The Ninja Warriors

Did You Know?

• Players control Kunoichi (player 1) or Ninja (player 2) across six levels, using a short-range kunai slash and limited long-range shurikens.
• The 1994 sequel for the Super NES was developed by Natsume Co., Ltd. and is also known as The Ninja Warriors Again in Japan.
• An enhanced remaster of the Super NES game, The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors, was released in 2019.

Plot

In a dystopian 1993, President Banglar imposes martial law across the United States. Anarchist scientists, led by Mulk, decide to rebel. Knowing direct combat is hopeless, they build two androids—the red female Kunoichi and the blue male Ninja—to destroy Banglar's rule.

Development and release

The arcade cabinet for this game is distinctive, using three screens arranged contiguously: one where a standard screen sits, and two below it, reflected by mirrors on each side of the middle screen. This setup creates the illusion of a single 4:1 display, reminiscent of the Polyvision technique from Abel Gance's 1927 film Napoléon. The same cabinet design was later used for Darius and Darius II. Hisayoshi Ogura and Taito's in-house band Zuntata handled the music. Soundtracks came from Pony Canyon and Scitron in 1988 and 1991, with additional arrangements in 1993 and by Zuntata Records and Taito in 1988 and 2009. Home computer ports appeared for the Amiga, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and Amstrad CPC. Console versions were exclusive to Japan on the PC Engine and Mega-CD. Hamster Corporation brought the arcade version to PlayStation 4 in 2017 and Nintendo Switch in 2019. A new port, The Ninja Warriors: Once Again, based on the 1994 version, launched in 2019 on Nintendo Switch by Natsume Atari, adding fresh artwork and two new playable characters.

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed The Ninja Warriors as the third most-successful upright arcade unit in its April 1, 1988 issue, and it became Japan's eighth highest-grossing dedicated arcade game of 1988. The arcade game received positive reviews. Clare Edgeley of Computer and Video Games reviewed it at the ATEI show in January 1988, noting similarities to Shinobi but praising the large screen, graphics, and gameplay, though she found Shinobi and Vigilante more challenging. Nick Kelly of Commodore User rated it 8 out of 10, preferring its graphics and large screen over Shinobi, calling it highly playable and a technological step forward. Your Sinclair gave a brief positive review. Home conversions also received mostly positive reviews, especially the 16-bit versions. In 2010, CraveOnline featured the game on a list of top ten ninja games. In 2008, GamesRadar highlighted Kunoichi as the best assassin in video game history. In 2006, Akiman drew her as his girl of the month for GAMAGA. Robert Workman of GameZone included Ninja and Kunoichi on a 2011 list of best video game ninjas.