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Ninja Scooter Simulator is a budget Metro-Cross variant for the Commodore 64. Apart from the box art, it has nothing to do with ninjas.
You ride a kick scooter and have to reach the finish line within 38 seconds (shown as 4 minutes). On the way, you lose precious seconds by crashing into living, dead or inanimate obstacles, or win 5 seconds through a power-up. On ramps, you can perform stunts for bonus points.
The C64 port never got many convincing positive comments. The collision detection and controls are erroneous: If you rotate thrice mid-air, you are awarded 1000 points—only it's technically impossible to do so. The levels are so tight that, in order to reach many bonuses, you must briefly slow down and move sideways, which costs time. If you move straight, the game may feel easier and a bit more fun, or pointless.
Screenshots
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The loading screen.
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The main menu and unsavable high scores.
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Game start.
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Jump high!
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Does recovery in 1 second make you a ninja?
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Freeze frame. Time out. Game over.
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Music
Before playing, you can choose either music or sound effects. The music is rarely mentioned, but got a bit of love in YouTube comments. The sound effects are unrealistic, indistinct, annoying and constantly cut off: Every time the rider pushes off the ground (every second), it beeps twice.
The driver and all sound effects are identical to those in OutRun (C64) and Lazer Tag (C64). Both are by Jason Brooke, and OutRun is confirmed to be older than Ninja Scooter Simulator. It is the only known C64 soundtrack in Brooke's driver without unique sound effects.
Recording
The song was recorded from a real PAL C64C with an 8580 R5 4091.
Credits
(Source for composer and arranger: himself. Source for foley artist and programmer: code comparison. Game lacks credits.)
Game Rip
Audio Devices
This game uses the computer's built-in SID chip and sounds the same on every one of them. All known releases flicker heavily on NTSC.
Releases
Links
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