The Ninja Warriors

The Ninja Warriors is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up originally released by Taito in arcades in 1987. The player controls one of two robotic ninjas—Ninja (blue) or Kunoichi (red)—created by a scientist named Mulk to assassinate the corrupt dictator Bangler, who has seized control of the world . Armed with short-range kunai slashes and long-range shurikens (which are limited in supply), the ninjas fight through waves of enemy soldiers, killer dogs, and magical opponents across six stages including slums, military bases, city streets, sewers, and Bangler's mansion . A special energy bar fills as the player progresses; when full, it allows a powerful special move, though taking damage resets the bar . As the ninjas take damage, their synthetic clothing tears away to reveal robotic limbs and torsos beneath . The game supports two players simultaneously.

Arcade

Released in Japan in late 1987 and worldwide by February 1988, with North American distribution licensed to Romstar . The arcade hardware uses two 68000 main CPUs at 8 MHz and a Z80 sound CPU, with music composed by Hisayoshi Ogura of Taito's in-house band Zuntata . The game is famous for its unique "triple-wide" cabinet, using three monitors arranged horizontally to create a panoramic 864×224 pixel display . This technology was previously used in Taito's Darius. The soundtrack features tracks like "Daddy Mulk" (Stage 1), "Che!" (Stage 3), and "Japanese Smile" (Stage 4) .