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Ninja Gaiden
Sales flyer for the arcade game.
Developer(s)	Tecmo
Platform(s)	Arcade, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Atari Lynx, DOS, ZX Spectrum, Virtual Console
Release date(s)	Arcade JP February 1989 NA October 1988 EU February 1989 Virtual Console JP July 28, 2009 NA December 21, 2009[1] PAL November 13, 2009
Genre(s)	Beat 'em up
Mode(s)	Two-player, Co-op
Rating(s)	ESRB: E10+ PEGI: 12
Input methods	8-way joystick, 3 buttons

Ninja Gaiden, known in Japan as Ninja Ryūkenden (忍者龍剣伝 ^?, "Ninja Dragon Sword Legend") and in Europe as Shadow Warriors, is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up originally released by Tecmo as a coin-operated video game. It was first released in North America in 1988 and in Japan and Europe in 1989. The Ninja Gaiden arcade game was produced and released almost simultaneously with its home console counterpart for the NES, although they're both different games with only a few similarities.^[2]

Home versions of the Ninja Gaiden arcade game were released in Europe under the Shadow Warriors title in 1990 by Ocean Software for five different computer platforms (Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, and Amstrad CPC) and in North America for IBM PC by Hi-Tech Expressions. An Atari Lynx version was also released The arcade version of Ninja Gaidenis also included as a hidden bonus game in Ninja Gaiden Black for the Xbox in 2004.^[3] The arcade game was published as a Virtual Console game for the Wii in 2009.

Gameplay

The game's first stage. It bears a strong resemblance to the first stage of Ninja Gaiden (NES)

The arcade version of Ninja Gaiden is closer to the beat 'em up genre, similar in style to Double Dragon. The game stars a nameless ninja on a quest to defeat an evil cult led by a descendant of Nostradamus who seeks to fulfill his end of the world prophecies.^[4] Upon starting the game, the player is greeted by the phrase "NINJA IN USA". The game can be played alone or cooperatively with a second player (who plays as a red-clad ninja).

In this game, the player's character must trek across the United States to fight several enemies along the way. The player must also use ninja tactics to get through some areas. For example, in some levels, the player must perform acrobatic stunts to get from one area to another via overhanging lights or poles. Also, from time to time, the player must perform a Tightrope Walk across poles, which requires the use of the button on top of the joystick.

This game is mostly remembered for two specific reasons. One reason is it's considerable difficulty, as several enemies can be on screen at the same time, making it difficult to move. Consequently, if the player is caught between several enemies, this will drain the player's lifebar very quickly.

The other reason is its morbid and gruesome continue screen, where the main character is tied to a table thrashing his head violently while a giant circular saw is being lowered towards him. If the player does not continue within the 10 second countdown, the screen fades to red, the character cries out in agony, and "Game Over" appears.

Version differences

Regional differences

• At the fourth stage, in the Grand Canyon, Ninja Gaiden (North American version) and Ninja Ryukenden (Japanese version) feature totally different background music. There are also some notable differences between the same music numbers of the two versions.

• In Ninja Gaiden (North American version), the standard enemy who fights with sticks doesn't need to do a three-hit combo, as he does in Ninja Ryukenden (Japanese version), to take off one of the player's life squares, only requiring one or two hits to do so. And at the final stage of the North American version, almost all standard enemies, and all bosses, only have to hit the player once to take off one or two of his life squares.

• Only in Ninja Ryukenden, during the stage clear's scene, the following words can be heard: NINJA... RYUKENDEN!

Virtual Console

This game has been ported to the Nintendo Wii as a downloadable Virtual Console Arcade game. However this contains several differences.

• The boss music in Stages 2 and 5 has been omitted from this version (due to the similarity to Black Sabbath's Iron Man), in turn the regular background music will remain playing even after the bosses appear (which would normally prompt the quick music switch)

• The use of the Star of David in the game's imagery (such as the rug at the end of Stage 4) was edited out.

References

See also

• Ninja Gaiden Series