Let’s face it, Ninjas beat all the martial artists (besides Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris) to their doom. They are so skilled that one could only dream about becoming one. They are a combination of a top gymnast, assassin, survivalist, stuntman, judo, karate master, weapons master and of course black magician. It’s a great thing video games have been able to capture all the fun of being a Ninja, from the comfort of your own home or out for a fun night at the arcade. My list summarizes the top genre defining Ninja video games.

1.Ninja Gaiden (Tecmo)
It deserves the no.1 title for many obvious reasons. Made for the NES, this and Shinobi below were two friendly rival game series, in which fans had a blast with both. This game defined the console generation of Ninja games. You take control of Ryu Hayabusa, who’s many talents are wall walking, wall jumping, speed sprinting and his awesome mystical hell fire wheel attack that could kill everything in sight. It nearly killed him while he was learning it! Of course, it didn’t but he became even stronger. His game series are thriving with new sequels today. They are much older than most of the readers here. His rebirth into 3D has been phenomenal. I actually read the Ninja Gaiden novel and got a bit too into it.

2.Shinobi (Sega)
Next up is a game that defined the arcade, back in 1987 where ALL of us used to play games. Come on, I’m not that ancient. You just are underprivileged, that’s all. It was not long until this series was made available to consoles. (Historical note: Back during when Dinosaurs walked the Earth, games came out in the Arcades first, then made it to consoles. Arcade games always looked better, though.)
You take control of Joe Musashi, who started out as a humble, weak boy who becomes the deadliest type of Ninja in the world. Sega’s answer to Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden was Shinobi.

3.Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Konami)
Up until now, Ninja media was seen as very serious, “I’ll slit your throat if you blink too many times,” type of deal. Enter the world of TMNT for short, who defined a new type of Ninja. They were hilarious, and gave kids a great way to enjoy Disney-like violence and values, without their parents worrying. Not just kids, but people of all ages were able to enjoy these funny guys. And about being a stealthy assassin, yeah I’m really sure a 5 foot mutant turtle can so blend in with the city and be stealthy, um yeah. I also remember those TMNT pies that had green mutant ooze custard inside.

4.Strider (Sega)
Just about gone from his reigning popularity, is Strider. It’s style is very unfaithful to Ninjas everywhere, but it still was a good game series. One can’t help mention this game’s popularity in the 80’s-90s, as it paved the way for other games. It was presented as one of the faster and fun side scrolling games of all time. Although the series has ceased, Strider continues to be a popular selection in the Capcom vs. Marvel/Street Fighter Series.

5.Mortal Kombat/Sub Zero series (Midway)
Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. This isn’t a Ninja game, but a fighting game. However, as the popularity of Ninjas in the 80s were just about ready to go, TMNT and MK video games kept Ninja’s on the map in the 90s. This game has more Ninja characters than any fighting game that I can think of, and pretty much is the main theme.

The playable Ninja characters are, Scorpion, Sub-Zero 1, Sub-Zero 2 (brothers), Rain, Smoke (human), Smoke (cyborg), Cyrax, Sektor, Noob Saibot (yeah the actual developers made themselves into game characters!) Mileena, Kitana, Jade, Reptile, Khameleon and Ermac. I might have even missed one or two.The characters who stunted as Ninjas in the motion film-captured game actually went on a world tour. Seriously, that’s the cheesy ’90s for you. Hey, admit you liked it anyways!

Well there’s several other goodies like ones from SNK, Tenchu, and more but these games really defined Ninja games.

BONUS!:

I found a pic of the 1990 Hostess Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Pie. When I was a kid, my Mom bought me one of these a week. God bless my Mom for limiting me, cause this is the real reason why Americans are so FAT! There were 4 varieties actually, so some kids bought 4x the blubber at a time! The cute cartoon characters are pretty much promoting o-beastity here, kids. It was dyed green frosted pie crust with custard inside. Tasty, but so fattening.