There is no question that some games can stick to your mind if you play them when you are a kid. Ninja Warriors was a game that impressed me when I played it at a local arcade in 1988. The game was released by Taito in 1987, but it featured very nice graphics and a cool widescreen system that was way ahead of its time.
You get to play as cybernetic Ninjas that are meant to save the US from the Tyrant that is ruling the country. The gameplay is pure side scrolling beat ‘em up action with a nice blood effect for every enemy you kill. This might seem mild now, but back them it was a pretty big deal and the sounds of enemies getting killed was quite satisfying.
The controls are very basic with a button for attacks and another button for throwing shurikens. You can also jump by pressing up and you can hold the attack button for the Ninjas to be able to guard against bullets and certain enemy attacks.
The hit detection in the game is decent, but the boss battles are extremely unfair with very little room for strategy. The game is very entertaining though and it has a good flow to keep anyone entertained from start to finish.
This is one of those games that should have received more attention that it got, but it was truly ahead of its time and very few gamers had the chance to experience playing this title on the arcades.
A Super Nintendo version game out later but it was nothing like the original. The arcade version was relentless and it was designed to take coins from you at alarming rates. With that said, here is a gameplay video of the first stage in the game. The music was also amazing.