Rich’s Favourite 80s & 90s Ninja Video Games 🥷

The Ninja‑Soaked 80s & 90s: My Favourite Childhood Ninja Video Games

Growing up in the 80s and 90s meant that as a kid, you thought that Ninjas were the coolest things in the world. In fact, if someone described you as a Ninja, it generally meant you were great at something. “He’s a Ninja at playing rounders!”

Being the epitome of cool meant that Ninjas were a pervasive part of 80s culture and seeped into our films, cartoons and, of course, our video games.

When I think back to those Ninja-laden days, I was always drawn to things like Bruce Lee films, The Karate Kid, and, of course, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! 

When it came to video games, I think I was subliminally obsessed with Ninja-themed games, and I am going to have a go at recalling my favourite Ninja Video Games from the 80s and 90s of my childhood.

Bad Dudes vs Dragon Ninja

[ARCADE] 1988

There was a video rental shop down the road from my mate Paul’s house that had two arcade cabinets in it. They often changed it up in there too. We visited there one day with a fistful of 20ps and were greeted by the marquee for DRAGON NINJA. It’s famously called bad dudes in the U.S. We loved the enemy who used to multiply with a cry of “WAKKA WAKKA WAKKA”. Whether he actually said that is another matter, but that’s what it sounded like to 11-year-old me!

Last Ninja 2

[C64] 1988

My mate Paul got a Commodore 64 for his birthday, and it came packed with games. One of those games was The Last Ninja II. I’d never seen a video game that looked and sounded so good. I also had never seen a game that allowed you to seemingly explore at will and also solve puzzles with different weapons and items. We were awful at the game and pretty much always got about as far as trying to jump on a passing boat and then off of it to the other side of the river!

The Ninja 

[SEGA MASTER SYSTEM] 1986

I remember visiting my local video game shop called Logic in Cheshunt, and they often let you play games before you bought them. This was one of those games that once I played it once on the SEGA Master System, I was hooked. It’s a super simple video game, but I remember loving this from the first moment I played it, and I look back at it fondly as a SEGA Master System memory.

Ninja Commando 

[ATARI XEGS] 1989

My Atari XE Games System (XEGS) was a tough system to buy games for, as most video games shops only really stocked Commodore 64 or ZX Spectrum games. That meant I really had to trawl around to get new games. I stumbled across Ninja Commando on a trip to Rossis toy shop in Chingford and immediately parted with my pocket money to purchase this Zeppelin Games classic. It’s a tough, unforgiving video game, but I poured countless hours into this one trying to make precision Ninja jumps across its levels.

SHINOBI

[SEGA MASTER SYSTEM] 1988

Shinobi on SEGA Master System was a miracle of a video game that pushed the SMS to its limits. The bonus stage with the Shurikens was a thing of beauty. The game itself is probably my favourite SMS game and still stands up today. If you’ve never played this version, I highly recommend playing it immediately.

Alex Kidd in Shinobi World

[SEGA MASTER SYSTEM]  1990 

Alex Kidd in Miracle World was one of my fave SMS games of all time, so when SEGA created an Alex Kidd Shinobi crossover, I was always going to love it. This game is often overlooked as it was pretty easy to complete. But I loved running around as a mini Ninja, spinning around lampposts and launching a ferocious attack at enemies. It’s great fun to play and another cracker that is still fun to play today. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time

[Arcade] 1991

Probably the pinnacle of Ninja video games in terms of how great the game is and how popular the IP was at the time. It’s one of those video games that never ages and still looks amazing to this day. Whenever I spot this in an arcade, then it’s just gotta be played immediately. 

ZOOL

[Commodore Amiga] 1992

I owned an Amiga when this came out, and it was the Amiga response to the popularity of mascot platformers on the consoles of the time. I was desperate for the Amiga to have a cool Sonic-type platformer, as platformers were THE GENRE at the time. It just so happened that ZOOL was a Ninja. This game is a solid platformer with a bold look to it. I always had a great time playing this, and it holds a place in my heart as a classic 90s platformer.

Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi

[SEGA MEGA DRIVE] 1991 

Just a beautiful video game on the SEGA Mega Drive that oozes class. This stretches the SEGA Mega Drive’s graphical capabilities, and it’s an absolute joy to play! I'm pretty sure my mate Zesh had this first on his cool Japanese-imported SEGA Genesis that I drooled over every time I went round his house. What an amazing time to be alive that was!

Which Ninja Video Game Is Your Favourite Of All Time?