While you were busy throwing birthday parties for Steven Seagal and Haley Joel Osment, Taito was quietly uploading full-motion video games to Steam. You heard me right, both Time Gal and Ninja Hayate (also known as Revenge of the Ninja) are back, and now with an HD makeover. While American gamers missed out on the LaserDisc versions in the arcades, we did get Sega CD ports in the early 1990s. With these new versions available to buy, I wondered what the reception was like back in the day. To answer that question, I decided to flip through the pages of Electronic Gaming Monthly, GamePro, Hyper and more classic magazines to see what the critics said when these games first came out. Prepare to jump through time and be a ninja in this episode of Taito Review Crew.


As Sega was gearing up to release their CD add-on in the early 1990s, publishers were scrambling to come up with software for the new system. More specifically, they wanted games that would take up a majority of the compact disc, justifying the leap to optical media. Sega, for example, chose to revisit some of the full-motion video games created for Hasbro's aborted ControlVision system, like Night Trap and Sewer Shark. Renovation went a different direction, going after some many of Wolf Team's LaserDisc games that populated the arcade for a short time in the mid-1980s. This included the 1984 game Ninja Hayate, which didn't see an American release until a decade later, when it was renamed Revenge of the Ninja on the Sega CD. This came after the release of several other quick time event-style games, like Time Gal and Road Avenger. Let's see if that had impact on the review scores.

I like to start with Electronic Gaming Monthly, because they tend to be somewhere in the middle of the review range. In this case, they are exactly in the middle, with two magazines scoring the game higher and two magazines scoring it lower. In a capsule review that apparently speaks for five different critics, Mike writes: “Essentially a Dragon's Lair-type action game, this is more a treat to watch than to play. The game could provide a few more continues, and your skills will rely more on memorization than anything else. Nice animation, though.” EGM ended up giving Revenge of the Ninja an average score of 6.4 out of 10.

That's not far off from Sega Visions, which went a little lower with a 3 out of 5. However, it was the Australian magazine Hyper that gave it the lowest score, and it wasn't even close. Giving it a woefully low score of 32%, Brian Costelloe concluded that “The Revenge of the Ninja is just a revamped Dragon's Lair with a ninja rather than a knight playing the main role. You've got four directions and an action button and you have to hit them at precisely the right time. This leads to frustration as you watch the same scene over and over again. Sometimes you'll be given multiple choices that leave you guessing which way to turn, but this does nothing to add to the already shallow gameplay. I really don't need to say much more if you own a Mega CD, as you probably already own either Road Avenger or Cobra Command as it is. If you've got any brains, you'll leave it that way. If you really want another game of the same type, maybe Dragon's Lair is a better bet. Maybe Wolf Team (the fools behind Revenge of the Ninja) have lost the plot. With Time Gal, Road Avenger and Cobra Command already on the shelves, there's just no need for another interactive cartoon. There are better Mega CD titles on the way, but it's a familiar case of hanging in there and waiting for them. Revenge of the Ninja is a pointless waste of time.”

Going back up the scale, we see Sega Power give this ninja game a so-so score of 68%, just a few tick higher than EGM. GamePro ended up being the most generous, going as high as 3.5 out of 5. “Dragon's Lair is the standard that point ‘n click graphic adventures aspire to, and Revenge of the Ninja doesn't get that far. But even with Dragon's Lair, once you're done, you're done. If you like these types of games, you won't be disappointed. If you don't, disappear into the night before this game finds you.”

While I don't disagree with GamePro's opinion, it's certainly weird hearing them call Revenge of the Ninja a point ‘n click graphic adventure. That's usually associated with games like Sam & Max, Monkey Island and Shadowgate. Y'know, actual point ‘n click adventures. Sometime needs to invent a time machine in order to go back to 1994 and introduce GamePro to the term “quick time event.” Not that it would change the overall average, which sits at a mere 59%. Not good.

Much like Ninja Hayate, Time Gal was an arcade LaserDisc game from the mid-1980s that didn't come to America until years later. First released in 1985, this quick time event-style game has arguably the coolest premise of any of these full-motion video titles. It stars Reika, the Time Gal, who jumps through literally thousands of years of history in order to save the future. As an animated movie, Time Gal is great. We see her fight in a world war, survive a gladiator and even battle dinosaurs all in just a few minutes time. You never knew where she would go next, and there are an impressive amount time periods to explore, all of which feel like bite-sized vignettes. Let's see what the critics said about this early-generation Sega CD title.

I want to shake things up a bit for Time Gal. Instead of starting somewhere in the middle, let's go all he way to the bottom of the review scale, where we see Mean Machines Sega ... twice. Let me explain. When Mean Machines Sega first reviewed the game in their ninth issue, they gave it a 63%, the lowest score of any English-language magazines. Gus summed it up this way: “Wolf Team's expertise at full motion video seems to improve with every attempt. Road Avenger and Cobra Command looked very impressive, but ran jerkily and had an overall fuzziness that has been left off Time Gal. Although the image only takes up the central portion of the screen, the ingenious perspectives and effects make it burst out of the frame. The two bugbears of all interactive cartoon type games remain. There isn't much to do, and it isn't that big. Most game players won't be satisfied with the reaction-test gameplay, however interesting the accompanying visuals. Even worse, Time Gal is a pushover compared to Cobra Command and should be completed in a day. It's a great shame that the ingenuity and humor of Time Gal is let down in this way.” Now, a few months later, when Mean Machines Sega published their “Essential” review guide, they went even lower, giving it a 50%. But that doesn't count. We're going with what the critics originally said, not their revised opinion after the fact.

As we begin our ascent up the review scale, we see Mega Play give Time Gal a so-so 67%. Video Games & Computer Entertainment, on the other hand, rounded up to a 7 out of 10. After chronicling the different time periods Time Gal fights through, Chris concluded his review by saying, “If you liked Road Avenger, loved Dragon's Lair, have an off-the-wall sense of humor and a soft spot for bizarre Japanese animation – not to mention a weakness for psychotic, gun-wielding, green-haired babes who show a lot of leg – then this is the perfect game for you. And if it sounds like the above description fits only an elite group of gamers ... well, a year ago I would have agreed, but I have a funny feeling that a lot of people are going to like Time Gal. I know I did.”

You're going to find that this 70% range is where most of the critics landed. Sega Power gave Time Gal a 71% in their 45th issue, while Mega gave it the exact same score in their fifth. Sega Force went one tick higher, going with a 72%. And that brings us to Electronic Gaming Monthly, who averaged a not-too-shabby 7.5 out of 10. Martin was the one and only EGM critic to not give the game an 8 out of 10, instead preferring a 6. “Maybe it's just me, but I don't care for this type of game. The graphics are very good and have cartoon quality. The animation is very impressive and fans of Japanese animation will love it. The gameplay is nothing more than memorizing which direction to press in the overly short levels.” Sushi-X agreed with the majority, going with an 8: “Aaah! Time Gal IS a Sega CD title. Thanks, Renovation! I like the Mega CD version, and am happy to see the same crisp graphics, solid control and intriguing adventure is still intact from the translation. I expect to see several games of this format soon, and I hope they all take a lesson in good programming from this.”

As we near the top of the review scale, we see Game Informer go a little higher than EGM, giving the game a 7.7 out of 10. Die Hard Game Fan liked the game way more than that, going all the way up to an average of 89%. That's a big leap; however, it's not the highest score. That once again belongs to GamePro, who went with a perfect 5 out of 5. Let's see if they called it a point ‘n click graphic adventure: “This game will keep you entertained, but not forever. Appropriately, Time Gal challenges your sense of timing, but once you get the hang of it, you'll likely whip through the game. However, during the ride, you'll see and hear the best that the Sega CD has to offer ... for now. If you're looking for a boy toy, check with Madonna. But if you're looking for a Gal pal, this is it.”

Oh, how I love GamePro's puns and pop culture references. It's also crazy to think that a magazine gave Time Gal a perfect score. I mean, I own it and I like it, but come on. With an overall average of 76%, Time Gal is on top when it comes to this style of quick time event game. Despite some solid scores, this is a genre that largely went away after developers switched to polygons. These days, if you're buying either Time Gal or Revenge of the Ninja, it's for the nostalgia. You're definitely not getting them for the gameplay.