Ninja Gaiden features a ninja named Ryu Hayabusa who seeks revenge for the death of his father and gradually finds himself involved in a sinister plot that threatens the entire world. The story opens with … See more

Ninja Gaiden is a side-scrolling platform game in which the player takes control of the player-character, Ryu Hayabusa, and guides him through six "Acts" that comprise 20 levels See more

Tecmo first announced the Famicom version of the game in the January 15, 1988, issue of Family Computer Magazine under the title Ninja Gaiden (which would later be used for the game's American version). The game was released in Japan on December 9, … See more

Since the game's title was deemed too difficult for English audiences to read, it was renamed when it was released in Western markets. In early 1988 advertisements from Nintendo Fun Club News, Tecmo used Ninja Dragon as a tentative title for the … See more

In July 1990 Scholastic Corporation published a novelization of Ninja Gaiden under the Worlds of Power series of NES game adaptations, created and packaged by Seth Godin under the pseudonym F. X. Nine. Godin and Peter Lerangis, under the pseudonym A. L. … See more

The game was a major commercial hit in the United States, where it sold a large number of copies. According to Tecmo USA's Dimitri Criona, high demand led to repeated orders for Ninja Gaiden in increments of 60,000 cartridges per order.
Critical reception See more

• Ninja Gaiden at MobyGames
• Ninja Gaiden title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database See more