Kid Niki: Radical Ninja/Stage 8

The Castle Rooftop

• 10: If you found the last battle against the Stone Wizard difficult, this stage is sure to frustrate you. You will have to face the Stone Wizard in a variety of situations, some easier, but many as difficult if not more difficult than the previous battle. Start by running along the roof to the right.

• 9: You must now face off with the Stone Wizard again. The good news is you only need to hit him twice this time. The bad news is the fireballs he spits erupt into columns of flame when they hit the ground. Do your best to stay between the column of flames and rush in to attack when the coast is clear. You can actually clear the flames by jumping over them. After you hit him twice, he will transform into a bat like creature, and fly away to the right.

• 8: A guerrilla kite ninja will appear and float along the air above. You don't have to confront it. Just leap from one building to the other via the cloud. As you reach the next building, the bat form of the Wizard will fly in from the right and appear behind you. The goal his is not to stop and confront him. Instead, climb all the way up the tall roof spire and stop on the right side of it.

• 7: The Wizard will bound after you. When you reach the right side of the roof spire, simply duck down. The Wizard will leap off the peak of the roof and completely clear you. Then you can proceed to the next section.

• 6: Jump across the three bobbing clouds, but watch out for the guerrilla kite ninja that appears over head. Take a moment to stop and strike him down if he dives toward you. Then continue to the next rooftop.

• 5: You will see the Wizard resting on top of a cloud, with a smaller cloud bobbing up and down between the roof and the Wizard's cloud. All around you, double-sized poison bubbles will fly up from the bottom of the screen. It is very difficult to anticipate and avoid these bubbles since they float around somewhat randomly. Needless to say, one touch will kill you. Openings can, and will, appear but they are impossible to predict, and there is no safe spot on the screen. You need to leap up and strike the Wizard twice to make him fly on ahead to the last section of the game. You'll need to time your attacks just right in order to succeed.

• 4: Proceed to the right after collecting your sword. The remainder of the stage involves crossing rooftops while avoiding guerrilla kite ninjas that dive down to attack you.

• 3: More kite ninjas will appear. Time your attacks carefully to remove them before traveling on to the right.

• 2: Carefully leap across the last gap in the roofs to the final rooftop. Any remaining kite ninjas will back off and disappear.

Boss: Stone Wizard

You must now face off against the ultimate form of the Stone Wizard. He possesses all the qualities of the previous boss fight, and the fight at the beginning of this stage. Namely, he spits three fireballs on to the ground, and the erupt into columns of flame when they hit. To make matters worse, he will transform into his bat form at will when you get too close to him and he hasn't attacked you in a while. If you are standing too close to him when he lands, he will remain in his invulnerable bat form until you move far enough away. If you just rush back in when he transforms, he will simply revert back to bat form and fly away to the other side. You must allow him to remain in Wizard form long enough to attack you. Then you have a window of opportunity to avoid the flames and reach him to strike at him before he transforms into a bat and flies away again. Naturally, you must hit him three times to win. This is an extremely difficult fight, and will require a lot of patience and hand-eye coordination. If you manage to defeat the Wizard, you will get to watch a short, but truly well earned ending.

NES differences

• A guerrilla kite ninja will stalk you immediately after the stage begins.
• During the first fight with the Stone Wizard, the space between the left flame and the middle flame is the safest place to stand.
• The second appearance of the Stone Wizard bouncing along the roof does not occur. In it's place, there is an alternate fight with the Stone Wizard that is just like the previous fight, only the Wizard can summon his bat form to block for him (shown right). If you hit it, it will disappear, but he will replace it.
• The bubble fight still takes place. The bubbles are significantly smaller, many more of them appear.
• For the last fight, allow the Wizard to spit out a full set of flames, and do not approach him until he stops. If you try to attack sooner, he will flee to the other side. You only need to hit him twice to win.

There are no secret rooms in this stage.