The Ninja Warriors (1987 video game)

The Ninja Warriors (ニンジャウォーリアーズ) is a side-scrolling beat 'em up video game developed and released by Taito in 1987. The original arcade game situated one display in between projected images of two other displays, creating the appearance of a triple-wide screen. Ports were released for home systems including the Amiga, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, PC Engine, and Sega Mega-CD.

"Ninja Warriors" redirects here. For the 1994 Super NES game, see The Ninja Warriors (1994 video game). For the TV series known as Ninja Warrior, see Sasuke (TV series). For the martial arts discipline, see Ninja. For other uses, see Ninja Warrior (disambiguation).
The Ninja Warriors
Arcade flyer
Developer(s)Taito
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Masaki Ogata
Producer(s)Yojiro Suekado
Designer(s)Hiroshi Tsujino
Yukiwo Ishikawa
Programmer(s)Daisuke Sasaki
Writer(s)Hiroshi Tsujino
Composer(s)Hisayoshi Ogura
Platform(s)Arcade, Amiga, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, PC Engine, Mega-CD, Sega Genesis Mini 2
Release
Genre(s)Beat 'em up
Mode(s)Single-player

A sequel with the same name, The Ninja Warriors, was developed by Natsume and released in 1994, followed by its enhanced remaster The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors released in 2019.

Gameplay
Arcade screenshot

The Ninja Warriors presents side-scrolling hand-to-hand combat. Players take control of Kunoichi (player 1) or Ninja (player 2) and fight wave after wave of Banglar forces across six levels. Button 1 attacks with a short-range kunai slash, while button 2 fires long-range shurikens that are limited in supply.

Plot

The game is set in a dystopian future where Banglar, the President of the United States in 1993, has declared martial law nationwide.[4] A group of anarchist scientists led by Mulk decide that it is time to revolt against the government. Knowing full well that fighting the military themselves would be suicidal, the scientists create two powerful androids to carry out the mission for them. The robots, code-named "Kunoichi" (red female) and "Ninja" (blue male), are sent by the scientists to end Banglar's tyranny once and for all.

Development and release

The game's arcade cabinet is unique due to its three contiguous screens (one screen in the usual place for an arcade game, and two more screens in the cabinet below, reflected by mirrors on either side of the middle screen) which created the effect of a single, "triple-wide" screen, depicting ninjas.[5] The same cabinet was also used for Darius and Darius II and Konami used a similar format for its X-Men arcade release (six players). The music was composed by Hisayoshi Ogura and Taito's in-house band Zuntata. Pony Canyon and Scitron released the two soundtracks for the game in 1988 and 1991,[6][7] while further arrangements were released in 1993[8] and by Zuntata Records and Taito in 1988 and 2009.[9][10]

The game was ported to various personal computers: the Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, Sinclair Spectrum 128K, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC. Home console versions of the game were released exclusively in Japan for the NEC PC Engine and Sega Mega-CD. A version for the Arcade Archives series on the PlayStation 4 was released in September 2017.[11] A new port based on the 1994 version titled The Ninja Warriors: Once Again was released in 2019 on Nintendo Switch. It features new artwork and two new playable characters.[12]

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed The Ninja Warriors on their April 1, 1988 issue as being the third most-successful upright arcade unit of the month.[25] It went on to become Japan's eighth highest-grossing dedicated arcade game of 1988.[26]

The arcade game received positive reviews. Clare Edgeley of Computer and Video Games reviewed the arcade game upon release, noted that it was one of several popular "martial arts simulation" games at London's Amusement Trades Exhibition International (ATEI) show in January 1988, along with Sega's Shinobi and Data East's Vigilante; she said it plays similarly to Shinobi, but that Ninja Warriors has a three-monitor cabinet like Darius (1986). She praised the large screen, "great" graphics, and fun gameplay, but said Shinobi and Vigilante were more challenging.[3] Nick Kelly of Commodore User rated it 8 out of 10, also noting similarities to Shinobi, but preferring Ninja Warriors for its graphics and large screen. He said it was highly playable, "gorgeous looking" and technologically "a successful step" forwards.[23] Your Sinclair gave it a brief positive review, recommending readers to look "out for it."[20]

The home conversions also received mostly positive reviews, especially its 16-bit versions such as the ones for the Amiga. In 2010, CraveOnline featured the game (the arcade, SNES and Sega CD versions) on the list of top ten ninja games of all time.[27] In 2008, GamesRadar featured Kunoichi as the best assassin in the video game history: "She cut a memorable figure, rocking the huge blonde ponytail and bright-red shozoku. On top of that, she wasn't just a ninja - she was a ninja Terminator. It's hard to imagine a better assassin than that".[28] In 2006, Akiman drew her as his girl of the month for the Japanese magazine GAMAGA.[29] Robert Workman of GameZone included Ninja and Kunoichi on his 2011 list of "best video game ninjas": "These guys are due for a return – and hopefully a better hyped one than Kage got a few years ago on DS?"[30]

Legacy
Main article: The Ninja Warriors (1994 video game)

Natsume developed a 1994 follow-up for the Super NES also known as The Ninja Warriors, or The Ninja Warriors Again in Japan. An enhanced remaster of the Super NES game for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 was released in 2019.

References
  1. Akagi, Masumi (13 October 2006). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005) [Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971-2005)] (in Japanese). Japan: Amusement News Agency. pp. 136–7. ISBN 978-4990251215.
  2. "Video Game Flyers: Ninja Warriors, The, Electrocoin (UK)". The Arcade Flyer Archive. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  3. "Arcade Action". Computer and Video Games. No. 77 (March 1988). February 1988. pp. 90–3.
  4. Crash, Issue 1.90, page 52.
  5. Your Sinclair, Issue 1.90, page 91.
  6. "D28B-0001 | The Ninjawarriors -G.S.M. TAITO 1". VGMdb. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  7. "PCCB-00074 | The Ninja Warriors". VGMdb. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  8. "PCCB-00116 | Ninja Warriors Complete Album". VGMdb. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  9. "ZTTL-0024 | Z-REPLICA Vol.1 DADDY MULK THE NINJA WARRIORS". VGMdb. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  10. "ZTTL-9016 | The Ninja Warriors arrange sound tracks". VGMdb. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  11. "Playstation Store -- Arcade Archives: The Ninja Warrior". Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  12. "Ninja Warriors Again for Switch officially titled The Ninja Warriors: Once Again, launches worldwide in 2019". 5 September 2018. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  13. ACE 27 (December 1989).
  14. Amiga Action 5 (February 1990).
  15. Amiga Computing Vol 2 No 9 (February 1990).
  16. Amiga Format 6 (January 1990).
  17. Computer + Video Games 94 (September 1989).
  18. The Games Machine 26 (January 1990).
  19. The Games Machine 28 (March 1990).
  20. Smith, Andy (11 August 1988). "Extended Play... The Ninja Warriors (Taito)". Your Sinclair. No. 33 (September 1988). p. 27.
  21. Zzap 57 (January 1990).
  22. CU Amiga-64 (December 1989).
  23. Kelly, Nick (6 May 1988). "Arcades: Ninja Warriors". Commodore User. No. 54 (June 1988).
  24. Mega 11 (August 1993), page 48.
  25. "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - アップライト, コックピット型TVゲーム機 (Upright/Cockpit Videos)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 329. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 April 1988. p. 25.
  26. "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25: '88 / "Game of the Year '88" By Game Machine" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 348. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 January 1989. pp. 10–1, 26.
  27. Top 10 Ninja Games Of All Time Archived 2011-01-28 at the Wayback Machine, CraveOnline, September 18, 2008.
  28. The Top 7... Assassins Archived 2011-06-16 at the Wayback Machine, GamesRadar, 2008-02-05.
  29. "Scan of the page in question". Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  30. Workman, Robert (2011-11-20). "The Best Of: Video Game Ninjas". GameZone. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
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