Just make your art. Do not worry if it might be “close” to something someone else has made. Just do it.
Want a practical example? Let’s talk about Ninja Gaiden.
The Ninja Gaiden franchise premiered with two games designed by two separate teams. Ninja Gaiden: The Arcade Game was a rote beat ‘em up where our titular ninja barely ever wielded a sword and punched his way through armies of five guys that were somehow 10,000 guys. The charm point was that opponents could be tossed into background objects for bonuses. Give or take a memorable continue screen, there was nothing to distinguish this 1988 arcade title from anything else. If Ninja Gaiden: The Arcade Game was all there ever was of the franchise, it would be sitting in the dustbins of history with Burning Fight and Rival Turf.
But Ninja Gaiden: The Nintendo Entertainment System Game? That changed the course of history.
Ninja Gaiden is a 2-D action game. You run from one side of the screen to the other, and hope that you do not drop into a bottomless deathtrap while puttering along. There are jumping challenges. There is a (remorseless) timer so you cannot stand still for long. Some stages are horizontal, some areas are more vertical. You fight a random assortment of goons and angry animals. Every level ends with a boss that can tank multiple stabs, and the finale of the adventure is a veritable boss gauntlet. There is not a single unique thing happening during the gameplay of Ninja Gaiden.
But when you are not playing the game? Then things get interesting. Literally! Ryu Hayabusa is a man desperately trying to solve his father’s murder, and on his way to finding out daddy dearest pulled a Darth Vader, he will get wrapped up in a solemn tale of betrayal, archeology, and demon gods. And we know all of this, 
because this tale is not relayed through gameplay or a manual, but cinema scenes that play between levels. Irene, the CIA agent and handler for our featured ninja, never appears in a single level of Ninja Gaiden. But she is unequivocally the leading lady of Ninja Gaiden, and a woman that would be central in the sequels because she is showcased every act break. No “sprite”, but Irene is just as crucial as our playable character.
And the cinemas of Ninja Gaiden are not only central to the adventure, but also something new in gaming (in 1988). Ninja Gaiden may not have been the absolute first game to utilize a “between levels” story in all its 8-bit glory, but it is the game that put such a practice on the map. Other videogames quickly followed, and it became standard practice to have “story scenes” between levels to move the plot along and explain why the next stage took place in a sewer (because God hates you). These transitions and story beats are a little more seamless nowadays, but big, showy events between levels started right here with Ninja Gaiden.
But Ninja Gaiden did not start with Ninja Gaiden. You look at Ninja Gaiden for longer than three seconds, and you’ll easily identify it as a rip-off of Castlevania.
I’m seeing double! Four Castlevanias!
Side by side, playing one game after another, you will find that Ninja Gaiden is a worse version of Castlevania. And this isn’t just about the HUD! Ninja Gaiden has extremely similar gameplay, but it is significantly less refined. Castlevania is known for its endless army of monsters, but its spawn points are carefully programmed to be fair with a player. You eliminate all the axe armors in a room, then you only have to deal with infinite medusa heads. And those infinite monsters, like fleamen-dropped birds and those dang floating heads, are rationed out on a timer. Not so in Ninja Gaiden! Depending on where you stand in any given level, you may find a way to infinitely spawn the worst of Ryu’s bestiary. Similarly, Castlevania practically codified the concept of annoying flying critters knocking your hero into a pit. But, save a few places where that is “the point” (like the underground at the start of Level 4), this is not the number one tool in Dracula’s arsenal. Over in Ninja Gaiden land, bottomless pits with helpful birds ushering you into an early grave are a constant and unavoidable part of life. Opponents that take up entire platforms are equally common. The final platforming level of Ninja Gaiden is a gauntlet of tricky jumps combined with inopportune spawns. And while one could make the argument that such a challenge is more deliberate in a game featuring a speedy ninja over a scoliosis-ridden vampire hunter… Uh… No, it’s not. 
Ryu can move a little faster than Simon, and he can cling to walls. Other than that, Ninja Gaiden’s protagonist is not any better equipped for aerial combat than Castlevania’s hero. It is just plain unreasonable to plague the poor guy with endless murder-birds. Oh! And Ryu’s sword may be just as horizontal as the Vampire Killer, but that legendary blade has a terribly narrow hitbox, so some of the ninja’s fastest opponents may as well be invincible. And some of those “fastest opponents” are just filched fleamen! Castlevania has its share of problems, but Ninja Gaiden compounds them and calls it difficulty. It is cruel, and Castlevania comes out as objectively the better game.
Ninja Gaiden is a copy. It is a worse copy. Complete with Castlevania itself attempting to ape the (then) popular Ghouls ‘n Ghosts and its platforming/horror mashup, you could even claim Ninja Gaiden is a copy of a copy. It is a lousy xerox that didn’t even include the requisite zombies!
But without Ninja Gaiden, we might never have seen a revolution in videogame storytelling.
What can we learn from this? Well, maybe copies of copies are not so bad. We value creativity, and nobody is advocating for another 17 evil Superman comics. But can something based on another concept be based? Absolutely! Are you afraid of making something because it looks a little too much like some other media you enjoy? Don’t worry about it! Mark Millar has made twelve billion dollars copying better ideas poorly, and it sure seems like nobody is complaining! There are powerful, unique stories out there that spring from basic concepts like “what if being a magical girl was as horrible as being a real girl” (Puella Magi Madoka Magica) or “what if therapy was giant robots” (Neon Genesis Evangelion), and we could use more of them! It has been 15 years since Better Off Ted! You can try that concept again! If you are going to make art that is actually good (and who starts a project planning on it being bad?), then do not worry about whether or not it is superficially similar to something else. You have plenty of other things to worry about! Start your story with “Batman has a new hat”, and then move forward, because there are an infinite number of directions you can go from there. Maybe it will be successful, maybe it won’t. But at least it will be, and this world needs more art.
Just make your art.
And if you need to borrow your lifebar from Castlevania? Well, that just saves a step on the way to greatness.
Note: “Greatness” may be defined as “recurring character in the Dead or Alive franchise”
FGC #688 Ninja Gaiden
- System: We are talking about the NES version of Ninja Gaiden today, and any Xbox reboots and their further remakes are right out. We may allow the inclusion of the Ninja Gaiden Trilogy on SNES, the Wii/WiiU/3DS Virtual Console releases, and the current Nintendo Switch edition. The “improved” PC Engine port is not to be mentioned, as we were not granted access here in the states.
- Number of players: Castlevania is one player, and so is Ninja Gaiden.
- Goggle Bob Fact: I queried the Even Worse team in trying to focus on an “ideal” game that liberally copies other ideas. Street Fighter 2 and its roster of manga rejects was my first impulse, but BEAT suggested Ninja Gaiden, and that obviously won the day. We also had Tekken and Time Crisis suggested by fanboymaster. All excellent picks!
The Man of the Hour: Ninja Gaiden was designed by Hideo Yoshizawa, who also directed Klonoa: Door to Phantomile eleven years later. From there, he mostly produced Mr. Driller games, which is an excellent way to live.- Favorite Subweapon: The Windmill Star is an excellent piece of ninja technology. Toss one out, and then dodge the boomerang infinitely until everything around you is a smoking pile of ninja debris. It is little wonder that this move returned for sequels.
- Innovative Decorating: The Castlevania series has always had “powerup candles” that made very little sense, but we all just rolled with it. We need those hearts, baby! Ninja Gaiden innovates by providing unique “candles” for different levels. And, while Ryu is a noted bird-hater, it is a little strange during the mountain stages to slash hovering eagles for special weapons. Maybe with higher graphical fidelity, they would be welcoming birds that drop friendly fire wheels and then peacefully fly away. As it is, we just have far too much bird-murder (birdur?).
- Other Castlevania parallels: Presumably it is a coincidence that the final boss fights in both Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden involve decapitation. That is the bond between ninja and vampire hunters.
- Story Time: There is a Worlds of Power Ninja Gaiden novelization. Like how Dracula drinks cherry pop in the same “universe”, this is a gentler look at the Ninja Gaiden universe, and Ryu’s dad (Ken, naturally) survives the adventure. If it is somehow 1990 again, and you are stuck at a book fair, you should probably pick this one up before you blow all your cash on Garfield collections.
- Ninja Gaiden Can Win: Ninja Gaiden has a better death jingle than Castlevania.
- Ninja Gaiden Can Win #2: There are ninja that are strapped to jetpacks that fly horizontally and launch random shuriken. This is good. This is what the world needs.
Did you know? In 2004, Tecmo started releasing episodic, “value priced” sections of Ninja Gaiden for mobile devices. The first pack was released with a couple of new, bonus levels, but we never saw any new releases in that line after that. Also, it is presumed that Tecmo got the idea for this concept after Upstart Games successfully released level packs in a similar manner with… Castlevania. Huh!- Would I play again: For all my jabs at Ninja Gaiden, it is one of my favorite NES games. Back in the day, I used to replay the adventure up to about Level 3… and then quit due to bird assaults. But now there is a handy rewind feature available, so I may even play it all the way through again on a random afternoon. Way to go, plagiarism!
What’s next? Random ROB has chosen… Bakeru! Bang your drum, we’re going to have some fun! Please look forward to it!
