Ninja Gaiden

Ninja Gaiden is an action game franchise created by Tecmo. The series was originally known as Ninja Ryukenden in Japan. The word "gaiden" means "side story" in Japanese. The original 1988 arcade game, first two Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) games and the Game Boy game were released as Shadow Warriors in PAL regions. As of 2008, the series had shipped over 7.7 million copies worldwide. The series gained popularity on the NES for its action-platform gameplay, catchy music and, according to G4's X-Play, for being the first console game to have the story presented in cinematic cutscenes. The 8-bit trilogy was enhanced for the 16-bit Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. Sega released two Ninja Gaiden games for the Game Gear and Master System, the latter only for PAL regions. The first 3D game, Ninja Gaiden, was released in 2004 on the Xbox, developed by Team Ninja. It received universal acclaim and sold more than 1.5 million copies, making it one of the top 10 best-selling Xbox games. It was followed by Ninja Gaiden II (2008) on the Xbox 360, Ninja Gaiden 3 (2012) for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and Ninja Gaiden 4 (2025) for PlayStation 5, Windows and Xbox Series X/S. The Team Ninja games are set in the same universe as its Dead or Alive fighting games. Ninja Gaiden is known for its high difficulty, particularly the original NES version and the 2004 Xbox revival. According to Eurogamer, the gameplay of the Strider arcade franchise was a vital influence on the modern incarnation of the Ninja Gaiden franchise.