Well, I beat that stage. I even somehow got a "Master Ninja" rank on that stage, whatever that really means (I haven't been particularly paying attention to rank).


The cinema scene before you fight that boss is kind of funny (to me, at least). Ryu does this little chant and draws a circle around himself, which causes a disc of rock -- which he can control -- to rise up off the ground. If he can do that whenever he wants, why does he wait to do it then?

And was the only purpose of having all those flowers (one of the few colorful scenes in the game) just to have them be destroyed when the boss wakes up? Did the boss plant them just for that reason? "Heh, if a ninja ever comes to fight me, I'll make all these flowers wilt and it'll be really cool!"

"Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood."
-Orwell