Ninja Gaiden

About Ninja Gaiden

The player controls a ninja hired by the United States government to defeat an evil cult led by Bladedamus, a descendant of Nostradamus who seeks to fulfill his end of the world prophecies. Flooding the streets of the United States with criminals released from Alcatraz, Bladedamus has kidnapped the President and acquired codes for launching the nation's ICBMs.

The first player controls a ninja dressed in blue, while the second player controls one dressed in orange. Like most beat-'em-ups, players proceed through stages by defeating enemies scattered through each area.

The controls consist 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" (3段連続攻撃, Sandai Renzoku Kōgeki; a series of punches and kicks that serve as the player's standard attack), the "Flying Neck Throw" (首切り投げ, Kubikiri Nage; performed by attacking the enemy while jumping), the "Hang Kick" (反動蹴り, Handō Keri; performed by attacking the enemy while hanging from a bar), the "Tightrope Walk" (綱渡り術, Tsunawatari Jutsu; in which the player moves while hanging from or standing above a tightrope), and the "Phoenix Backflip" (飛鳥返し, Hichō Gaeshi; 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 to his standard punches and kicks.