Ninja Gaiden

The arcade version of Ninja Gaiden (released in 1988, in Japan, North America, and Europe)[2] was a Double Dragon-style beat 'em up, in which the player controls a nameless blue ninja (red for a second player) as he travels to various regions of the United States (such as New York City, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon) to defeat an evil cult led by a fictional descendant of Nostradamus, who is trying to personally fulfill his ancestor's prophecy of the rise of an evil king in 1999. The player has a variety of techniques, such as a flying neck throw and a back-flip.[3] The player can obtain power-ups by throwing characters into background objects, such as street lights and dumpsters. The player fights primarily with his bare hands, although a sword can also be used for a limited time as a power-up; he can also use overhead environmental objects as a prop from which he can deliver more powerful kicking attacks. Although the game takes place in different environments, there are primarily only five kinds of enemies, all of which appear in every level (although some levels have extra enemy types). The game is remembered for its infamous continue screen (where the player character is tied to the ground underneath a descending circular saw).[4]

The original Ninja Gaiden arcade game received several ports for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga and ZX Spectrum computers. The Amiga version in particular, retained almost all of the graphics and functionality of the original game, including the two-player cooperative gameplay and the introduction. All these versions, developed by Ocean Software, were only released in Europe as Shadow Warriors. A PC (MS-DOS format) port of the original Ninja Gaiden was also developed by Hi Tech Expressions, this time for its release in North America as Ninja Gaiden, as opposed to the other computer versions. However, it featured stripped down play mechanics and a low 16 colour palette. Lastly, it was ported to the Atari Lynx handheld system. An emulated version of the arcade game exists in the Xbox version's update Ninja Gaiden Black as a bonus feature and was also available through Nintendo's Wii Virtual Console download service.

The first Ninja Gaiden for the Nintendo Entertainment System was released in Japan on December 9, 1988, in the United States in March 1989, and in Europe on August 15, 1991. A ninja named Ryu Hayabusa finds a letter by his recently missing father, Ken, telling him to go to America and meet with an archaeologist Dr. Smith. Dr. Smith tells Ryu that two statues hidden by Ryu's father and the doctor have the power to end the world if united. Ryu ends up in South America and battles Jaquio, an evil cult leader bent on reviving the ancient demon called "Jashin" and responsible for the attack on Ken Hayabusa.

While the arcade game itself bears little or no connection to the later NES trilogy or Xbox revival, certain aspects of it were carried over to the first NES title. The first stage in the NES game is a loose adaptation of the first stage in the arcade game and the opening cutscene in the NES game vaguely resembles the intro in the arcade version. Both games also feature Jason Voorhees lookalikes and the final boss in the arcade game vaguely resembles Bloody Malth from the NES game. The game introduced many of the series' staples, including the cinematic cutscenes, the boomerang-like Windmill Shuriken and the magical techniques called Ninja Arts (or Ninpo). To use the ninja arts, players must collect power-ups. Each art uses up a certain number of power-ups.

A port was developed by Hudson for the PC Engine and released only in Japan, although the game features an unlockable English-mode (with a different translation than the NES game). Other differences include enhanced graphics, reworked music, and rebalanced difficulty. An LCD handheld version produced by Tiger Electronics was released in 1988, which also had a sequel.

In the sequel, Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos, Ryu learns of a new villain named Ashtar, Emperor of Chaos and master to Jaquio. Ryu must rescue Irene Lew, a former CIA agent, from Ashtar and destroy the Dark Sword, a weapon of great power, forged from a bone of the demon, as the Dragon Sword is forged from a fang of a dragon. In the end, Ryu learns that Jaquio has been reborn to fulfill the destiny of Ashtar and the Dark Sword. This game was the first to feature Spirit Clones, invincible copies of Ryu which would mimic his movements and fight by his side. Also introduced was the ability to scale walls without the need to constantly jump upwards.

Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos received computer ports developed by GameTek for the PC (MS-DOS format) and the Commodore Amiga, both for their release in North America. They feature a 256 colour palette (32 on Amiga) and a save-and-load function, where the player's exact position in the game can be saved at any given moment.

The third game, titled Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom features rogue secret agents, genetic engineering and the eponymous warship. The gameplay is largely unchanged and more is revealed about Foster, the CIA agent who sent Ryu after Jaquio in the first game and his true intentions towards the ninja. It is the first game in the series to have limited continues. Additionally, most attacks deal 2 damage units to the player character (rather than 1 in the previous games), who still has only 16 health units. Additions include a sword extension power-up that increases the range of the player's attack until the end of the level or until death, new types of surfaces from which the player can hang, and automatically scrolling areas.

It was ported to the Atari Lynx handheld system. The port retains all the content of the NES game.

Ninja Gaiden Trilogy (忍者龍剣伝 巴, Ninja Ryūkenden Tomoe) is a 1995 SNES collection containing the three Ninja Gaiden games for the NES. It is also included as a bonus unlockable in 2004's Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox. The three games are straight ports and were not optimized for the SNES,[5][6] but there are several differences from the NES versions. Passwords are included and the cinematic sequences were redrawn.[6] The third game is based on the Japanese version, with infinite continues and lower damage from enemy attacks. The ports have no closing credits. Parallax scrolling was removed from the backgrounds of some levels (Ninja Gaiden III stage 2-1 for example). Other graphical changes were made to comply with Nintendo's "Family Friendly" censorship policy at the time (i.e. a pool of blood changed from red to green, and the removal of pentagrams). Some music tracks are omitted (two pieces of music from Ninja Gaiden III and the stage 1–1 music in the Ninja Gaiden II pursuit cutscenes). A degree of censorship was actually removed from certain parts of the script (for example, Jaquio's "Argh! He's awake" is replaced with "Damn, he's awake."). Ninja Gaiden Trilogy is a collector's item; in June 2015 Price Charting showed prices for loose copies running anywhere from 100 to 170 US dollars.[7]

Tecmo released a Game Boy version called Ninja Gaiden Shadow. It was actually a licensed edit of a proposed Shadow of the Ninja (Natsume) Game Boy port. Although it was released following the NES trilogy, the game is actually a prequel to the original game.

Sega, under license from Tecmo, developed three games but ultimately released only two: one for the Master System and another for the Game Gear, both bearing the Ninja Gaiden title worldwide, marking the first time a game in the series was released with the Ninja Gaiden name in Japan and Europe.

Released in Europe, Australia and Brazil in 1992 for the Master System, this game has similar gameplay mechanics to the NES games, though Ryu bounces off walls instead of clinging to them, like the later 3D games. The game features a new storyline, characters and scenarios, not connected to any of the other Ninja Gaiden games.

Released in Japan, North America and Europe in 1991 for the Game Gear, this game was not very close to any of the other Ninja Gaiden games. It featured a smaller screen size, bigger character sprites, slower game speed, and unlike the NES and Master System games which were more oriented to platforming action, this was more a linear side-scrolling game.

A Mega Drive/Genesis version of Ninja Gaiden'[8] was in development by Sega sometime in 1992. It was planned to be a belt scroll-style beat-'em-up similar to the arcade version of Ninja Gaiden, instead of following the side-scrolling platform game format from the NES trilogy. The plot would have involved Ryu traveling to the United States in order to track down a pair of sibling ninjas named Jin and Rika who have gone rogue by stealing the Secret Scrolls of the Huma (an alternate romanization of the name "Fūma"). The Mega Drive version is not a port of the arcade game, but some of the stages (such as a casino) and enemy characters (like the hockey mask-wearing punks) are similar,[9] though the play mechanics are very different.

The game was never released commercially, but a beta build was leaked through the internet as a ROM image. The beta features seven stages, including cut-scenes and bosses, but has several programming bugs such as odd moving controls, unfinished levels, and cut-scenes which are skipped before finishing. Although the opening and stage names are in Japanese, the rest of the cut-scenes were translated into English. The techniques available in the beta consist of a standard punch combo, a jump kick, a rolling move, a special somersault kick, and a throw.

The story of the 2004 release of Ninja Gaiden and its sequels have been established as a prequel, taking place before the original NES trilogy.[10][11][12] The main story of the game involves Ryu Hayabusa setting out on a quest to retrieve the Dark Dragon Blade from the hands of evil after most of his clan was wiped out.

The game was released exclusively in Japan on the mobile platforms as a prequel to the first NES title in 2004.[13] The game is a short single act which retain the elements of the classic Nintendo trilogy.

The series was revived after several years with the 2004 release of Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox. The title was developed over five years by developer Tomonobu Itagaki and his Team Ninja, and eventually released to high sales and critical acclaim.

An upgraded edition with new content, modes and features came out the following year under the name Ninja Gaiden Black. Later, an enhanced port directed by Yosuke Hayashi was made for the PlayStation 3 as Ninja Gaiden Sigma, released on July 3, 2007. This version has its graphics reworked to high definition standards, and Rachel as a playable character. In 2012, updated version of the Sigma game was a launch title for the PlayStation Vita, titled Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus. It added a few new costumes for the playable characters, touch controls and making ninpo attacks stronger, and a new trophy list for the game.

The game was well-received with the game having a 94% score on Metacritic.[14] The game magazine EGM awarded it Best Xbox game of the year.[15]

Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword was released in March 2008, only for the Nintendo DS. The game is played in a diagonal top-down view with 3D graphics, and the player needs to hold the Nintendo DS sideways, like a book, as in Hotel Dusk: Room 215 and Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!. Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword is played using full potential of the stylus. The story is set six months after the event of 2004's Ninja Gaiden. There is also a new playable female ninja character, Momiji.[16]

Ninja Gaiden II was a follow up to the series, released in 2008 and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360. It is set one year after the events in Ninja Gaiden (2004). The new features in the game were four difficulty levels, a regenerating health bar, and upgraded graphics and enemy AI.[17]

An enhanced version of Ninja Gaiden II was released for the PlayStation 3, titled Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2.[18] The PlayStation Vita version, titled Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus, was released in 2013.

Ninja Gaiden 3 at E3 2011

Although series director Tomonobu Itagaki left shortly after the release of Ninja Gaiden II, Tecmo Koei still owned the franchise and planned to instigate developments of another title, with a newly restructured Team Ninja. This title was revealed as Ninja Gaiden III at the Tokyo Game Show 2010. Information about the game in the coming months revealed that the new director, Yosuke Hayashi, would be taking the series to new directions, including the addition of "resistance" in cutting through enemies. Later, at the E3 2011, the game was unveiled as Ninja Gaiden 3. Changes to gameplay included removing dismemberment, replacing the roll with a new "slide" maneuver, and a "kunai climb" technique that would allow Ryu to scale certain walls. Tecmo Koei released the game on March 20, 2012 for both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

An expanded version of the game titled Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge was released later on November 18th of the same year for the Wii U. In early 2013, Razor's Edge was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 as well.

Released in 2012 in Japan for Android and iOS mobile systems. A release in North America was announced in 2012 under the title Ninja Gaiden Clans, but it was eventually cancelled. Gameplay is similar to Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword but the game involves card collection trading.

This game received negative reception, with many magazines and websites awarding scores of 10% or 20%[19] It was included among the 100 worst games of all time by GamesRadar in 2014.[20]

OVA Ninja Ryūkenden was released in 1991, only in Japan. Ryu's costume was changed for this anime.

• The NES version Ninja Gaiden received a novelization in the Worlds of Power series of book which had books based on other current Nintendo games.
• A prequel comic book based on Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z was published by Dark Horse Comics and written by Tim Seeley and Josh Emmons tells the story of how Yaibas sword came to be known as Heartless.

Ninja Gaiden characters and references to the series can be found in various games by Koei Tecmo, Microsoft, and Sony.

• Ryu, Rachel and Momiji appeared in the Dead or Alive as playable characters.
• Ryu, Ayane and Momiji all make cameo appearances in Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce.
• Ryu, Ayane, Rachel, Momiji, and Kasumi are playable characters in Warriors Orochi 3. They appear in another dimension where they assist the other warriors.
• Ryu and Ayane appear in the Japan-only Dynasty Warriors Vs. (previously known as Dynasty Warriors 3DS).
• Ryu, Ayane, and Kasumi appear in Warriors All-Stars.
• An armor similar to Ryu's outfit makes a cameo in Halo 3 as an unlockable armor set called Hayabusa. To obtain the chest, shoulder, and helmet pieces of the armor, the player must collect all hidden skulls in campaign mode. Additionally, the player is awarded an in-game (unusable) replica of Ryu's Dragon Sword if they get the gamerscore of 1000.
• "Hayabusa Ninja" is an alternative costume for the character Max in Super Swing Golf: Season 2.[22]
• Ryu's Ninja Gaiden costume parts were available as exclusive DLC during the first anniversary promotion campaign for Dynasty Warriors Online.[23]