Although few in the West are aware of it, Ninja Jajamaru-kun was one of Jaleco's most prolific franchises. The little Ninja was Jaleco's mascot and like Sega's Alex Kidd, would star in so many different game styles that there is barely any consistency among them. Today we will be taking a look at Ninja Jajamaru: Ginga Daisakusen. It is the fifth and final Ninja Jajamaru-kun game for the Famicom. Released in 1991, Ninja Jajamaru: Ginga Daisakusen (Epic Galactic Battle) sees Jajamaru & friends leave the confines of cartoonish Japan for an adventure in space. A group of vegetable themed planets have come under attack and it's up to Jajamaru and Princess Sakura to save them. The game is clearly a love letter to Super Mario Bros 3 as it tries to clone the same gameplay and art style. The status bar looks almost identical to the one found in Nintendo's classic. A hack of Ginga Daisakusen was released in 2014 by Bishop Bros with Jajamaru replaced with Reggie from the YouTube channel Metal Jesus Rocks. A NES release was planned under the name Squashed, but development was stopped in the prototyping stage.
