Ninja Gaiden - Other Versions

Other Versions

There are also several other versions of the Ninja Gaiden games on other platforms.

The original Ninja Gaiden arcade game received several ports for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga and ZX Spectrum computers. The Amiga version in particular, retained almost all of the graphics and functionality of the original game, including the two-player cooperative gameplay and the introduction. All these versions, developed by Ocean Software, were only released in Europe as Shadow Warriors.

A PC (MS-DOS format) port of the original Ninja Gaiden was also developed by Hi Tech Expressions, this time for its release in North America as Ninja Gaiden, as opposed to the other computer versions. However, it featured stripped down play mechanics and a low 16 colour palette.

There is port of the first NES Ninja Gaiden developed by Hudson for the PC Engine and released only in Japan, although the game features an unlockable English mode (with a different translation than the NES game). Other differences include enhanced graphics, reworked music and rebalanced difficulty.

Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos received computer ports developed by GameTek for the PC (MS-DOS format) and the Commodore Amiga, both for their release in North America. They featured a 256 colour palette (32 on Amiga) and were translated faithfully (though animation and movement were choppier) and also offered a save-and-load function, where your exact position in the game could be saved at any given moment.

Lastly, the arcade game Ninja Gaiden and the NES game Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom, were both ported to the Atari Lynx handheld system. The original title was a solid port of the arcade title and is a more sought-after title for the Lynx. Part III was a very-faithful port of the NES game and is virtually identical from beginning to end, albeit with a more distorted-sounding soundtrack and slightly-jumbled visuals due to the lower in-game video resolution. An LCD handheld version produced by Tiger Electronics was released in 1988, which also had a sequel.