Reception
The game received a mixed-to-negative response from critics. It has been criticized for being a blatant rip-off of Mortal Kombat (including gameplay, digitized graphics and graphic violence) with poor controls. GamePro commented that the graphics are technically impressive, but often unpleasant to look at due to aesthetic choices such as the palette swapped characters, the massive blood drops, and Angus's kilt-lifting move. They also criticized the controls, the music, and the announcer's voice, and concluded "Kasumi's a 64-bit warrior destined to remain in the shadows of deeper 16-bit fighting games."[31]
Next Generation gave it one star out of five, calling it "a tragic example when good ideas are poorly executed" and citing "jerky animation", "sluggish control" and "baffling gameplay mechanics that discourage close-up fighting".[37] Conversely, German website Atari Inside scored it 82%, praising the graphics and gameplay but criticizing the animation.[12] ST-Computer also reviewed the game positively, giving a score of 80%, with commendations on graphics but low views on animation.[39]
Brazilian magazine SuperGamePower gave the game 3.5 out of 5 for sharp graphics and large move set.[42] French magazine Consoles+ scored the game 73%, approving the original style in performing moves and option to adjust the amount of blood spilling (although a second reviewer criticized the game's slowness, and that the game's quality is more SNES than Jaguar).[28]
In a retrospective review, AllGame praised the game's visuals, but criticized the controller and concluded the game to be no more than "a horrible cash-in" Mortal Kombat clone that "should be ignored by all but the most devoted 64-bit Atari Jaguar fans."[25] GamePro summarized that "Kasumi Ninja was a terrible, terrible Jaguar title - bad controller, bad controls, terrible menu set, forgettable characters, and an utterly unoriginal premise - that, thankfully, history has forgotten."[47]
In 2009, Topless Robot ranked it as the fourth worst Mortal Kombat rip-off.[48] In 2011, UGO.com included it in their list of the 102 worst games of all time.[49] That same year, Complex called it "one of the worst Jaguar games ever released in a sea of awful Jaguar games."[50] In 2012, Complex also ranked it as the fourth worst fighting game of all time, adding, "It was hard choosing amongst Ultra Vortek, Fight for Life, and Kasumi Ninja for the worst Jaguar fighting game, but we’re going to go with the last one mentioned because it’s probably the most famous. And also the worst."[51] Kasumi Ninja is also listed in Digital Press's "50 Awful Games."[52]
