Ninja Spirit

1988 · Action Platformer · Arcade

About Ninja Spirit

Ninja Spirit (1988) is Irem's hack-and-slash arcade platformer in which the young ninja Tsukikage avenges his father in an alternative feudal Japan, joined by ghostly ninja doubles.

Ninja Spirit in Depth

Tsukikage is a young ninja whose father was killed by a mysterious half-man, half-beast creature, and his quest for revenge takes place in an alternative feudal Japan. His journey runs through seven stages of woodland, wasteland, swamp, temple and cliff, each ending in a confrontation with a boss after he has slashed his way to it.

He always carries the katana Muramasa, which can be swung fluidly in every direction. Extra weapons include Uzha shuriken, Raitake bombs and the Shoryusai kusarigama, and power-ups include one that summons several ghostly ninja to fight alongside him. Players praised its detailed graphics, serious themes, solid controls and play but criticised its harsh difficulty. The TurboGrafx-16 version offers two modes: a PC Engine mode in which a life is lost only when all five energy points are gone, though some enemies kill in one hit, and a tougher Arcade mode in which any hit costs a life.

Making Ninja Spirit

Irem developed and published it for arcades in 1988, and it was ported to several platforms. The TurboGrafx-16 version was re-released on the Wii Virtual Console in 2007 and on Wii U in Japan in 2015 and in North America and Europe in 2017. Irem later brought Tsukikage into the crossover Shuyaku Sentai Irem Fighter alongside characters from R-Type, Battle Chopper and Hammerin' Harry.

Ninja Spirit Trivia

With Ys Book I & II, it was the first game to receive a perfect 10 from Electronic Gaming Monthly.
Game Machine listed it as Japan's fifth most successful table arcade unit in September 1988.
CraveOnline included it in its 2010 Top 10 Ninja Games Of All Time.
Its characters appear in the Japan-only Game Boy game Shuyaku Sentai Irem Fighter.
Hamster released it in the Arcade Archives series in 2019.