Kaiketsu(Wonderful) Yanchamaru 3: Taiketsu(Showdown)! Zouringen (快傑ヤンチャ丸3　対決！ゾウリンゲン) is the third installation of the Yanchamaru series, developed by Irem for the Famicom and released on March 30, 1993. It's also called “Kid Niki 3”, “Super Mario 14”,¹⁾ or “Fight Kid”.²⁾

The story begins with Zouringen kidnapping Princess Kurumi after his plans to conquer Edo were ruined, so Yanchamaru sets off to rescue her. Unlike the previous games, he wields a stick instead of his spinning sword, uses bōjutsu which makes the game feel more action-packed, and the art style feels more western. There are seven levels filled with keys and locked doors, and the bosses feel Mega Man inspired.

A fan translation of Kaiketsu Yanchamaru 3 was provided by “Suicidal Translations” on February 28, 2003, long before the “Super Mario 14” hack became well known, and the fan translation patch can be found on Romhacking.net, though my only complaint is that it heavily bases itself on the localization. Arguably, you don't really need a translation as the visuals already give you the gist of the story.³⁾

• For preservation purposes, the Japanese names for the characters mentioned in the story are: “Yanchamaru” (ヤンチャ丸), “Princess Kurumi” (くるみ姫), and “Zouringen” (像林玄).
• If you hold A and B on Controller 2, then press “Start” on Controller 1, you'll be taken to the Stage Select screen. Use A and B to select the level, then press “Start” to begin the level.

• Kid Niki: Radical Ninja on Wikipedia [EN] - Mention only.
  • Kaiketsu Yanchamaru 3: Taiketsu! Zouringen on Wikipedia [JA]
• Kaiketsu Yanchamaru 3 ~Game Manual~ [JA]
• Kaiketsu Yanchamaru on the Game Catalog @Wiki [JA] - Mention only.