Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom

About Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom

Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom (1991) is Tecmo's final NES Ninja Gaiden, a science-fiction-tinged prequel in which Ryu Hayabusa, framed for Irene Lew's murder, uncovers a plot to breed superhuman bio-noids.

Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom in Depth

Set between the first two games, it opens with CIA agent Irene Lew chased off a cliff by a Ryu look-alike. To clear his name, Ryu investigates the laboratory where she died, and a stranger, Clancy, points him to the fortress of Castle Rock. There he learns that Clancy and agent Foster had been creating bio-noids, superhumans infused with life energy from an interdimensional rift that opened after the demon of the first game was defeated. Foster plans to make one from Ryu's corpse, Irene turns out to be alive, and Clancy reveals he has used them all to seize the ruins, which are a dimensional warship, the Ancient Ship of Doom.

Ryu can jump, cling to and climb walls, spring off them and use secondary weapons while clinging, and he can now also hang from pipes and ivy overhead, swinging up or dropping down. Ninja power fuels Windmill Throwing Stars, upward and downward fireballs, the Invincible Fire Wheel and the new Vacuum Wave Art, which fires blades above and below at once, while the new Dragon Spirit Sword extends the reach of his blade. Items such as Recovery Medicine are found in crystal balls. Each Act ends with a boss, the first four being elemental bio-noids of earth, wind, fire and water. The North American version allows only five continues before the game must be restarted.

Making Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom

Masato Kato said the series needed "to go into a new direction", swapping the Cthulhu-style motifs for science fiction and more robotic enemies. The team intended an easier game "a normal player can enjoy", but Tecmo made the American release much harder, with stronger enemies, limited continues and no password system. Finding it too hard to continue the story after Ninja Gaiden II, they set it between the first two games. It was released in Japan on 26 June 1991 and in North America that August. EGM called it the best Famicom game at a Tokyo trade show, saying "Ninja Gaiden gets better every time!", and early reviews praised its plot and challenge, though later ones criticised the plot, levels and difficulty. It joined the Ninja Gaiden Trilogy compilation on the Super NES in 1995.