The object of the game is to guide the ninja protagonist Armakuni on his journey to the palace of the evil shogun Kunitoki to assassinate him, avenge his clan, and retrieve the sacred scrolls.

The interface consists of the opponents' energy and collected inventory (on the right) and player's health (on the bottom).

Movements are relative to the direction Armakuni is facing but restricted to predefined paths upon inaccessible scenery.

By approaching and kneeling at certain landmarks, such as shrines to Buddha and water fountains, an indication of what to collect next is revealed.

[4] The team had some of the levels done, but missed all the deadlines, so the code was returned to London by Cale, and the engine rewritten for the Commodore 64 by John Twiddy.

[6] Versions subsequent to the Commodore 64 original were published by Activision in 1987 for Apple IIGS and in 1988 for the Atari ST and MS-DOS.

[8] Computer Gaming World stated that "there is no exaggerating the graphic excellence of" The Last Ninja.

[22] According to UGO: "For a 20+ year old game, The Last Ninja is surprisingly advanced, sporting a combat system which allows specific body parts to be targeted, environmental obstacles, multiple weapons and hidden items galore".