Ninja Gaiden (arcade)

Ninja Gaiden
Sales flyer for the arcade game.
Developer(s)	Tecmo
Publisher(s)	^JP/NA/PAL Tecmo ^NA Atari ^NA Hi-Tech Expressions ^EU Ocean Software
Composer(s)	Mikio Saito Ryuichi Nitta
Series	Ninja Gaiden
Platform(s)	Arcade Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Atari Lynx, Commodore 64, DOS, IBM PC, Wii Virtual Console, ZX Spectrum
Release date(s)	October 1988 Arcade ^NA October 1988 ^EU 1988 ^JP February 1989 DOS ^NA 1990 ^NA February 15, 1991 (re-release) Commodore 64 ^NA 1990 ^EU 1990 Amiga ^EU 1990 Amstrad CPC ^EU 1990 Atari ST ^EU 1990 ZX Spectrum ^EU 1990 Atari Lynx ^NA 1991 IBM PC ^NA 19?? Wii Virtual Console ^JP July 28, 2009 ^PAL November 13, 2009 ^NA December 21, 2009[1]
Genre(s)	Beat 'em up
Mode(s)	Two-player, co-op

Ninja Gaiden, later released in Japan as Ninja Ryūkenden (忍者龍剣伝, lit. "Ninja Dragon Sword Legend") and in Europe as Shadow Warriors, is a 1988 side-scrolling beat-'em-up originally released by Tecmo as a coin-operated arcade video game.^[2] It was first released in North America, and Europe in 1988 and in Japan in 1989.^[3] The Ninja Gaiden arcade game was produced and released almost simultaneously with its home console counterpart for the NES, although they are different games with only a few similarities.^[4] The designer of the game is only credited as "Strong Shima", but Masato Kato, who worked on the NES Ninja Gaiden, identified him as one Mr. Iijima.^[5]

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 Gaiden is also included as a hidden bonus game in Ninja Gaiden Black for the Xbox in 2005.^[6] The arcade game was published as a Virtual Console game for the Wii in 2009.

Gameplay

The game's first stage.

The arcade version of Ninja Gaiden is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up where players control a pair of ninjas hired to defeat an evil cult led by Bladedamus, a descendant of Nostradamus who seeks to fulfill his end of the world prophecies.^[7][8] The first player controls a ninja dressed in blue, while the second player controls one dressed in orange. Like most beat-'em-ups, the player proceed through stages by defeating enemies scattered through each area.

The controls consists of an eight-way joystick with a button installed on top and two additional action buttons for attacking and jumping. The button on top of the joystick allows the player character to grab onto any overhead bar or tightrope and hang from there. There are five primary techniques performed by pressing the joystick and buttons individually or in combination with each other. These consists of the "Triple Blow Combination" (a series of punches and kicks that serve as the player's standard attack), the "Flying Neck Throw" (performed by attacking the enemy while jumping), the "Hang Kick" (performed by attacking the enemy while hanging from a bar), the "Tightrope Walk" (in which the player moves while hanging from or standing above a tightrope), and the "Phoenix Backflip" (a backflip performed after running into a wall), which becomes an attack if the player has a sword.

The player can destroy certain objects in the environment (such as telephone booths, signposts, dumpsters) by knocking or throwing enemies onto them. These will uncover hidden items that will award the player with bonus points, health recovery, time extensions and even an extra life. One particular item will temporarily arm the player with a sword that can be used up to ten times before reverting back to his standard punches and kicks.

The game is mostly remembered for its morbid continue screen, where the player character is tied to a table thrashing his head violently while a circular saw is being lowered towards him. If the player does not continue within the 10 second countdown, the screen fades to red, the ninja cries out in agony, and the words "GAME OVER" appears followed by dramatic music.

The first five stages are based on actual American cities and landmarks such as Los Angeles, Brooklyn, Las Vegas, North Carolina, the Grand Canyon, and a transcontinental railroad. The sixth and final stage set inside the enemy's hideout. The recurring bosses includes a sumo wrestler; a pair of wrestlers resembling the tag team The Road Warriors; and a trio of claw-wielding masked acrobats. The final boss, Bladedamus, wields two swords and has a fire breath attack.

Version differences

Regional differences

Ninja Ryukenden, the Japanese version, being the later version of the game, has the following differences from the other versions:

• The Ninja Ryukenden version has a copyright date of 1989 instead of 1988, suggesting it was a later release. The Famicom version of Ninja Ryukenden was already released when the arcade game was distributed in Japan.^[8]
• The background music for Stage 4 was replaced. And though the other background musics are the same of the U.S. version, there are some additions in the Japanese version's music numbers.
• The enemy characters cause normal damage during the final stage, unlike the U.S. version, where at the last stage the standard enemies and the mid-bosses just need to hit the player once to take off one or two life squares, and the last boss can kill the player's character with just one attack.
• A digitized voice shouts the game's title on the "stage clear" screen.

Virtual Console

This game has been ported to the 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.

See also

• Ninja Gaiden series

References

1. "500th Downloadable Wii Game Makes for a Smashing Holiday Season". Nintendo of America. 21 December 2009. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
2. "Ninja Gaiden". The International Arcade Museum. Retrieved 6 Oct 2013.
3. "Ninja Gaiden (Release Data)". GameFAQs. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
4. Hardcore Gaming 101 editorial staff. "Ninja Gaiden at Hardcore Gaming 101 - Interview with Masato "RUNMAL" Kato". Kato: Both (the arcade and NES versions of Ninja Gaiden) where developed side by side on the same floor, at the same time. However, we only shared the same title, while each team developed their game as they pleased.
5. "Signature Series: Ninja Gaiden". Retro Gamer. No. 92 (Bournemouth: Imagine Publishing). July 2011. pp. 78–81. ISSN 1742-3155. OCLC 489477015.
6. Brightman, James (February 10, 2004). "Ninja Gaiden Extras Confirmed...Again". GameDaily. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved 2006-08-23.
7. Joe Yamada (February 1989). 紹介 - 忍者龍剣伝. Gamest (in Japanese) 29: 103.
8. Satoshi Tajiri (1989-01-06). ぼくたちゲーセン野郎. Family Computer Magazine (in Japanese). pp. 114–115. Retrieved 2015-11-27.