Genre: Brawler
Developer: Tecmo
Publisher: Atari

In the true spirit of the ninja and out of a puff of smoke, the Lynx manages to conjure up almost point-for-point adaptations of the arcade original's stages, but in the cute, pint-sized, pixelized style which characterizes these very early handhelds-- granted, it's a little tough to tell what the environments are, and probably more attention could have been put into that aspect of the game's design. While it's also true that a couple of the levels are missing, and some elements like the moving pinball objects in the casino stage are absent, the darker style almost suits the game's theme better! Likewise, the enemy sprites are cut down in terms of design complexity, but almost benefit from the transition.

Like most arcade games of the era, the original "Ninja Gaiden" employed a Yamaha chip very similar to the one in the Mega Drive, and frankly speaking, the strongly tonal, more defined Lynx translations actually sound better! The game uses a lot of digital samples, and the weighty punches are satisfying, while the lightning as the game starts, along with the breaking glass effects of enemies smashing into obstacles all sound fantastic. The game's audio really apexes when the Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" rip-off starts playing in front of the Engrish-y "Strong Team" poster with "M.S.G." written on it-- it doesn't get more "80's Japan" than that!

Imagine if "Vigilante" were actually a good game, and you get "Ninja Gaiden". As a genre, brawlers really struggle to translate on 8-bit systems, with lax movement and lackluster collision detection-- and that's how you know the Lynx is a 16-bit platform, because this game feels as water tight as something like "Streets of Rage" on the Mega Drive! One of the best parts of the title's design is that power-ups are randomized, and this added dimension of luck really gives a unique flavor to each playthrough. The slow-scrolling stages aren't super amazing in their design, but still have cool overhead pipes to hang on to, and ledges to use strategically.

This Ninja Gaiden port is a perfect example of what the Lynx's personality is all about: 16-bit quality mechanics, controls, and gameplay feel, but married to a Game Gear-esque bite-sized presentation. On top of that, there is also the Lynx's sound chip, which adds a whole extra layer of sophistication versus Nintendo's or Sega's competing platforms, and really helps to carry a game like this with its punchy samples and catchy music. All-in-all, Lynx fans can do a backflip with this title, which is a wonderful port of what is an incredibly underrated arcade game.