What was that old arcade game?

The Game Room
1

I think I’ve mentioned somewhere that I’m building a MAME cabinet, but for the life of me I can’t remember the name of one of my favorite games.

Thought it was Shinobi, but that wasn’t it. So here’s the details I remember.

[ul]
[li]Side scrolling 2D ninja.[/li][li]Sword and shurikens as weapons. Swinging the sword left an arc in the air in front of you for a moment to show how fast you had been.[/li][li]You could pick up helpers as powerups along the way. Either orbiting spheres or a robotic panther.[/li][li]First level was in a forest with you fighting up in the trees moving along the branches. I think it was raining.[/li][li]One of the later levels had you fighting on the outside of some sort of flying airship.[/li][/ul]

So whatcha got? Can you help a Doper out?

Thanks!

2

Was it Ninja Gaiden?

3

Afraid not. I’m pretty sure it had a one word name.

4

Strider.

5

We have a winner!

I had forgotten about the slide kick attack.

Thanks again! I owe you one.

6

Hmmm, your description seems also to be very similar to Ninja Spirit for the TurboGrafx-16. But I guess all “ninja” video games back them shared many similarities.

7

Loved the shit out of some Strider. I pretty much bought my Genesis for that game. And Golden Axe.

8

Yeah, Strider. Just a few small caveats (I’m something of a stickler for arcade games):

  • The first level is a city in the Kazakh nation of the USSR. The Amazon forest is the fourth level (and doesn’t have rain).
  • Hiryu isn’t a ninja, more like a commando or shock troop. There’s an entire organization of Striders. (I think Hiryu is mixed Japanese/Russian blood, which would at least explain why he’s in the USSR.)
  • There are no shurikens or orbiting spheres; you’re probably thinking of the “Ouroboros”, robotic followers that fire energy rings.
  • The flying ship “Ballog” is the third stage.

I’ve played Ninja Spirit and see very little similarity with this.

9

Here’s another link to Strider, on Killer List of Videogames (KLOV).

10

There aren’t many similarities between Strider and Ninja Spirit. However, there are several similarities between the OP’s description and Ninja Spirit.

Side scrolling 2D ninja.

Sword and shurikens as weapons.

Swinging the sword left an arc in the air in front of you for a moment to show how fast you had been.

You could pick up helpers as powerups along the way.

First level was in a forest with you fighting up in the trees moving along the branches. [Not first level, but second, and it wasn’t raining, but counts as similar]

His description is actually closer to Ninja Spirit than Strider.

11

Quite.

Which further illustrates the awesome powers of the SDMB. Supplying a correct answer in only an hour in spite of inaccurate information.

In my slight defense, the last time I played it was 20ish years ago in an actual arcade. :slight_smile: