Set in a retro-futuristic version of 1999, the player controls a ninja hired by the United States government[4] to defeat an evil cult led by Bladedamus, a descendant of Nostradamus who seeks to fulfill his end of the world prophecies.

Flooding the streets of the United States with criminals released from Alcatraz, Bladedamus has kidnapped the President and acquired codes for launching the nation's ICBMs.

These will uncover hidden items that will award the player with bonus points, health recovery, time extensions and even an extra life.

[8] The designer of the arcade game is only credited as "Strong Shima", but Masato Kato, who worked on the NES version, identified him as one "Mr.

[9] Home versions of Ninja Gaiden were released under the Shadow Warriors title in 1990 by Ocean Software for five different computer platforms (Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, and Amstrad CPC).

[25] In Japan, Game Machine listed Ninja Gaiden on their March 15, 1989 issue as being the second most-successful table arcade unit of the month.

Nick Kelly of Commodore User called it "the next generation for Double Dragon fans" with praise for the controls, background variety and two-player mode, but with some criticism towards the "slightly washed-out" graphics and "gory" continue screen.

[1] Computer and Video Games called it a "slick beat 'em up" similar to Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja (1988) with "smooth" graphics and "masses of action" that is "great fun" in two-player mode, despite the lack of originality.