. The hunchback is accompanied by another gunner. A bat will also appear from the left, and fly harmless under the platform.

A whirlwind kicker will jump off the next platform, and a dragon cannon is waiting behind him. Another bat will fly below the platform. The next platform will contain three dragon cannons. When you approach the third, an eagle will appear. Be sure to remove it before continuing. At the end of this platform, you will find a candle with the Jump and Slash technique. You can use this technique to easily slash your way through the last group of enemies, but be aware that this will drain much of the spirit points you've collected so far. Despite that fact, it is the easiest way to clear your way through the hunchbacks, eagles, and whirlwind kickers that guard the final approach to Stage 6-2. Once you see the door, run straight for it.

Stage 6-2
Run to the right, killing two ground enemies. As you approach the column with the club tosser, a dog will appear from the right. Take it out, and wall jump up between the columns to remove the club tosser. From the top of the taller column, hit the high candle on the way down and collect the Windmill Star. Watch out for another dog running from the left when you land.

Continue over the platform with another club tosser, and hit the candle before the high ledge to find a red Spirit point tile. There is a dog on the ledge above which you can encourage to jump off by approaching the wall. If you backtrack, the dog will return, but if you use the wall-hop technique, you can climb the wall without the dog returning.

On the other side of the wall, take out the enemy on the first platform, and then use the Windmill Star to take out the second. From here it gets difficult. Jet-pack ninjas appear, scattering many throwing stars in the air. Try to remain stable on the large platform until the ninjas are gone. The candle at the left end contains the Jump and Slash technique. This can be very useful to help you get past the next few ninjas, but be aware that it will drain your spirit points. When you reach the next ledge, you will find the Windmill Star in the candle. Use it to remove the enemy guarding the ladder to the next section.

After hopping over the small platforms to the high ledge on the left, you'll have to run and drop down to the next platform containing a machine gunner, and defeat him immediately. If you give him a chance to start shooting, your chances of taking him out without sustaining damage drop considerably. As you jump to the next platform, a bat will appear from the left and an eagle will appear from below. Slash the bat out of the air, and wait for the eagle to approach before attacking it and continuing on.

The high candle above the floor contains the Flame technique. Likewise, the very high candle to the right of the narrow column contains the Windmill Star. If you already have the Windmill Star and wish to keep it, ignore both of these candles. Further to the left, you will encounter a few dragon cannons. An ax thrower guards the high platform above. The nearby candle contains the regular Throwing Star. Remove the hunchback demon on the floor, and then wall jump up to the ladder above.

After jumping up above the ladder and over to the right, attack the enemy guarding the larger platform and jump over. When you land, tread slowly, as there are many enemies that will attack you in sequence. A bat will approach first from the right, followed by a football player from the left, then a bird from below, and then another bat from the right. The first two enemies--football player and bat--can be handled at the same time. Slash the bat and leap over the football player. The bird is trickier, and must be lured to the right side in order to bring it into a vulnerable position where you can duck and slash it. Do not retreat backwards, as this will respawn the enemies that you've already dealt with.

After you jump over to the next platform, a dagger thrower will appear to the right. Approach slowly, allowing the enemy to scroll itself off the back of the platform. Before you leap over to his position, approach the edge and duck under the eagle that will attack from the upper right. As soon as it passes overhead, leap to the next platform, and attempt to slash the football player that will leap at you while you're in mid-air. If you're unable to hit him, and he hits you instead, this is usually okay. There's a platform to fall onto that will hopefully prevent your instant demise. From here, move quickly to the ladder, as the bird you ducked earlier may be trying to double back.

Climb up and hop over the platforms and continue to the right. As soon as you land on the ledge above the ladder, an eagle will appear from the right. If you've made it to this point in the stage without losing a life, time may be a concern, and there's little you can do about it other than lose a life and start over with a full health bar.

Once you land on the floor, several enemies will attack you at once, including an eagle from the upper right corner, a hunchback demon on the ground, and an armored enemy with a sword. Take out the hunchback, and then hit the eagle on its return trip, and then finally the sword enemy. As you approach the smaller column, a ninja will drop from the top of the screen. To collect the potion from the candle next to the tall column, wall jump between the shorter column and the ledge, and then jump from the column to hit the candle. However, don't jump too far to the left or the eagle will return.

Before you climb up to the ledge, be sure to collect the Fire Wheel technique from the candle below the ledge. It's guarded by a sword throwing demon, but the protection it provides you with is invaluable. Once you have it, you can simply blast through the rest of the stage without any concern. Wall jump up to the ledge, jump over to the platform and descend quickly through the door below to reach the next stage.

Stage 6-3
The tileset changes here to an orange-theme. Ryu starts to the left of two tall, columns topped with a hand with an eye in the palm. As you run to the right, a bat will appear just as you pass between the two hand columns. Just beyond that are two lamps, one high above the other. A whirlwind kicker will appear. Run towards it and jump and slash. You should kill it just below the lamps. As the kicker dies a bat will spawn from the left side. Break the bottom lamp (blue Spirit tile) while you wait and kill it or start moving to the right.

As you approach the green column and then the large green rectangular block, wall jump up between them and jump on the block. Kill the ax thrower if he is on the edge, otherwise ignore him and jump up to the left green column. Jump out and grab the top lamp (Flame technique).

Make your way back up to the top of the green block. Kill the ax thrower and move right. A bat and a dragon cannon statue will be there. Run up and kill the cannon and you should kill the bat at the same time. The lamp in the middle here is an orange Spirit tile (the other two are points). There is one more candle in the lower right hand corner. It contains the Jump and Slash technique, but it is not worth dropping down and collecting, since you will put yourself in danger and be forced to backtrack in order to continue.

Instead, ignore it and climb the ladder to the next section. There are no enemies here. Jump to the left of the ladder, wall jump between the left wall and the broken hand column until you are on top of the broken column. Jump to the right onto the floating green platform, then jump up to the right onto the ladder and climb up to the section above.

This next section is very long. Climb all the way up the green ladder then jump the left. As you approach the first jump and a hunchback will appear. Slash as you jump and you should kill it. Perform the same timing on the next jump to kill the bat and break the lamp at the same time (Throwing Star). Then kill the bat by the two lamps (both are points). Get ready to jump into danger.

A boomerang blade thrower will appear from the left side of the screen. As you approach it, two more hunchbacks will appear, one from each side of the screen. Make your way to the left and out of the pit as soon as possible or you will get hit many times. The best way out is to run towards the boomerang thrower, jump to avoid the first blade, land in front of it, then jump again to the left without touching him. You can easily get out with just taking a single hit. As you get out of the pit, run to the left edge. A green ninja will drop down and jump to the left but if you stay to the right of the left edge, before the gap in the floor, you won't get hit.

Break both lamps (blue weapon power x2) and stand to the left of the crack until the ninja stops appearing. As you jump onto the first floating green platform, a silver eagle will appear from below. Stand on the left edge of the platform and prepare slash it as soon as it gets close to you. Then jump to the next platform where the white knight is and slash it as you land. Alternatively, if you have a Throwing Star or Windmill Star, toss it ahead of you to remove the knight before you jump.

Jump from this small platform to the floor below. Wall jump up between the narrow and thick columns to collect a Windmill Star above the thick column. Use it to defeat the blade thrower and continue on to the left. On the ground, you will be attacked by a ninja just as you reach a candle. This candle contains an hourglass which will freeze time briefly. You need to take as much advantage of this as possible, and wall jump up to the next ledge and over, in order to prevent a boomerang blade thrower from appearing on the ground before time runs out.

If you do this successfully, you will only have to contend with a couple of sword carrying knights near the end of the stage. You will encounter a blade tossing demon before a gap that you must jump over to reach the ladder to the final section of the stage. As you approach this ladder, an eagle will quickly fly up from the gap below. Either attack it, or force it to fly off the left side of the screen before climbing the ladder.

Climb the ladder, hop left, then right. Get onto the floor and move right. You will see a demon hunchback sitting on a column. Climb up to the top of the tall column and hit the candle for a health regenerating potion. Then drop down to the floor without triggering the hunchback. From here, you want to run to the right. As you do, three more hunchbacks will descend from the ceiling. After you pass beneath them, turn around to quickly hit the candle above the floor. This candle contains an hourglass which will stop time, as well as stop other enemies from appearing. You may get hit in the process of collecting it, but it's worth it.

With time frozen, you should quickly wall jump up between the wall and the small ledges sticking out to the left. With time stopped, you will prevent more hunchbacks from dropping down, and two dragon cannons from appearing on the ledge. Drop down off the ledge when you reach the right.

The last four candles all contain different ninja techniques; the outer two both contain the Flame technique, while the inner two contain a Throwing Star and a Windmill Star. Arm yourself with whichever you prefer, although the Flame technique will probably be the most helpful.

Once you go through this door you will have to face the final bosses. If you lose to any of them, you will be returned all the way to 6-1, regardless of how many lives you have left. Fortunately, you will receive a health refill before facing each boss, but consider this a one time courtesy; you will receive no such refill should you fail and need to try again. On the plus side, each defeated boss will stay dead. For example, should you defeat the Masked Devil, you will not have to face him again once you make it back to this stage.

The Masked Devil
Ryu will prepare to face whatever boss the Jaquio has in store for him, only to discover that his father is not truly dead. Ryu's hope is quickly dashed when he discovers that his father has been turned into a mindless weapon. Desperate to find a way to rescue his father without harming him, he spots the mind control mechanism on the wall. Then you will face off against Ryu's mind controlled father, "The Masked Devil". All of your health will be restored.

The Masked Devil will start on the right side of the screen and walk slowly to the left. As it does so, the orb in the middle-right of the room will shoot fireballs diagonally downwards towards the Masked Devil. These fireballs will form a floating shield. Each fireball can be destroyed, but they are constantly replenished.

To destroy the mind control over your father, you must destroy the large orb in the center of the room. Since the Masked Devil approaches you continuously, it is best to lure him all the way to one side of the room before returning to the center to get some attacks in, and then running to the opposite side to lure the Masked Devil away again. Obviously, you should wall-hop to the top of either wall to avoid taking damage as much as possible. If you have the Flame technique and some spirit power left, you can speed up this battle by attacking the orb with flame as much as possible. There's no point in trying to save any of your spirit power, as whatever you have left is drained away for bonus points.

After the orb is defeated, another cutscene takes place where Ryu's father regains consciousness. Your reunion is short lived, as the Jaquio appears and in a rage, shoots an energy projectile towards Ryu. Before it can hit Ryu, his father steps in the way and takes the brunt of the attack. Now Ryu must avenge his father.

Jaquio
If you came from this directly from the previous boss battle, you will have no spirit power and no ninja technique to rely upon. The only way you can enter this battle with spirit power is to have defeated the Masked Devil and died, forcing you to start over from 6-1 and return to this stage. The Masked Devil will remain dead, and you will face Jaquio with Spirit power.

Jaquio is the biggest boss you have seen so far. He floats across the top of the screen, back and forth between the two walls. Each time he crosses from one side to the other, he fires out two fireballs, one from each hand. The fireballs will fly towards where Ryu is standing, so move out of the way. You have a much better chance of avoiding or dodging the fireballs while running on the ground, although you have a better chance of striking the Jaquio when you are standing on a platform. Note that getting hit by a fireball costs one unit of health while touching Jaquio costs three. So if you are forced to choose between getting hit by one of them, choose the fireball.

In order to survive this fight and defeat Jaquio, you must learn the rhythm of his attacks, and learn how to effective dodge his fireballs so that they drop through the floor, or off the side of the screen, and don't double back around to follow you. Only after the fireballs have disappeared off the screen is it safe to jump up to one of the platforms and jump up to strike him. You only have enough time to hit him once before you have to get back down on the ground and prepare for another strike.

Alternatively, you may wish to occupy the far left or far right platforms and attempt to slash or dodge any fireballs that come near you, while remaining in a position to jump up and strike Jaquio when he floats nearby. You are more likely to get hit in this fashion, but you can sometimes get two hits in against Jaquio and stay ahead of him in terms of health.

If you defeat the Jaquio, Irene will appear, saved from the sacrifice that she was intended to participate in. You will clutch your father, who is still alive, as you prepare to leave the temple. However, your father will warn you that you must throw away the statues before the dark moon. As he says that, a lunar eclipse occurs, fulfilling the prophecy of the statues. The statues will combine and come to life as a giant demon.

Act 6-5
In order to save the world, you must now challenge and defeat the Demon Sculpture. Compared to Jacquio, the demon is a little easier, and with enough practice can be beaten without taking much damage.

The demon remains stationary on the right side of the screen. It has three vulnerable points, although only one is tied to the health meter. The three points are the head, the tail, and the heart. As you attempt to defeat the demon, it will release an endless supply of fireballs from its neck. The fireballs will scatter around the room at random intervals and in random directions, making it very difficult to predict. Each fireball can be struck and destroyed with your sword.

The heart is the component tied to the health meter. However, in order to make it accessible to attack, you must first remove the head and the tail. You can tackle them in whatever order you wish. To attack the head, you must jump off the ground. When striking it, always hit it twice, once on the way up and again on the way down. When it take enough damage, it drops off the body and slides to the left off the screen. To hit the tail, simply squat down and strike the tail as frequently as possible until it disappears. When attacking the head and the tail, its best to keep your eye on the spout where the fireballs appear so that you are prepared to move out of the way if one is headed towards you. (While it is possible to attack the heart without removing the tail, this is considerably more difficult than simply removing the tail first, since you have to jump forward, slash, and then fall backwards without hitting the tail, and you will likely sustain damage in the process.)

Once the head and the tail are removed, the heart is exposed for attack. Jump up and focus all of your effort on striking the heart repeatedly. Be aware of how much health you have left and play if cautiously if you are running low. Otherwise, continue striking the heart until the demon's health meter is depleted, and you win the game. You will be treated to the end of the story, followed by the staff credits. Congratulations on beating this incredibly difficult game.