History VideoGame / MarusMission

An exclusive UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor version of the game was later released in 2023 in the ''Jajamaru Legendary Ninja Collection''.

''Maru's Mission'' is a SideView PlatformGame with a light {{horror}} theme by Creator/{{TOSE}} and Creator/{{Jaleco}} for the UsefulNotes/GameBoy. In Japan, it's known as ''Oira Jajamaru! Sekai Daibōken'' (おいらじゃじゃ丸！～世界大冒険～, ''I'm Jajamaru! World-Wide Adventure'') and the fifth game in the ''Ninja Jajamaru-kun'' series; seventh if the ''Ninja-kun'' games are counted. ''Maru's Mission'' debuted in Japan on September 28, 1990, followed by an American release in March of 1991. It was the first ''Ninja Jajamaru-kun'' game to be released in America. In contrast, there was no European release despite earlier ''Ninja-kun'' games making it there.

!!''Maru's Mission'' contain examples of:

* AttackReflector: The hero receives a mirror shield from the golem, which is either a mystical mirror that floats around the hero (''Oira Jajamaru! Sekai Daibōken'') or a highly shiny shield (''Maru's Mission). This tool is essential to take down the gorgon Medusa, because only her eyebeams reflected back at her can harm her.

%%* EvilDoppelganger:
%%* FeatheredSerpent:

* {{Medusa}}: The end-boss of Greece is a random gorgon in ''Oira Jajamaru! Sekai Daibōken'' and Medusa specifically in ''Maru's Mission''. She is woman with snakes as hair and a snake-like lower body. Nothing can harm her but her own eyebeams, which can be reflected back to her with the mirror shield the golem gifts the hero.

%%* OurHydrasAreDifferent:

There are six levels total, each divided in two halves. A mid-boss is fought at the end of the first half and the level boss at the end of the second half. The look of two complementary halves are usually the same, but the Romania levels and Brazil levels are divided between a mountainous first half and a cemetery-centered second half. There are also special stages that take place underwater and require Maru to battle sharks and rays. They occur after the first level and after the Egypt level in both versions while ''Maru's Mission'' has a third instance after the Brazil level. Gameplay in the normal levels consists of trekking from left to right, fighting mobs, picking up power-ups and souls of defeated mobs, and the occasional jumping. The level order is set.

%%* JapaneseRanguage:
* {{Medusa}}: The end-boss of Greece is an unidentified gorgon in ''Oira Jajamaru! Sekai Daibōken'' and Medusa specifically in ''Maru's Mission''. She is woman with snakes as hair and a snake-like lower body. Nothing can harm her but her own eyebeams, which can be reflected back to her with the mirror shield the golem gifts the hero.
%%* {{Mummy}}:

%%* SuperSpit:

%%* WolfMan:
%%* TheWormThatWalks:

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: The world map is crudely drawn to begin with and the dots that reflect the real-life location of the countries half the time aren't even approximately correct. Greece is positioned north of Turkey roughly where Ukraine is in real-life. Romania is positioned somewhere in North-West Russia. And Brazil apparently has traded places with either Bolivia or Chile.

* AttackReflector: Depending on the version, the hero received either a mirror or a shiny shield from the golem. This tool is essential to take down the gorgon Medusa, because only her eyebeams reflected back at her can harm her.
* BeTheBall: In ''Maru's Mission'', the golem comes rolling in tucked into a ball to meet and beat the hero. He doesn't do so in ''Oira Jajamaru! Sekai Daibōken''.

** After being defeated, the wolfman gives Jajamaru a cross to use against Dracula in ''Oira Jajamaru! Sekai Daibōken''. In ''Maru's Mission'', he hands him garlic for the same purpose. This change isn't only to remove religious imagery, though. When Maru throws the cross as if it's a shuriken, it looks remarkably like a swastika. Garlic is definitely more neutral imagery.

* CallAPegasusAHippogriff: The end-boss of Egypt in ''Oira Jajamaru! Sekai Daibōken'' is the Mesopotamian god Pazuzu (rendered as "Pazusu"). His inclusion is most likely inspired by Pazuzu's role in ''Film/TheExorcist'', which should be familiar to American audiences at the time. Between the two games, Pazuzu looks a whole lot of much more like himself in ''Maru's Mission'', yet despite this improvement he's instead identified as the Egyptian goddess Isis. Why this is is unclear. Anyone familiar with Isis sees that the double-winged and mohawk-sporting enemy looks nothing like her and anyone who doesn't is unlikely to care either way.
* CharacterPortrait: All bosses and Maru have character portraits that show up during short conversations prior to and after the boss battle. All boss portraits were redone from ''Oira Jajamaru! Sekai Daibōken'' to ''Maru's Mission'' to be at a different angle and less cutesy.

* CollisionDamage: All enemies and some landscape pieces do damage to the hero upon collision, but don't get hurt in return. There is no momentary invincibility after collision either. Especially the sharks and bosses can prove costly matches.

%%* CulturalTranslation: There are several changes from ''Oira Jajamaru! Sekai Daibōken'' to ''Maru's Mission'' implemented to make the game more accessible to American audiences.

* {{Dracula}}: Dracula is the end-boss of Romania and resides at a cemetery. His main move in battle is to disperse in a swarm of bats that jointly attack the hero. In ''Oira Jajamaru! Sekai Daibōken'', when the bats disperse, the katakana "バサバサ" ("basabasa"; "rustle") emerges from the center and floats in the air for a bit before disappearing. Dracula can only be harmed when he's in humanoid form and, depending on the Japanese or American version, only the cross or the garlic given to the hero by the wolfman can effectively strike the vampire.
* FrankensteinsMonster: Frankenstein's monsters are enemies encountered in Romania. They have a 1970s disco look to them and walk around with heavy motion in their shoulders.

%%* {{Hellhound}}: The end-boss of Brazil is Kerberos, though in the American version it is rendered as "Kelbelos". In addition to having three heads, he has a snake for a tail and sports stripes. He resides at a cemetery in Brazil.
* HorseOfADifferentColor: As is par of the course for the ''Ninja Jajamura-kun'' series, Jajamaru rides a huge frog in ''Oira Jajamaru! Sekai Daibōken'' to travel the world. In ''Maru's Mission'', the frog is replaces by a large turtle.

* InvincibilityPowerUp: On occasion, an enemy will drop a little cart upon defeat. The hero can sit in temporarily for invincibility.

* {{Medusa}}: The end-boss of Greece is an unidentified gorgon in ''Oira Jajamaru! Sekai Daibōken'' and Medusa specifically in ''Maru's Mission''. She is woman with snakes as hair and a snake-like lower body. Nothing can harm her but her own eyebeams, which can be reflected back to her with the mirror or shield the golem possesses.

* {{Tengu}}: Hanataka tengu are among the Japanese enemies. They cast miniature lightning bolts to have a go at the hero with.

** In ''Oira Jajamaru! Sekai Daibōken'', the final level's bosses are Beelzebub and Satan. They are replaced by Nioh and Muramasa in ''Maru's Mission''. Satan is moved altogether, while Beelzebub's sprite got altered and used as the boss Insector in the first level.

%%* {{Dracula}}:
%%* FrankensteinsMonster:

%%* {{Hellhound}}: The end-boss of Brazil is

* AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: A lot of sprites and portraits were changed between the Japanese and American release. Some become different characters, like Satan and Muramasa, but most changes are done for purely aesthetic reasons. Most Japanese sprites have SuperDeformed proportions and look cute if not silly. The American sprites are more realistically proportioned and look more like they're out for blood.

* AsianFoxSpirit: In ''Oira Jajamaru! Sekai Daibōken'', kitsune are enemies encountered in Japan. They do not appear in ''Maru's Mission''. The kitsune appear as single-tailed foxes that can phase in and out of existence.

** After being defeated, the wolfman gives Jajamaru a cross to use against Dracula in ''Oira Jajamaru! Sekai Daibōken''. In ''Maru's Mission'', he hands him garlic for the same purpose.

* CallAPegasusAHippogriff: The end-boss of Egypt in ''Oira Jajamaru! Sekai Daibōken'' is the Mesopotamian god Pazuzu (rendered as Pazusu). His inclusion is most likely inspired by Pazuzu's role in ''Film/TheExorcist'', which should then be familiar to American audiences. Between the two games, Pazuzu looks a whole lot of much more like himself in ''Maru's Mission'', yet despite this improvement he's instead identified as the Egyptian goddess Isis. Why this is is unclear. Anyone familiar with Isis sees that the winged enemy looks nothing like her and anyone who doesn't is unlikely to know that Pazuzu isn't Egyptian. And even in that case, ''Maru's Mission'' also left the Greek hydra and Cerberus in Brazil instead of replacing them with something more suitable for the area.

%%* ClassicalChimera:

%%* DoppelgangerSpin:

* RescuedFromTheUnderworld: Despite ''Oira Jajamaru! Sekai Daibōken'' being clear that Satan is residing in the USA, the final level looks a lot like hell. There are demons flying around, pits of fire burn steadily, there's a lot of death symbolism and skeletons, and of course it takes place underground. In ''Maru's Mission'', the hell aspect is toned down because the Japanese monsters of the first level are exchanged, and tengu and sumo wrestlers don't particularly evoke hell. In any case, the hero rescues his girlfriend from that bad place and the fiend who rules it.

* SoulEating: As per usual for the series, defeated enemies leave their soul behind which Maru can collect to add five points to his own lifeforce. In ''Maru's Mission'', but not in ''Oira Jajamaru! Sekai Daibōken'', defeated bosses leave multiple souls.

%%* SumoWrestling:

%%* {{Tengu}}:

%%* CreepyCemetery:

%%* {{Hellhound}}:
%%* HorseOfADifferentColor:

* {{Medusa}}:

* AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: A lot of sprites and portraits were changed between the Japanese and American release. Some become different characters, like Satan and Muramasa, but most changes are done for purely aesthetic reasons. Most Japanese sprites have SuperDeformed proportions and look generally cute. The American sprites are more realistically proportioned and look more like they're out for blood.

%%* CulturalTranslation:

''Maru's Mission'' is a SideView ActionGame with a light {{horror}} theme by Creator/{{Jaleco}}. In Japan, it's known as ''Oira Jajamaru! Sekai Daibōken'' (おいらじゃじゃ丸！～世界大冒険～, ''I'm Jajamaru! World Grand Adventure'') and the fifth game in the ''Ninja Jajamaru-kun'' series; seventh if the ''Ninja-kun'' games are counted. ''Maru's Mission'' debuted in Japan on September 28, 1990, followed by an American release in March of 1991. It was the first ''Ninja Jajamaru-kun'' game to be released in America. In contrast, there was no European release despite earlier ''Ninja-kun'' games making it there.

Befitting its Japanese title, Maru's mission takes him across the globe. This is a first for the series and so far it's the only entry to do so, as the games normally take place in Japan and deal solely with Japanese culture and folklore. In ''Oira Jajamaru! Sekai Daibōken'', Jajamaru and Princess Sakura are out for a walk in a field in Japan when Satan shows up to abduct Sakura. Jajamaru gets on his large frog and goes after the fiend's henchmen, each defeat providing him with a new destination to pursue Satan and Sakura to until he finally catches up in the USA. In ''Maru's Mission'', Maru and Cori are out for a walk in a city in the USA when Muramasa shows up to abduct Cori. Maru gets on his turtle and goes after the fiend's henchmen, each defeat providing him with a new destination to pursue Muramasa and Cori to until he finally catches up in Japan.

There are six levels total, each divided in two halves. A mid-boss is fought at the end of the first half and the level boss at the end of the second half. The look of two complementary halves are usually the same, but the Romania levels and Brazil levels are divided between a mountainous first half and a cemetery-centered second half. There are also bonus stages that take place underwater and require Maru to battle sharks. They occur after the first level and after the Egypt level in both versions while ''Maru's Mission'' has a third instance after the Brazil level. Gameplay in the normal levels consists of trekking from left to right, fighting mobs, picking up power-ups and souls of defeated mobs, and the occasional jumping. The level order is set.

* VampiresHateGarlic: In ''Maru's Mission'', the wolfman gives Maru garlic afer he's defeated him so Maru can use it to also defeat Dracula.