🔔    / @nenrikigaming  

🎮 Title: 快傑ヤンチャ丸 (Kaiketsu Yanchamaru)
🔄 Translation: Yanchamaru the Hero ⁽ˡⁱᵗᵉʳᵃˡ⁾ / Yanchamaru the Gallant
🏷️ Titling Paratext: コミカル時代活劇ゲーム (Comical Jidai Katsugeki Game — A Comical Period Action‑drama Game)
🔀 Other Title: Kid Niki: Radical Ninja (Localization)

🕹 Platform Spec
🖥️ System: Nintendo Family Computer (Famicom, FC)
🌍 Region Label: JP 🇯🇵
📄 Revision: Original
📅 Release: 1987-October-02
🏢 Publisher: Irem
👾 Port Developer: TOSE

🔁 Port Info:
• Type: Arcade Conversion (Direct / Faithful)
• Origin: Kaiketsu Yanchamaru (Arcade)

🎲 Genre: Platformer (Side-scrolling Combat-Oriented)
🧭 Common Genre: Action-Platformer

🧮 Score Profile
⭐️ Personal Score: B+
🌐 Consensus Score: B+ (✓)
💬 Cultural Impact (Ψ): B (▽)
📆 Historical Tier: B+ (✓)

🧱 Completion Profile
🧩 Completion Status: Full Game Clear
🏆 Scoring: 390,100 pts
🎬 Ending Type: Solo Ending

🔥 Difficulty Profile
📈 Curve: Gradual With Spikes
🗜️ Factors: Knowledge-Locked
⚙️ Perceived Global: Moderate Demanding Execution-Strict

🧠 Play Mode: Focused Play (Optimized)
🎯 Intent: Documentation (Final Release)


Kaiketsu Yanchamaru stars Yanchamaru, a young ninja trained by Osabaihikezo who heads to Furin Castle🏯 to rescue Kurumi-hime👸 from Zoringen after a scroll reads 助けて候 (Please help me!).

The game runs through seven Rounds; each ends with a Guardian💀, and taking the post-boss Scroll clears the Round. The Directional Pad moves left/right, Down crouches, Up climbs trees; A jumps (mid-air control), and B attacks with the Kaiten-ken (Spinning Sword)⚔️ for about one second. Start begins play and pauses; Select chooses 1P/2P and enables Continue (resume after Game Over).

Each Round has a six-minute time limit🧭, and faster clears grant a Time Bonus (speed score): 20,000 (4+), 15,000 (3), 10,000 (2), 5,000 (1), 0 (0). Game Over occurs if time runs out, if Yanchamaru falls into a valley or river, or if he is hit by an enemy or enemy attack; he starts with three Remaining Lives.

Most non-boss enemies are defeated in one hit if timed well, and attacks can be performed while jumping; the game highlights Hissatsu Midare-giri (Deadly Barrage Slash)↔️ and urges evasion by crouching/jumping when pressured. Boss fights share a universal rule: striking any Guardian knocks the sword away, leaving Yanchamaru unable to attack until he recovers it by touching it on the current screen → Kirimi-Kaeri-no-Jutsu (Recover the Sword Technique).

Items and bonuses: Koban and Senryo Koban raise score; Gold Bell🔔 generates a Big Shuriken, Silver Bell adds an Orbiting Weight, Mini Princess (Princess Doll / Mini-hime) buffers one hit, Little Yancha adds one life, and Hijutsu no Moto is a Secret Technique Essence🕯️. Guidance also includes Hayatobi-no-Jutsu (Quick Jump Technique) for timing jumps on moving clouds/rocks and Otakara-Sagashi-no-Jutsu (Treasure Search Technique) for hidden rooms and secret passages.

Rounds and Guardians: R1 mountain/rivers vs Otafuku Taro (headbutts; beware "A blast of breath from his puffed face")💨; R2 forest/temple vs Jizo Kozo (Chain Ball, Boomerang Shuriken); R3 cliffs/clouds/bridge vs Zoshoku Musume (replicates when struck); R4 cave vs Otemo Mukade (giant centipede)🐛; R5 bamboo/temple vs Sekkyo Osho (preaching attacks); R6 castle walls/moats/rooftops vs Kabuto Bushi (find weakness); R7 inside Furin Castle vs Zoringen using Ninjutsu (Ninja techniques).

The HUD (on-screen display) shows score (HI, 1P, 2P), remaining time (shows "Pause" when paused), bell power, current Round and block count per screen, and Remaining Lives. Enemy groups include Red Fox Squad, Yellow Fox Squad,🦊 Striped Fox Squad, Scout Bird, Disguised Bird (Bunshin-no-Jutsu (Clone Technique))👥, Koban Bird (Dorobo Bird) dropping stolen Koban, Balloon Kite Squad🪁, Rock Rider Squad, Novice Monk Squad (Prayer Beads throws)📿, Crow Tengu Squad,👺 and White Wall Squad using Awa Kogeki (Modoku) (Poison Bubble Attack).

Complementary systems: each Round has two Hidden Bonus Stages🕵️ except Round 7 which has five tied to numbered sectors with mutual-exclusion routing; score-oriented stages focus on points, while Princess-oriented stages can yield the Princess Doll buffer. After any Guardian defeat, striking the Scroll can convert it into an item, and correct timing guarantees a Little Yancha (1UP).

Archival notes cite an October 2, 1987 release (some sources list September 26) and describe the Famicom version as a faithful arcade adaptation, with this documented full playthrough, rising difficulty, a single ending, and B+/B/B+ reception and impact ratings.


00:00 Round 1
02:36 Round 2
04:56 Round 3
06:54 Round 4
09:29 Round 5
12:12 Round 6
15:10 Round 7
17:04 Round 8

#KaiketsuYanchamaru
#ヤンチャ丸
#KidNiki