
Players aren't limited to progressing through the stages in numeric order shortly after the tutorial, nearly the entire game is unlocked, and very little is presented to give any idea of what is supposed to be done, or how it is supposed to be done.

Ninja Usagimaru is anything but basic, with a plethora of movement options available from the start, and a decent number of abilities and tools to make levels more complex as progress is made. That's really not a fair comparison, because The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle isn't exactly an underrated NES gem, but, for what it was, it's not as bad as some have suggested it was rather basic, but that can be said of almost every NES game. In a way, it's reminiscent of The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle on NES, only better and with the caveat that the ninja is rescuing villagers, and there is no bunny collecting carrots.

At its heart, Ninja Usagimaru: The Gem of Blessings is a puzzle game where the goal is to rescue villagers, but one of the things that immediately sets it apart is the lack of a direct attack, although enemies can be killed by dropping blocks on them.
