''Sega Ninja'', originally released as in Japan, is a

run and gun shooter Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of charact ...

released in arcades by Sega in 1985. The game features Princess Kurumi (くるみ姫 ''Kurumi-Hime''), the titular

female ninja is a Japanese cant term for . In popular culture, it is often used for female shinobi or practitioner of ninjutsu (''ninpo''). The term was largely popularized by novelist Yamada Futaro in his novel ''Ninpō Hakkenden'' (忍法八犬伝) in 1964 ...

, battling enemies using

throwing knives A throwing knife is a knife that is specially designed and weighted so that it can be thrown effectively. They are a distinct category from ordinary knives. Throwing knives are used by many cultures around the world, and as such different tac ...

and throwing stars. The game was originally released in arcades as ''Ninja Princess'' in Japan and ''Sega Ninja'' internationally. In contrast to most later games in the genre, ''Ninja Princess'' has a

feudal Japan The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when new inven ...

setting with a female ninja protagonist who throws

shuriken A ''shuriken'' ( ja, 手裏剣; literally: "hidden hand blade") is a Japanese concealed weapon that was used as a hidden dagger or metsubushi to distract or misdirect. They are also known as throwing stars, or ninja stars, although they we ...

and knives. A revised edition for the

Sega Mark III The is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series of consoles, which was released in Japan in 1985 an ...

console titled ''Ninja Princess 1 Mega Ban - Ninja'' (忍者プリンセス1メガ版忍者) was released in 1986, replacing the female protagonist with a male

ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance, espionage, infiltration, deception, ambush, bodyguarding and their fighting skills in martial arts, including ninjutsu.Kawakami, pp ...

protagonist who has to rescue her. This version was subsequently released as ''The Ninja'' for the

Master System The is an 8-bit History of video game consoles (third generation), third-generation home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series of ...

internationally.

Gameplay

''Ninja Princess'' is a

run and gun game Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop gro ...

. The gameplay involves player shooting enemies and defeating bosses along the way. Enemies include

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of History of Japan#Medieval Japan (1185–1573/1600), medieval and Edo period, early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retai ...

and dogs. The player's normal weapons are an unlimited supply of throwing knives, but

power-up In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that can be used at any time chos ...

s to throwing stars are available; in addition, the player can also turn

invisible Invisibility is the state of an object that cannot be seen. An object in this state is said to be ''invisible'' (literally, "not visible"). The phenomenon is studied by physics and perceptual psychology. Since objects can be seen by light in ...

for a short period of time. While most of the stages are vertically scrolling, a few of the levels add some variety - including a level where the player must scale a wall.

Plot

The game is set during Japan's

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

, in about the year 1630, in a province called Ohkami in the western region, where the power has been seized by an evil tyrant named Gyokuro. The goal is to end his oppressive rule and restore peace.

Release

Ports of the game were released for Sega's

SG-1000 The is a home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was Sega's first entry into the home video game hardware business. Developed in response to a downturn in arcades starting in 1982, the SG-1000 was created on the advice of Hayao Nak ...

and

consoles. The latter version, retitled ''Ninja Princess 1 Mega Ban - Ninja'', was released a year after the arcade game and changed the protagonist from female to male.Ninjas in Games , An evolution of ninjas in video games throughout the years.
, UGO.com, June 4, 2008 Other changes include the rearranging of stages from the original Japanese release in western releases of the game as well as a

scroll A scroll (from the Old French ''escroe'' or ''escroue''), also known as a roll, is a roll of papyrus, parchment, or paper containing writing. Structure A scroll is usually partitioned into pages, which are sometimes separate sheets of papyrus ...

system, which requires that five green scrolls must be collected to get to the final level of the game, as all of them give hints on how the final level must be entered. If the player finishes the game without them, the game will backtrack to a level closest to where a missing scroll lies. Graphics are also different, made in a more realistic style.

Reception

In Japan, '' Game Machine'' listed ''Ninja Princess'' on their May 1, 1985 issue as being the most-successful

table arcade cabinet An arcade cabinet, also known as an arcade machine or a coin-op cabinet or coin-op machine, is the housing within which an arcade game's electronic hardware resides. Most cabinets designed since the mid-1980s conform to the Japanese Amusement Ma ...

of the month. ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through t ...

'' stated that the Master System version was the most entertaining of three martial-arts games that Sega released together (the others were '' Black Belt'' and '' Kung Fu Kid''), and approved of its unusual visual perspective.

Legacy

In 2017, Sam Derboo of ''Hardcore Gaming 101'' noted that ''Ninja Princess'' predates

Capcom is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. It has created a number of multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being '' Resident Evil'', '' Monster Hunter'', '' Street Fighter'', '' Mega Man'', '' ...

's genre-popularizing run-and-gun shooter ''

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'' (1985), and he considers ''Ninja Princess'' to be "in some ways the more advanced concept." While he considered ''Commando'' to be a refinement of

Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, toys, arcade cabinets and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, vending machines and jukeboxes into Japan. It ...

's ''

Front Line A front line (alternatively front-line or frontline) in military terminology is the position(s) closest to the area of conflict of an armed force's personnel and equipment, usually referring to land forces. When a front (an intentional or unint ...

'' (1982), he said that ''Ninja Princess'' brought "a fresh setting and interesting new elements." He also praises the female protagonist, but criticizes the console versions for making the protagonist a male ninja who has to rescue her instead. He nevertheless considers it "no doubt one of the better overhead run-n-gun shooters out in the mid-’80s." ''Sega Ninja'' is a plot point in the novel '' Ready Player Two'' (2020).

Notes

References

External links

*{{MobyGames, id= -group/sega-ninja-games , name=''SEGA Ninja'' games 1985 video games Arcade video games Run and gun games Sega video games Sega arcade games Master System games SG-1000 games Sega System 1 games Video games about ninja Video games featuring female protagonists Video games developed in Japan