Hello friends. Dan Ryan here, you… there. Thank you so much for checking in and if you like what you see please comment and share. A long time ago on a website far, far away, Geekade if you’re curious, I wrote a column during the summer months called Kung-Fu Fridays. The goal with those posts was to highlight a martial arts, read Kung-Fu/Ninja/Karate/etc., movie, video game, or sometimes both at the same time. My love for martial arts media is endless. It has been a major part of my pop-culture identity since I was a little kid and now, as an adult, it has only grown. So it is in that spirit that I bring this new version to you, the reader. And for the first post in this new series I figured it was only appropriate to celebrate the release, digitally anyway on 08/01/25, of Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound by looking back to one of my favorite ninja themed games, Ninja Gaiden for the SEGA Master System. As for rating the games each month I will be using the wholly original, not copied at all from any defunct gaming magazine, SAG Pod ranking system, which is explained below.

Yeah, that doesn't look like anything to me...

Developed by SIMS and published by SEGA in 1992, Ninja Gaiden was only released to Europe and other PAL territories. At the time of its release support for the Master System was done in Japan and North America due to a combination of poor performance and a shift to the more powerful Genesis/Mega Drive. However, in Europe and Brazil notably, the Master System was still going strong. (and still is today in Brazil!) As such it made sense to bring Ninja Gaiden to the Master System. And while some may have been expecting ports of the NES trilogy, what they got instead was an entirely original game and a pretty damn good one at that. (and the only one at the time to be called Ninja Gaiden as opposed to the PAL moniker Shadow Warriors) The plot sees series star Ryu Hayabusa return to his home, Dragon Village, to find everyone there dead minus one lone survivor hanging on to deliver a message; the Bushido Scroll has been taken by the Shogun of Darkness. Ryu immediately begins a journey of bloody revenge taking down the Shogun’s minions and foot soldiers on his way to a final showdown with the Shogun of Darkness himself. Along the way Ryu hacks and slashes his way through a fairly traditional ninja themed platformer complete with most of the skills you would expect as a veteran of the series and a few you wouldn’t, like wall jumping and hand over hand climbing from ledges. Overall, Ninja Gaiden on the Master System is a very good game that’s well worth your time.

Graphics: 4 Ninja Gaiden is one of the best looking Master Systems games ever released. The sprites are nice and big and animate very well. Backgrounds are detailed and provide a sense of depth. Weapons look cool. Bosses are detailed and imposing. IMO this looks better than any of the NES games if only just.

Sound: 3 The music here is pretty good but the overall sound package is a bit lacking in my opinion. While the tracks for each stage are catchy, they never really stick with me, no matter how many times I’ve played through this one. The sound effects are fine but nothing special. You can hear your sword but that’s about the only thing that sticks out. There was definitely room for improvement in the sound department.

BrawlerGen for Sega Genesis and Saturn (Gray) - Retro Fighters

$29.99

  Ergonomic and comfortable modern design Extra long 10' Cord Compatible with: SEGA Genesis/Mega drive, 32X, SEGA CD, SEGA master system, SEGA Saturn and most...… read more

Control: 4 The control in this game is excellent. Everything feels really smooth and Ryu does what you want him to do. Wall jumping is easy to do successfully and the hand over hand climbing mechanic is a welcome, easy to control addition to Ryu’s arsenal. The only knock here is the slipperiness in some of the stages that comes off a bit too unforgiving.

Fun Factor: 4 If you like action games, you will have a good time with Ninja Gaiden. The caveat here is that you cannot expect to play NES Ninja Gaiden when you fire this up. They are different games and feel different to play. The challenge is high but not impossible especially with save states on modern devices. It’s a short experience but one that is worth replaying.  

But I want to know what you think. Join the Stone Age Gamer discord, or you can find me on Bluesky to let me know your thoughts. In the immortal words of Billy Joel, “Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes; I'm afraid it's time for goodbye again.” See you soon.