Hi everyone! I know,it has been forever since I reviewed anything.

Overall=8

The graphics are nice and colorful,you can tell at a glance what is happening and the soundtrack is decent,if not repetitive. The controls are pretty good and you handle easily,you will have to figure out that to jump into the background,hold up and jump and to jump into the foreground it is down and jump. Same for going up and down the level. The enemies respawn like crazy,but that is normal,it is to encourage the player to dispatch the enemy quickly and move on. Your job is to rescue the children of the world leaders and when you find one and free them,they will give you points and at times a handgun. (Yes,ninjas with a handgun make no sense,but it is a game.) You start off walking to the right,throwing shuriken (ninja stars) and if you are close enough to the enemy you will swing your sword of if you are crouching,a kick. Once you defeat the level,you will enter a ninja shooting gallery for the chance at an extra life. Shoot all the ninja in the background before they advance to you. (Word of warning: I do not know if it is MAME or my laptop,but the game can stutter a bit and that will throw off your progress,usually it does not,but it can happen.)

Graphics=8

The graphics and large and colorful,and you can tell what you are supposed to do when you see the enemy. The backgrounds are good and the ability to go into the background or an upper or lower level is well done. You are a lone ninja trying to save all the pink clad kids while defeating threats and avoiding knives,boomerang swords,bullets,swords,and other implements of death. Your sprite looks good and animates pretty well. The enemies look nice for the most part,(the soldier types,not so much) and the bosses look nice.

Sound=7

I do not know if it is MAME or my laptop,but the sound was somewhat muted as I played through. You barely hear the music and the sound effects of your shuriken being tossed. Like I said,I do not know. Therefore I cannot judge the sound too harshly. I played another version and the sound came through fine,you hear the snikt type sound as you slide a star against another as you throw it. The spoken parts are done well and it helps immerse you into the game. The music is a bit repetitive but not too annoying.

Addictiveness=8

The game is fun and fast paced,you know you must move quickly to to rescue the kids and to defeat your enemies. The enemies are armed with everything from knives and swords to guns and rocket launchers. You must get them before they can gang up on you to take you out. The bonus stages are nice and are a blast to play,just do not expect to get every last ninja before they land in front of you. But you want to keep playing to feel yourself getting better. It is a fun title and you will enter the lair again and again to see if you are ninja enough to defeat the bad guys.

Story=6

The story is simple,find all the kids in the level before you die. You have limited time,but you will make it out with time to spare. You will either walk to the right and at times be forced to jump into the background or jump to the next level or drop down a level. That can be used to your advantage to avoid an enemy or to find kids. But it is fairly standard,beat each area,defeat the boss,play the bonus stage,next mission.

Depth=7

There is not a lot to do,but the jumping into the background or to another level adds a bit of depth and strategy to the game. If you are near an area that you would not rather go through,you might have an area that you can avoid that patch and progress. The enemies also get smarter and trickier to kill as you go on. The gunmen learn to lay in the prone position and you cannot duck and kill them,you have to get close enough to force them up to dispatch them. The ninjas take 2 stars to kill and they will duck and jump around to make that harder for you. Remember to learn their colors and their methods of attack.

Difficulty=8

This game requires memorization of the stage and enemy placements,quick reflexes,and bosses that can be a pain in the rear end to kill. The game can be a tad forgiving with enemies,if they touch you,it is not necessarily you die,but if you are struck by a weapon,you lose a life. This is a game about skill and finesse,not brute strength. You do have 1 ninja magic per life,like a special attack that varies by stage. You have to be smarter and faster than you enemy. This is a game that worked well back in 1987,pop in a quarter and see how good you are. The kids are counting on you,get to it,shadow warrior!