TOP 5 NINJA VIDEO GAMES THAT MATTER
Over the years there have been many a ninja video game released in hopes of capturing the pure awesomess of the ninja in a game console. While some ninja video games came close, almost every ninja game ever made sucked. One of the worst ninja games ever made is "Red Ninja: End of Honor" on Xbox360. Just terrible. If you were locked in a room and strapped to a chair with only this game to play, you would probably just pray for death. ( <-- great ninja movie reference!) Here is a list of the top 5 Ninja Video Games that actually mattered. If its not listed here, it probably didn't matter. Enjoy!
SHINOBI - 1987 Sega Arcade
This is the game that started the whole Shinobi series on Sega and Sega Genesis. It was the only Shinobi game that mattered. It was a side scrolling game that had 5 incredible assignments to complete in order to become the ultimate ninja assassin.
In 1987 the graphics in Shinobi were awesome compared to other games. There was a lot of detail and the ninja characters actually looked like cool ninja with real ninja weapons. Some highlights are:
The ninja on the "insert coin" screen on the arcade had an incredible resemblence to Sho Kosugi, the greatest movie ninja of all time.At the time of this release Sega owned rights to Spider-man so don't be surprised to see him hanging around in mission 1 and 2. Marilyn Monroe also makes an appearance in Shinobi. See mission 1-2 in the form of movie posters on the brick wall.
The challenging part of this game is that in the 5th mission, you could not continue. Quarters alone could only get you to the 5th mission, and then it was up to your ninja skill to finish the game. There are no continues during the 5th mission levels. Very few ninja had ever beat this game at the arcade.
You can download updated versions of this game on xBox Live and play the game almost the same as it was back in the day. The differences are the Spider-man characters have been re-coloured to appease Marvel and the Marilyn Monroe posters have been removed to appease the Monroe estate. Lawyers always have to wreck everything, even video games. If you find it on mame32 you can still see Spider-man and Marilyn Monroe as they were meant to be.
In 1987 the graphics in Shinobi were awesome compared to other games. There was a lot of detail and the ninja characters actually looked like cool ninja with real ninja weapons. Some highlights are:
The ninja on the "insert coin" screen on the arcade had an incredible resemblence to Sho Kosugi, the greatest movie ninja of all time.At the time of this release Sega owned rights to Spider-man so don't be surprised to see him hanging around in mission 1 and 2. Marilyn Monroe also makes an appearance in Shinobi. See mission 1-2 in the form of movie posters on the brick wall.
The challenging part of this game is that in the 5th mission, you could not continue. Quarters alone could only get you to the 5th mission, and then it was up to your ninja skill to finish the game. There are no continues during the 5th mission levels. Very few ninja had ever beat this game at the arcade.
You can download updated versions of this game on xBox Live and play the game almost the same as it was back in the day. The differences are the Spider-man characters have been re-coloured to appease Marvel and the Marilyn Monroe posters have been removed to appease the Monroe estate. Lawyers always have to wreck everything, even video games. If you find it on mame32 you can still see Spider-man and Marilyn Monroe as they were meant to be.
TENCHU - Playstation, PS2, PS3, xBox, xBox 360, Nintendo DS, WII
There have been many installations in this series on various platforms. The game was really well developed and the ninja weapons, tools and terminology were top notch. The first game is still the best as it was when the game really stood out as something new. All later additions to the franchise were still fun, however there was no more real advancement, just more missions.Set in the samurai time periods, the tools and weapons are authentic and the kill scenes are gruesome. With so many weapons and tools to choose from for each mission, the deadly combinations are endless with some really great death scenes. You can play the same missions over and over with different results, achieving different scores for your stealthy ninja skill.
It not a game where you just go balls out fighting, but you really stay in the shadowns and try to not be seen at all. Killing from the shadows and leaving without a trace are the keys to winning at Tenchu. With some patience, as all real ninja have, this game becomes very challenging and keeps the ninja happy!
It not a game where you just go balls out fighting, but you really stay in the shadowns and try to not be seen at all. Killing from the shadows and leaving without a trace are the keys to winning at Tenchu. With some patience, as all real ninja have, this game becomes very challenging and keeps the ninja happy!
NINJA GAIDEN - Tecmo 1988 Arcade, Nintendo, NES, Sega
This was a great game to feed quarters to instead of eating lunch. In "Ninja Gaiden" you could actually throw your enemy around like ragdolls. At the same time keeping the killing real with ninja swords, ninja stars and special ninja scrolls. It was everything we wanted to do in a ninja video game! Jump, get stabby and throw ninja stars. WINNER!
The jumping was legendary in "Ninja Gaiden". You could jump from wall to wall to get to secret areas and find more ninja scrolls. The environment was interactive. You could jump on lightposts and street signs, and then leap down to kill the bad guys. This kind of jumping and slashing was new at the time and made slaughtertime so much fun!
Ninja Gaiden was ported to Nintendo shortly after its arcade relase, but the arcade graphics were much much better and made the Arcade version the best version ever, hands down!
The jumping was legendary in "Ninja Gaiden". You could jump from wall to wall to get to secret areas and find more ninja scrolls. The environment was interactive. You could jump on lightposts and street signs, and then leap down to kill the bad guys. This kind of jumping and slashing was new at the time and made slaughtertime so much fun!
Ninja Gaiden was ported to Nintendo shortly after its arcade relase, but the arcade graphics were much much better and made the Arcade version the best version ever, hands down!
MORTAL COMBAT - Midway, Arcade, Super Nintendo, Sega, Playstation, PS2, PS3, Xbox, Xbox360, and everyother platform ever
What can you say about Scorpion and Sub-Zero that hasn`t been said already. Just like Sho-Kosugi holds the title of greatest movie ninja ever, these two ninja from rival clans will go down in history as the greatest video game ninja of all time.
Sub-Zero can freeze his opponents and smash them into a million pieces. Scorpion can spear you from across the screen and pull you over to set you on fire. There is no escaping the ninja. Complete with amazing finishing moves there was never any reason to play any of the other charecters.
Sub-Zero can freeze his opponents and smash them into a million pieces. Scorpion can spear you from across the screen and pull you over to set you on fire. There is no escaping the ninja. Complete with amazing finishing moves there was never any reason to play any of the other charecters.
NINJA GAIDEN - Tecmo xBox 360 Exclusive
Although Ninja Gaiden has already been listed, this is a completely new listing for a completely new game style and platform. It is a good enough game to warrant its own listing. You get a handful of weapons and you build their power throughout the game making them more powerful and deadly all the time. Amazing graphics, incredible gameplay and a decent story make the Ninja Gaiden series on xBox 360 a must play. There are a few releases out to keep you busy and again, without ninja patience this game will eat you alive. It is incredibly hard to beat this game and impossible on hard settings. Recemmonded that you play this game in a nerf room so you dont break you controller or your head when you bang it off the wall with frustration. Its bloody good! Thats it, now go play some of these games and start wasting your valuable time now!