Ninja Gaiden (Atari Lynx)

Ninja Gaiden
Developer(s)	BlueSky Software
Publisher(s)	Atari
Platform(s)	Atari Lynx
Release	1990
Genre(s)	Action
Mode(s)	Single-player

Ninja Gaiden is an arcade adaption for the Atari Lynx under license from Tecmo.

Gameplay

Ninja Gaiden is a side-scrolling action game in which the player controls a trainee ninja that can jump, punch, kick and use weapons. The enemy opponents come in the form of; masked ninja, lumberjack ninja, clawed warrior, dark lord, black ninja, sumo wrestler and white ninja. The final boss is known as the dark lord who uses razor-sharp sabres. The game is on a timer where the player has 99 seconds to complete each level. If the player fails to complete the level in that time the player loses a life. There are a number of power-ups and treasures in the game from extra time to swords. There is also a scoring system of points for each enemy killed.

Reception

Reception

Review scores

Publication	Score
Computer and Video Games	89%
IGN	7/10
Raze	91%

Robert A. Jung reviewed the game which was published to IGN. He said the story was irrelevant, the game was a scaled down version of the arcade original he went on to write; "Sadly, Ninja Gaiden offers no improvement at all, and some would call its curtailing even worse." He praise the graphics but in his final verdict he wrote "Ninja Gaiden is not a bad game; it's just not a good game, either." Giving a final score of 7 out of 10. CVG magazine also reviewed the Atari Lynx version of the game in their August 1991 issue. Rob Swan said the game was exactly the same as the arcade coin-op. He felt the game was a little short of superb but really addictive, giving the game a score of 89 out of 100. Les Ellis reviewed the game in Raze Magazine giving a score of 91%.