Wielding secret ninja techniques automatically makes an arcade game cool. Even if it's not the most popular game in the place, it's always nice to step behind the controls of a virtual ninja with killer punches and kicks. Ninja Gaiden allowed up to two players to fight their way through various cities and kapow the living daylights out of bad guys.

The side-scrolling game featured standard elements of the beat 'em up genre: lone fighter pitted against veritable armies of thugs, maximum collateral damage and level bosses that had to be defeated to advance. Ninja Gaiden had a few unique features as well, mostly having to do with special moves and attacks.

Through the use of an eight-way joystick and two buttons, the masked ninja had five techniques at his disposal. The Triple Blow Combo, the Flying Neck Throw, the Phoenix Backflip, the Hang Kick and the Tight Rope. A special button on top of the joystick let the ninja jump up and grab on to an available overhang (rope, ledge, pipe, etc.) for his Hang Kick technique, i.e. swing like a monkey and kick the crap out his opponents.

The city terrain included some common urban detritus, like garbage cans, vending machines and phone booths that made terrifically satisfying crunching noises when the ninja threw a bad guy at them. As extra incentive to bust up the scenery, hidden power-ups were sometimes revealed in the wreckage.

Traveling through six U.S. cities, the ninja encountered thugs and assassination squads, not to mention the end bosses. Defeating the head boss at the last level meant the ninja could hang up his mask and retire to a happy life back in Japan.