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Ninja Gaiden
NGarcade
Screenshot
Developer Tecmo
Platform Arcade, Commodore Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Atari Lynx, PC (DOS), ZX Spectrum
Release date 1988
Genre Beat 'em up
Mode 2 players, Co-op
Input methods 8-way joystick, 3 buttons

Ninja Gaiden is an arcade game released in 1988 in North America by Tecmo. This game is known in Japan as Ninja Ryūkenden and in Europe as Shadow Warriors.

In North America, it saw domestic releases on the Atari Lynx and PC (DOS based) as Ninja Gaiden. In Europe, it was released for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga and ZX Spectrum as Shadow Warriors. It was brought to the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console on July 28, 2009.

Gameplay[]

Ryu jump

Ninja Gaiden Arcade

The arcade version of Ninja Gaiden is a "belt-scrolling" beat-'em-up. The player controls an unnamed ninja (retroactively established to be Ryu Hayabusa)[1] whose mission to defeat an evil cult led by Bladedamus, a descendant of Nostradamus who seeks to fulfill his end of the world prophecies. Upon starting the game, the player is greeted by the phrase "NINJA IN USA". Up to two players can play simultaneously (Player 1 controls the blue-suited Ryu Hayabusa, while Player 2 controls an unidentified orange-suited ninja).

The controls of the game consists of an eight-way joystick and three action buttons: Grab, Attack, and Jump. The Grab button is located on top of the joystick itself. The player character has five main techniques: The "Triple Blow Combination" is the player's primary attack, performed by pressing the attack button repeatedly while the player is standing on the ground. While jumping towards an adversary, the player can do a "Flying Neck Throw"; throwing an enemy into a background object (such as trash cans, phone booths, or signs) will cause different power-ups to appear, such as health restoring pills or a sword that can be wielded for a limited time. While standing near overhead signs or bars, the player can hang unto them by pressing the Grab button and perform a "Hang Kick". While overhanging on a bar, the player can also move by performing a "Tightrope Walk". The last of the five techniques is the "Phoenix Backflip", in which the player runs towards the wall and performs a backflip.

Plot[]

Ninja Gaiden chronology
Ninja Gaiden
Ninja Gaiden Shadow
Ninja Gaiden (Black/Σ/Σ+)
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword
Ninja Gaiden II (Σ2/Σ2+)
Ninja Gaiden 3 (Razor's Edge)
Ninja Gaiden X
Ninja Gaiden Episode I
Ninja Gaiden Episode III: The Ancient Ship of Doom
Ninja Gaiden Episode II: The Dark Sword of Chaos
Ninja Ryukenden
Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z
86

Ryu Vs Psychopaths

In the then-future year of 1999, an evil cult lead by Bladedamus (the supposed descendant of Nostradamus) is rising from obscurity as the seer's doomsday prophecy draw closer. With the United States gripped in fear of the prophecy, Bladedamus orchestrates a massive jailbreak from Alcatraz and recruits the prisoners into his cult. The organization then sweeps every major city in America, holds the President of the United States hostage, and even gains access to the country's ICBM launch codes.[2]

In Japan, a nameless ninja whose clan had shaped history in troubled times from behind the scenes since the Sengoku period, is hired by the United States government to put a stop to Bladedamus' fiendish plans.

Upon arriving in San Francisco, the ninja is attacked by Bladedamus' minions. Mainly using hand to hand combat, he fights off hundreds of criminals consisting of masked psychopaths, street gangs, clawed killers, road warriors, ninja and sumo wrestlers as he makes his way through New York City, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, the American wilderness and finally, the Cult of Nostradamus' headquarters. Inside the headquarters surrounded by demonic symbols and artefacts, the player character dispatches the last of the cult to face Bladedamus himself in a climatic battle, defeating Bladedamus and any hope of his Nostradamus prophecy ever being fulfilled. With his mission accomplished, he returns to Japan.

Development[]


Gallery[]


Trivia[]

Pixel art ryu

The infamous continue screen

  • Today, the game is mostly remembered for its morbid and gruesome continue screen. In which the player character is tied down to a table with a circular saw slowly descending towards him while what appears to be a horde of demons watches. If the player does not continue, the screen turns blood red, the character screams in pain, followed by the message "GAME OVER" appearing. Many players were frightened by the continue screen and generally consider it to be one of the scariest moments in the Ninja Gaiden series.
  • While the names of the two player characters were never established when the arcade game was originally released, it was often assumed that Player 1 was Ryu Hayabusa due to the arcade game's promotional flyer using the same artwork used for the NES version's packaging (although the Famicom version uses a different artwork). A file in Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z retroactively establishes that Ryu indeed fought the Cult of Nostradamus.[1] The identity of the Player 2 character remains unknown.
  • Some of the enemies in the game wear masks similar to that of Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th films.
  • In the game over screen, despite counting down from 10, the time given is actually 11, due to the way 0 is counted.

External links[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Ryu Hayabusa (character file)
  2. "紹介 - 忍者龍剣伝" (in Japanese). Gamest (Vol. 29): p. 103. February 1989
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