Gameplay consists of the ninja player character hitting a golf ball at the beginning of each hole (stage) then fighting various enemies in side-scrolling sections to reach it.

[2] The player can pick up restorative items such as extra health, lives, and shurikens as well as temporary invincibility and an instant warp to the green.

[1] The pattern of taking golf swings and fighting towards the ball's landing spot repeats until the green is reached, where the player encounters a dragon boss that guards it.

[4][5] Sullivan was contracted by BlueSky while Dentt was led to employment at the company in 1988 while working at arcade video game developer Cinematronics.

[7] Sullivan claimed that BlueSky was originally set to create a comedic platformer in the spirit of the film Caddyshack, but the simultaneous popularity of ninjas in the 1980s and the success of golf games like Mean 18 led to the finalized concept.

[16] An enhanced remake of Ninja Golf was developed by Alpha Dog Games and published by Atari Interactive as a free-to-play application for iOS and Android around March 2019.

[19] In 2021, Atari sold off the distribution rights to the Ninja Golf remake alongside other free-to-play apps in order to refocus on marketing premium games for console and PC.

Robert Naytor of Hardcore Gaming 101 felt that neither the golf nor the beat 'em up gameplay were particularly well-realized, leading to a difficult and repetitive experience once the charm of the concept wears off.

[2] AllGame reviewer Joseph Scoleri III gave a similar assessment, summarized, "While these facets of the game are imaginative, amusing and fun, the overall gameplay seems a little bland in comparison.

"[3] John Delaney of the Retro Gamer team noted the serious delivery of its humor as deadpan and its gameplay as fun despite being simplistic compared to other beat 'em ups and golf simulations.

[23] Atari Gaming Headquarters reviewer Matthew Lippart made a similar observation regarding the boss fights and offered general praise to its graphics.

He commended the combat gameplay while noting its difficulty in attacking when jumping and summarizing it "basically Kung Fu with a really bad golf engine thrown in.

"[26] Levi Buchanan of IGN listed it as the second best release on the Atari 7800, stating in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, "Ninja Golf is a better conversation piece than a game.

[28][29][30][31][32] The game's cover art has been considered among the worst of all time by IGN,[33] Complex,[34] ComicsAlliance,[35] Comic Book Resources,[36] T3,[37] Sports Illustrated,[38] and Grunge.