Game Specs for Wrath Of The Black Manta

NOTE: When possible, the game's official manual or official documentation from the game maker's company or Nintendo is used — with spelling or terminology presented as is, despite some translation errors.

SPOILER ALERT: Some of the categories below may have a question mark to conceal important or secret revelations in the game. If you would like to see the unknown revealed, a rollover option or external link will be attached to the question mark.

Title	Wrath Of The Black Manta
Company	Taito American Corp.
Developer(s)/Designer(s):	unlisted
Composer(s)/Musician(s):	unlisted
Year:	1989
Release Date:	North America - April 1990
System:	NES
Genre:	Action, Platformer, Arcade
Ratings/Suitable For Age Group?:	ESRB Rating Unavailable Animated Deaths, No Blood, Character Just Collapses, Weapons
Arcade Version?:	No
Port To Other Game Systems:	No
Part of Franchise:	No
Rarity/Availability:	Cartridge is still common and inexpensive (at least, in the St. Louis, MO metropolitan area).
Add'l Game System Peripheral Needed To Play?:	N/A
1 or 2 Player:	1 Player
Number of Reserve Players:	Start with 2 Reserve Players
1-Up's	None, but extra players are rewarded at 5,000 points, 10,000 points and 15,000 points
Life Meter	Life Meter starts with 2 blocks, but can max out at 8 blocks
Password	No
Battery	No
Continue?	Yes. There are 4 Continues available.
Perspective/Orientation Gameplay	2D ... Horizontal and Vertical; Elevator segments are pseudo-3D from first-person perspective (over the shoulder or behind the Black Manta) Unique perspective seen in the Elevator segments of Part 5 - DRAT Headquarters.
Number of Levels	5 Parts (or Stages)
Checkpoints?	None
Save points?	No
Uninterrupted Play?	It varies. Upon death of Black Manta—throughout a stage, play resumes immediately from point of death, but will only begin with 3 bars in his Life Meter. However, if death occurs during a main enemy fight, the battle will reset with the main enemy having full life and Black Manta beginning with 3 bars.
Internal Map(s)?	No
Score?	Yes
Difficulty Settings	No
Time Limit?	No
Hero	Black Manta
Sidekick(s)/Cast	Yes - Master and Taro (but, not playable)
Weapons	Short Sword (also referred to as Knife in manual) (default - close range) Darts (default - long distance) Ninpo Arts (that are earned after each stage is defeated)
Items/Equipment	Letter (Contains valuable clues.)
Power-Ups	Life Symbol (Gives Black Manta maximum strength.) POW Symbol (Makes the POW Indicator more powerful. (Lengthens bar for stronger Ninpo Art attacks))
Power-Downs	No
Main Enemy	Spoiler alert! Click here to see.
Person/Place Being Saved	Kidnapped children and Taro
Objective/Goal	Rescue kidnapped children and Taro, destroy DRAT
Ending?	Yes
Secret Code(s)?	No
Stage Select	No
Invincibility	No
Extra Players	No
Continues	N/A
Sound Test	No
Additional Secret Codes	?
Trivia/Little Known Facts	There are a number of discrepancies surrounding colors in Wrath Of The Black Manta. First of all, Black Manta actually wears a purple outfit—not black as his name suggests. Second of all, on page 2 of the game manual—under "The Story" section— the following is described: "... Stricken with fear, the poor fool [an 'unsuspecting informant'] stares into a pair of cold blue eyes. This mysterious hero [The Black Manta] is no ordinary crime fighter." The Black Manta's eyes are actually black, or very dark, as seen in the in-game close-ups. Early on in Wrath Of The Black Manta, a letter reveals that "The man in red knows something." It can be argued that this "man in red" is actually wearing brown or, perhaps, burgundy instead. The man in red... errr brown knows something. The ~~Black~~ Purple Manta, with cold ~~blue~~ black eyes, speaks directly to "The man in ~~red~~ brown/burgundy". There seems to be a discrepancy for one of the weapons used by the Black Manta. For his long-distance attacks, the manual states that he uses "darts"; but in the game, the actual graphics are designed as throwing stars, or shuriken. The pixel artists at Taito designed some wonderful portraits in Wrath Of The Black Manta. The headshot of one of the informants was modeled after a drawing found in How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way, a book that taught techniques for drawing and making your own comic book. The book—by Stan Lee and John Buscema—was originally published in 1978. The main boss found at the end of the "Part 2 - Tokyo, Japan" stage is the Ninja. The unusual thing is that the three, acrobatic ninja inexplicably become four, rotating, cylindrical, masked enemies that levitate across the screen. The main boss found at the end of the "Part 3 - Rio De Janeiro" stage is the Voodoo Warrior. Although voodoo isn't always the first thing that people think of when they think about Brazil, this enemy may be inspired by the Baron Samedi, a character seen in the 1973 James Bond movie, Live And Let Die. Baron Samedi, portrayed by Geoffrey Holder, is a prominent character and voodoo priest in Live And Let Die. The Voodoo Warrior is dressed in a similar manner as Baron Samedi. If one pays attention to the scenery in the background behind the Voodoo Warrior, a volcano spewing lava can be seen. It is important to note that, as of this writing, there are no active volcanoes in Brazil, let alone Rio De Janeiro. The main bosses found at the end of the "Part 4 - New York City" stage are robot guards. The two, smaller robots of the trio look similar to the Mouser characters from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The final robot in the battle is a larger machine that seems to resemble either the ED-209 robot from the movie, Robocop (1987), or the AT-ST (All Terrain Scout Transport) Walker seen in the Star Wars universe - most prominently in Return Of The Jedi (1983). After much coercion, the informant from "Part 5 - DRAT Headquarters" tells the Black Manta that the final boss can be found on the top floor of the building. This is a lie. The last confrontation happens at the end of the hall on Floor 4. RETURN TO TOP

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Game Specs for Wrath Of The Black Manta