Ninja Gaiden — stories left

According to developer Masato Kato (listed as "Runmaru" in the game's credits), the term "ninja" was gaining popularity in North America, prompting Tecmo to develop a ninja-related game for the NES at the same time the arcade version of Ninja Gaiden was being developed.

Hideo Yoshizawa (listed as "Sakurazaki") developed and directed the NES version.

He recalled that during development, Tecmo adhered to "the philosophy that the user would throw a game away if it wasn't hard enough".

Yoshizawa stated that the adoption of this presentational style came from his earlier aspiration for a career in commercial filmmaking, which led him to seek an opportunity "to put in a movie somehow".

Tecmo called the cutscene system "Tecmo Theater" in which the game reveals the storyline between Acts through the use of animated sequences.

Dimitri Criona, Tecmo USA's director of sales and marketing, said that console games had an advantage over arcade games in that they allowed the creation of a longer game and the inclusion of cutscenes, which Tecmo trademarked as "cinema screens".

While Tecmo anticipated the game would be a hit, according to Kohler they did not realize at the time the impact it would have on the video game industry "with its groundbreaking use of cinematics".

Electronic Gaming Monthly reviewers compared it unfavorably to another updated NES remake, Mega Man: The Wily Wars for the Sega Genesis; they called the version "an exact port-over with no noticeable enhancements in graphics, sound and play control".

In its preview of Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos, the magazine said that "the colorful, detailed and dynamic cinema scenes of the original Ninja Gaiden set a standard for action game narration that has since been widely emulated.

The reviewer said that while the cutscenes were not fluid, they were effective and entertaining and provided important information about what the player was supposed to do.

The staff said that Ninja Gaiden "proved to be an instant winner" with its cinematic cutscenes and unique gameplay.

He criticized the game for its sound, which he said did not fit with the graphics and was "racy" but added "what's there is atmospheric and suits the action".

Glancey compared the game to the 1990 NES version of Batman (released later in 1990) with its similar wall-jumping mechanics; he said that its graphics were not as well-developed as Batmans but were still satisfactory.

He praised its detailed sprites and their animations along with the "Tecmo Theater" concept, noting that the cutscenes "help supply a lot of atmosphere".

He said it is one of the best arcade-style games on the NES as well as the best ninja-related game on the system.

They praised the game's controls, despite the omission of the ability to duck so that pressing "down" on the phone's directional pad could be used for secondary weapons; Brown said the port had better controls than most other mobile phone games at the time.

They both criticized the port for its lack of sound quality, but Buchanan said this was not Tecmo's fault.

They said the game broke the mold of conventional video game titles by including a plot with cinematic cutscenes added between gameplay segments, adding that the concept of adding cinematics for a game's introduction, plot, and ending was a new concept which "naturally impressed the gaming public".

Chris Kohler, in his 2004 book Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life, said, while it was not as far-reaching as Tecmo Bowl, "it ended up revolutionizing video games with its courageous, unique, and trailblazing use of cinema scenes".

One review said that the game makes up for its high difficulty level with good gameplay.

IGN said that it is one of the best platform games of all time.

Reviewers have criticized the game for its high and unforgiving difficulty level especially late in the game, and it has been considered an example of "Nintendo Hard" video games.

In his review of the Virtual Console version, GameSpots Alex Navarro said "the game will beat you to a pulp" and that it "assaults you time and time again with its punishing difficulty, insidiously placed enemies, and rage-inducing boss fights".

IGN said that the game was one of the most difficult video games of all time, setting the trend for the rest of the series; however, they pointed out that its difficulty and graphics are "defining characteristics [that] have carried over through the years into modern day [Ninja] Gaiden sequels".

Nintendo World Report, in a review for the 3DS Virtual Console, acknowledged the game's high difficulty level and highlighted the "rhythm and cadence" to the movement of the player character.

He said that "Ninja Gaiden was about as cool as an 8-bit game could be, especially for ninja-crazed kids of the '80s who, like me, had worn out their VHS copies of Enter the Ninja".

While it lauded the controls and gameplay elements, as with other reviews, it criticized the difficulty, calling it "one of the most challenging games on the console".

Even so, Endo takes it to be far from a poor game and instead a first-rate action game, and takes the points noted above as a letter of challenge from the developers to the players.

The review praised the game's animation in these cutscenes and noted Tecmo's usage of close-ups and body movements.

He appreciated the game had unlimited continues which slightly offset its difficulty, but he criticized it for having over-detailed background graphics especially in the indoor levels, saying that some bottomless pits and items in these levels become slightly camouflaged.

He noted the game has great graphics that feature diverse backgrounds and character sprites; he especially praised its use of cartoon-like animation sequences between Acts where the game's plot unfolds.

He criticized the game for its sound, which he said did not fit with the graphics and was "racy" but added "what's there is atmospheric and suits the action".

In the review, Matt Regan and Paul Glancey praised its detailed and animated character sprites and its difficulty level.

He praised its detailed sprites and their animations along with the "Tecmo Theater" concept, noting that the cutscenes "help supply a lot of atmosphere".

The review praised the game for its attention to detail and challenge and noted players need to master certain gameplay skills to move on.

He additionally criticized the game's platform genre as unoriginal.

IGNs Levi Buchanan and GameSpots Damon Brown praised the port for its accurate translation from the NES to mobile phones, saying the gameplay, graphics, and cinematic cutscenes remain true to the NES version.

They praised the game's controls, despite the omission of the ability to duck so that pressing "down" on the phone's directional pad could be used for secondary weapons; Brown said the port had better controls than most other mobile phone games at the time.

They both criticized the port for its lack of sound quality, but Buchanan said this was not Tecmo's fault.

Reviewers have criticized the game for its high and unforgiving difficulty level especially late in the game, and it has been considered an example of "Nintendo Hard" video games.

In August 2008, the same magazine ranked it the tenth best NES game of all time; they praised the gameplay and described the cinematic cutscenes as revolutionary for its time.

He further praised gameplay features such as clinging on walls and using ninpo techniques, and he noted the game's cinematic cutscenes, including the ominous opening sequence that featured two ninjas who launch into the air at each other clashing their swords in the moonlight.

While it lauded the controls and gameplay elements, as with other reviews, it criticized the difficulty, calling it "one of the most challenging games on the console".

Ninja Gaiden received preview coverage in the January–February 1989 issue of Nintendo Power in its "Pak Watch" section.

It was featured on the cover of the magazine's March–April 1989 issue and was referenced in the following issue in a Howard and Nester comic strip.

It was one of the featured games in both March–April and May–June 1989 issues of the magazine; both issues included a walkthrough up to the fifth Act, a review, and a plot overview.

The game debuted at No. 3 on Nintendo Powers Top 30 list for July–August 1989, behind Zelda II: The Adventure of Link and Super Mario Bros. 2; it stayed at No. 3 in the September–October 1989 issue.

From July to October 1989, the game was listed at No. 1 on Electronic Gaming Monthlys Top Ten Video Games list; it fell to No. 2 on the list behind Mega Man 2 in the November issue.

The July 1990 pilot issue of UK magazine Mean Machines featured Ninja Gaiden on the cover; the magazine was distributed as part of the July 1990 issue of Computer and Video Games.

Mean Machines reviewed the game again (the NES version now officially titled Shadow Warriors in Europe) in its July 1991 issue.

The game received some praise and criticism in the August 1991 issue of German magazine Power Play.

The PC Engine version was briefly mentioned in the December 1991 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly as part of a review of games that had been released outside the U.S.

Retro Gamer took a look back at Ninja Gaiden in its March 2004 issue, when the Xbox reboot was released.

In August 2001 in its 100th issue, Game Informer listed the game at No. 93 in their Top 100 Games of All Time list.

Nintendo Power honored the game in its November 2010 issue, which celebrated the 25th anniversary of the NES.

In a July 2011 issue, Retro Gamer listed the game's opening as one of the most popular at the time.

Hiroyuki Endo of Game Watch wrote in a review of the version included on the PC Engine mini that, although it is easier to play than the Famicom version, the difficulty is high.

Since the game's title was deemed too difficult for English audiences to read, it was renamed when it was released in Western markets.

He appreciated the game had unlimited continues which slightly offset its difficulty, but he criticized it for having over-detailed background graphics especially in the indoor levels, saying that some bottomless pits and items in these levels become slightly camouflaged.

In the review, Matt Regan and Paul Glancey praised its detailed and animated character sprites and its difficulty level.

One review said that the game makes up for its high difficulty level with good gameplay.

Reviewers have criticized the game for its high and unforgiving difficulty level especially late in the game, and it has been considered an example of "Nintendo Hard" video games.

In his review of the Virtual Console version, GameSpots Alex Navarro said "the game will beat you to a pulp" and that it "assaults you time and time again with its punishing difficulty, insidiously placed enemies, and rage-inducing boss fights".

IGN said that the game was one of the most difficult video games of all time, setting the trend for the rest of the series; however, they pointed out that its difficulty and graphics are "defining characteristics [that] have carried over through the years into modern day [Ninja] Gaiden sequels".

Nintendo World Report, in a review for the 3DS Virtual Console, acknowledged the game's high difficulty level and highlighted the "rhythm and cadence" to the movement of the player character.

While it lauded the controls and gameplay elements, as with other reviews, it criticized the difficulty, calling it "one of the most challenging games on the console".

The game is the 2nd entry in Tecmo Theater and at the same time the 1st title in the Ninja Gaiden series for the Family Computer.

On the Wii Virtual Console (VC), it was distributed from 2007-4-10 (500 Wii Points, 500 yen).

On the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console the Famicom version has been distributed since 2012-8-29 (500 yen), and on the Wii U Virtual Console the Famicom version has been distributed since 2014-3-26 (500 yen).

On the Wii Virtual Console (VC), it was distributed from 2009-4-21 (600 Wii Points, 600 yen).

The PC Engine version of this game is included on the PC Engine mini, a reissue console released by Konami Digital Entertainment on 2020-3-19 with about 50 PC Engine titles preinstalled.

In the Cross Review feature of the magazine Famitsu, the four reviewers gave 6, 7, 7, and 6, for a total of 26.

In the "Game Report Card" reader poll run by Family Computer Magazine, it scored 21.61 out of a maximum of 30, as shown below.

In the Cross Review feature of the magazine Famitsu, the four reviewers gave 5, 6, 6, and 4, for a total of 21.

Ninja Gaiden was Masato Kato's first full-time project as a video-game designer, and he contributed the game's graphics, animations and instruction-manual illustrations.

Tecmo first announced the Famicom version of the game in Family Computer Magazine on January 15, 1988, under the title Ninja Gaiden (which would later be used for the game's American version).

A PC Engine port of Ninja Ryūkenden was produced in 1992, published by Hudson Soft and released only in Japan.

The first installment, titled Ninja Gaiden Episode I: Destiny, was released on July 15, 2004; it included only the first Act from the NES version but added two new levels.

He recalled that during development, Tecmo adhered to "the philosophy that the user would throw a game away if it wasn't hard enough".

The second installment was planned to be released in North America and was previewed by GameSpot in September 2004, but it—along with the third and fourth installments—was never released.

All symbols and objects were scrutinized by Nintendo of America, who had specific rules on what could be included for North American releases; for instance, any Satanic, Christian, or any other religious, sexual, or drug-related references were not allowed.

Upon Ninja Gaidens North American release, Nintendo of America, whose play-testers liked the game and gave it high ratings, decided to help with its marketing.

Since the game's title was deemed too difficult for English audiences to read, it was renamed when it was released in Western markets.

The second installment was planned to be released in North America and was previewed by GameSpot in September 2004, but it—along with the third and fourth installments—was never released.