Update [Wed 11th Sep, 2024 11:45 BST]: The crowdfunding campaign for System 3's Last Ninja Collection went live yesterday and remarkably managed to hit its initial funding goal of £10,000 within just 40 minutes. As of now, the total amount is currently £35,630, with the campaign still having 28 days to go before it ends.
If you want to snag your own copy of the collection, there are various tiers available, which you can back, with the cheapest option being a £25 digital download for either PC or Switch that comes with 8 UHD digital wallpapers. Elsewhere, there is also a £50 physical option for Switch, which comes with a PC download, and a pricey £150 that comes with a bunch of bonuses, including limited boxed editions of the unfinished Last Ninja 4 and IK++.
You can view the remainder of the tiers here.
Original Article [Wed 4th Sep, 2024 16:00 BST]: System 3, the developer of The Last Ninja series, has announced a new video game compilation coming to PC & Nintendo Switch called The Last Ninja Collection, which will be funded by a Kickstarter campaign launching on September 10th.
According to the Kickstarter description, this collection will contain The Last Ninja, Last Ninja 2, Ninja Remix, and Last Ninja 3, as well as other System 3 games like International Karate, International Karate+, and Bangkok Knights. All of these will contain their Commodore 64 editions, as well as additional versions, where possible, for the Commodore Amiga 500 and ZX Spectrum. These can be selected from a special submenu after initially picking the game you want to play.
Speaking about the announcement in a press release, Mark Cale, the CEO of System 3 said, “I’m really excited to bring The Last Ninja Collection to Kickstarter. Before Souls-like was a genre, The Last Ninja defined it, and to bring these titles and more, including the International Karate series to Nintendo Switch and PC is a real salute to Archer Maclean and his legacy. Video games must be preserved at all costs, and I’m thrilled we’re able to lead the way in securing a physical legacy for years to come.”
Interestingly, as part of the campaign, System 3 will also be offering backers the chance to purchase two additional DVD CD-ROMs containing a few unfinished projects related to The Last Ninja and International Karate series. These include two work-in-progress demos of Last Ninja 4 (one from 2002, and one from 2018), and a fully playable demo of the abandoned game IK++.
The Kickstarter is set to go live on September 10th, with the game expected to launch in early 2025. You can sign up to be alerted when the campaign starts at this link.