Ninja Kid
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Ninja Kid ("Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro - Youkai Dai Makyou" in Japan) is an NES game published by Bandai and created by TOSE[1]. The Japanese version was based on the manga Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro, but the game was changed to the generic "Ninja Kid" and all reference to Ge Ge Ge were removed for the American version.
Gameplay begins on an overhead map with several different arches. Each arch leads to a different side-scrolling mission, and the type of the mission can be determined by the shape of the arch.
At the end of each mission, two doors will appear, one of which will return to the map, and the other of which will take to a vertically-scrolling tower with a mini-boss at the top (after defeating the mini-boss you are returned to the map). Also during each mission, items randomly appear on the screen.
Some bonus items also give a temporary speed boost, or an owl that shows you which door leads back to the map (instead of the mini-boss tower). Once collected a scroll, it can be taken to the hut in the middle of the map to unlock the fortress and fight the map's boss. During the boss fight, if any whistles have been collected , the character can crouch in the far left corner of the screen to use a whistle to summon a familiar.
GeGeGe no Kitaro - Youkai Dai Makyou
The original Japanese version is notably different from the American version. The main character is Kitarō, and his main weapon is his hair rather than darts. His sub-weapons are a flying finger instead of shuriken, his vest instead of the feather, and a geta instead of a boomerang. All of these weapons function the same as their Ninja Kid counterparts; they just use different sprites. The fireball sub-weapon remains the same. Somewhat bafflingly, one level is inhabited by "western" film monsters like Frankenstein's Monsters and Count Dracula; the boss of said level is a Buckbaird.
The scroll which unlocks the fortress is a crystal ball in the original version.
The familiars are also different, being characters from the manga: the Pegasus was originally Nurikabe, the Eagle was Konaki Jiji, and the Mirror was Sunakake Babaa.
Finally, a few of the minor enemies are different; most notably the "Pirate Ninja" found in some of the Guerilla Warfare levels was originally Nezumi Otoko, and Kitaro rides on Ittan Momen during the Dog Fight levels.
Ninja Kid 2
An unrelated arcade game by UPL, variously titled Ninja Kid, Ninja Kid II, Rad Action, and (inexplicably) JT-104, was ported to the NES as Ninja Kid 2 despite having no relation to this Ninja Kid. The original name of that game is "Ninjakun Ashura no Shou" and it is the direct sequel of "Ninjakun Majou no Bouken" made by UPL for the arcades. A spin-off of that saga is "Ninja Jajamaru-kun", a videogame for the NES published by Jaleco and that is available for the Nintendo Virtual Console on Wii in spite of the Hanabi Festival.
Sequel
The sequel Gegege no Kitarou 2: Youkai Gundan no Chousen was released the following year in Japan. but this game was a RPG and its plot is unreleated to the original.