A Irem Japanese platformer featuring a ninja child who throws cherries. Colorful, accessible, charming. Honest mechanics for a game clearly targeting younger players. Enjoyable without pretension.
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Category
Platformer1 player3+
Description
Action platformer featuring Yanchamaru battling enemies in medieval Japanese levels. Published by Irem, released in Japan in 1988. Yanchamaru in side-scrolling view with varied attacks. First Kaiketsu Yanchamaru on Famicom.
Complete: box, manual and disc/cart very clean. Lightly handled.
Q1 damagedQ6 completeQ10 new
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Collector interest
The first Kaiketsu Yanchamaru on Famicom, published by Irem in 1988 and known in the West as Kid Niki in arcades and on NES. The Japanese release is the origin point of the series and stays sought after by Irem devotees and fans of medieval-Japan platformers. Its strong CIB value rests on steady niche demand and on clean Japanese complete copies being scarce, this specific franchise entry having remained a Famicom exclusive.
Is Kaiketsu Yanchamaru still worth playing in 2026?
An action platformer from Irem, Kaiketsu Yanchamaru, known in the West as Kid Niki, has a young rebel ninja fight enemies in medieval Japanese levels, armed with a whirling hairdo as a weapon. The offbeat humour, the singular character design and the snappy gameplay give a strong identity to this arcade platformer. The difficulty stays high. For a fan of offbeat retro action or someone curious about Irem productions, the title keeps an eccentric character and a bouncy charm.
