The Ninja

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NTSC-U/PAL NTSC-J
The Ninja
System(s): Sega Master System
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega R&D 2
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code JP 1986-11-08 ¥5,0005,000 G-1308 US 1986-12 5066 EU 1987-11 MK-5066-50 DE 1987 41012 UK 1987-11 £19.9519.95 MK-5066-50 SE 19xx AU 19xx 5066 BR 1993-06 023350 KR 19xx TW 19xx G-1308

The Ninja (忍者) is a Sega Master System run-and-gun game developed and published by Sega. A redesigned port of the 1985 Sega R&D 1 arcade title Ninja Princess, it was first released in Japan and Europe in November 1987, and was later brought to the United States the following month.

Story

The game is set during Japan's Edo period. The ninja Kazamaru must journey to Ohkami Castle to rescue the princess, who has been kidnapped by the tyrant Gyokuro.

Gameplay

Map and hidden scrolls

The game is an overhead run-and-gun. The player controls the ninja Kazamaru, who is moved in any direction with the D-Pad. Kazamaru throws shurikens at enemies in the direction that he is facing with . He throws shurikens forwards, regardless of which direction he is facing, with , which allows him to strafe targets. Shurikens can collide with enemy projectiles and neutralize each other. Kazamaru can disappear for a brief duration with +, during which he is impervious to damage but also unable to attack. He can continue to move while disappeared, which makes the ability useful for repositioning or evading enemy fire.

The goal is to progress to the top of each stage, fighting or eluding enemies along the way. Enemies appear when Kazamaru reaches certain points of the stage but do not respawn once defeated (except on the last stage). A boss encounter awaits at the end of the stage. A few stages diverge from this and autoscroll sideways. With the exception of these autoscrolling stages, the player is free to backtrack with Kazamaru.

Kazamaru can find colored scrolls in the stages. Red Scrolls upgrade his weapon, and Blue Scrolls increase his movement speed. These effects persist to the next stage. There are also five Green Scrolls hidden throughout the game that must be collected to access the final stage. Once all five have been collected, the player is given a hint for a secret shortcut in the Castle Courtyard stage that skips to the last stage. This shortcut only works if the player has all of the Green Scrolls collected. If the player completes the penultimate stage without all of the Green Scrolls, the player is sent back to a stage with a missing scroll and must find the remaining scrolls and play back to the end of the game.

Kazamaru loses a life if he is hit by an enemy weapon. He loses his Red and Blue Scroll bonuses if he loses a life. The game ends if the player runs out of lives. The player is awarded an extra life at 30,000, 100,000, and 200,000 points. The player is given bonus points for accuracy (number of targets hit per shots fired) at the end of each stage. The piercing shots given by the Red Scrolls can greatly improve accuracy and can even be used to get an accuracy score of greater than 100%.

Items

Red and Blue Scrolls are occasionally dropped by defeated foes if their effects are not already active.

	Red Scroll
	Upgrades Kazamaru's weapon to Pinwheel Darts, which are larger shurikens that pierce through targets.
	Blue Scroll
	Increases Kazamaru's movement speed.
	Green Scroll
	Collect all five hidden Green Scrolls to unlock the last stage.

Stages

	Grassy Field
	Map: 1️⃣
	The first Green Scroll is dropped by a ninja disguised as a rock.
	Paddy Field
	Map: 1️⃣
	This stage is only present in the Japanese version of the game.
	Craggy Cliff
	The Prairie
	Map: 1️⃣
	A Shrine
	Map: 1️⃣
	The second Green Scroll is found by attacking the left statue.
	A River Bank
	Town Street
	Map: 1️⃣
	The third Green Scroll is found by standing in front of a tree.
	A Small Town
	Residential Samurai Area
	Map: 1️⃣
	The fourth Green Scroll is found by standing in front of a tree.
	A Stone Wall
	Map: 1️⃣
	The final Green Scroll is found at the top-right of the stage.
	Inside Terrace
	Map: 1️⃣
	If the player has collected all five Green Scrolls, Kazamaru can skip to the last stage by approaching the third stone lantern from the right side, attacking it three times, and then disappearing three times.
	Inside Ohkami Castle 1
	Map: 1️⃣
	Inside Ohkami Castle 2
	Map: 1️⃣
	Inside Ohkami Castle 3
	Map: 1️⃣
	The last stage can only be accessed if all five Green Scrolls have been collected. This is the only stage where enemies respawn after being defeated.

Versions

Though similar in design and overall gameplay, the Sega Master System version of Ninja Princess features a different soundtrack, re-arranged stage layouts, and most notably, a male protagonist.

Hints

• 

  US hints (color scan)

• 

  US hints (B/W scan)

Magazine articles

Main article: The Ninja/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Master System print advert in Popular Computing Weekly (UK) #7.09: "Vol. 7 No. 9" (1988-03-03)
also published in:

• Popular Computing Weekly (UK) #7.10: "Vol. 7 No. 10" (1988-03-10)

Print advert in Atuagagdliutit (GL) #1990-11-14 (1991-11-14)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source Génération 4 (FR) 79 №1, p25

	79
Based on 1 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Aktueller Software Markt (DE) 68 Complete Guide to Consoles (UK) 78 Complete Guide to Consoles (UK) 80 The Complete Guide to Sega (UK) PAL 80 Console XS (UK) PAL 75 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 80 Play Time (DE) 39 S: The Sega Magazine (UK) PAL 71 Sega Power (UK) PAL 75 Sega Pro (UK) 75 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 73 Software Gids (NL) 80 Tilt (FR) 60

	72
Based on 13 reviews

The Ninja

Master System, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, US (℠ variant)
Cover

Master System, US (® variant)
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, EU (Sega®)
Cover
Manual

Master System, EU ("No Limits")
Cover
Manual

Master System, UK
Cover

Master System, DE
Cover

Master System, BX†
Cover

Master System, SE
Manual

Master System, NL
File:NinjaSMSNLManual.pdf Manual

Master System, AU (Hotline/NIAL stickers)
Cover
Cart

Master System, AU (NIAL sticker)
Cover
Cart

Master System, AU (Classics)
Cover
Cart

Master System, BR
Cover
Cart

Master System, BR (newer)
Cover
Cart

Master System, KR
Cover
Cart

Master System, KR (Alt)
Cover

Master System, TW

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
?	CRC32 66a15bd9 MD5 2c620ba64fcaac940b4b1566733037b3 SHA-1 76396a25902700e18adf6bc5c8668e2a8bdf03a9	128kB		Cartridge (EU/US)
?	CRC32 320313ec MD5 41e20afe05c2fbe45ac5f3a9c8111047 SHA-1 e9acdae112a898f7db090fc0b8f1ce9b86637234	128kB		Cartridge (JP)