One of the best things about modern consoles is the steady stream of new releases — though, let’s be honest, a good chunk of them are actually remakes, remasters, or revivals of long‑forgotten classics. And honestly, that’s part of the charm. We’re even seeing developers bring back the lesser‑known or completely abandoned titles, which is something I never expected to witness on this scale.

A few years ago, we got one of the most unexpected comebacks ever with Bubsy, and then last year’s Shaq Fu sequel left people scratching their heads while I sat there quietly enjoying it far more than I probably should have.

And now, out of nowhere, they’ve decided to resurrect a game that many players didn’t even know existed in the first place — referring to it as “the SNES‑exclusive game The Ninja Warriors by Natsume and Titus from 1994.”

Hang on now… what?, WHAT?

This is The Ninja Warriors:   

The Ninja Warriors Triple Screen Arcade Cabinet…

This is exactly how I remember The Ninja Warriors — the 1987 Taito arcade powerhouse that was later ported to countless systems by The Sales Curve / Random Access and published by Virgin Mastertronic.

The original arcade cabinet was probably the first machine that ever gave me that full‑body WOW moment. Most of that impact came from its sheer size and the incredible triple‑screen setup. It looked absolutely stunning, a machine that practically shouted LOOK AT ME — INSERT COIN NOW!

I never expected to see that cabinet again, and I was right. Thirty‑two years later, I still haven’t come across one in the wild. Then again, most of those old giants only resurfaced if they happened to show up in our local arcade — and once they were gone, they were gone for good.

The Ninja Warriors On The Commodore Amiga…

Taito used to be the undisputed king of the arcades for me, even if quite a few of their classics didn’t translate all that well to the Commodore 8‑bit and 16‑bit systems. The Ninja Warriors, however, was one of the rare exceptions — a downright brilliant conversion on the Amiga, and for good reason. The team behind it was the same powerhouse responsible for Rodland, Silkworm, SWIV, and several other top‑tier titles. Their experience shows in every frame.

Zuntata…

There was really only one drawback to the Amiga release: the lack of in‑game music. But even that was softened by the fact that its opening and main‑menu theme were absolutely phenomenal — arguably the best of any version available at the time, even surpassing the arcade original.

Ron Pieket handled both the Amiga coding and the music, and his interpretation of the classic Zuntata soundtrack elevated it in a way few expected. By giving the score a deeper, richer sound, he managed to push the Amiga version up a few notches and carve out its own identity within the series.

I fired up the game again this weekend, and I still absolutely love it. The animations, the graphics, and the overall feel of the Amiga version are exactly as I remembered — pure retro magic.

The Ninja Warriors was always best as a two‑player experience, especially on the Amiga, and that’s largely because it’s a very tough game to master. I still suck at it, and while I clearly remember reaching the final boss back in the day, I honestly can’t recall whether I ever managed to beat it.

The box design may not be the most striking one out there, but I simply couldn’t let this sealed copy slip through my fingers. You’ll see why in the photos below.

I bought the Budget version first (the Tronix one) and the sealed first release box I got many years later on a sale, luckily I never opened it as it looks absolutely gobsmacking even today with the seal on.

The 16 Blitz Tronix line boxes might not be the best-looking budget boxes out there, but it still manages to look rather special nonetheless, thanks to this particular game box.

An interesting thing with this manual is that it says the game has in-game music and can be toggled with the “M” button, sadly, this ain’t correct.

The original box release of The Ninja Warriors might not look particularly special at first glance, yet it’s one of those packages you can’t help but keep staring at. It’s not flashy or groundbreaking, but there’s something undeniably captivating about it. I’ll admit, a part of me desperately wants to open it up — but the collector in me refuses to break that seal.

As for the game itself, The Ninja Warriors on Amiga was, and still is, utterly brilliant in my humble opinion.

It’s a true classic, and one that’s strangely overlooked whenever people discuss the best arcade conversions on the platform.

The long‑running debate around SFX versus in‑game music has dominated conversations for the last two decades, and that might be one of the reasons this gem doesn’t get mentioned alongside heavy hitters like Rodland, Rainbow Islands, Toki, and the other state‑of‑the‑art Amiga conversions.

Yes, the gameplay and presentation feel a bit “old” by today’s standards, but as a port of the original arcade game, it’s fantastic — and the music even manages to outshine the source material.

Could it have been better? Certainly.

But remember, this was a 1988/89 release, created during the era of ST/Amiga parity, and as usual, the Amiga ended up suffering for it.

Even so, the end result remains something special.

THE NINJA WARRIORS AGAIN, A SNES Exclusive…

The upcoming remake for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 is actually a remake of the remake—or perhaps more accurately, the sequel—to The Ninja Warriors, originally released in Asia as The Ninja Warriors Again.

That version was an SNES exclusive, launching in 1994, yet for reasons that still feel a bit bizarre, the Western release dropped the “Again” subtitle entirely. Over here, it simply went by The Ninja Warriors, which only added to the confusion about where it fit in the series timeline.

I have to admit, by the time it arrived in Europe, I was already deep into the PlayStation era, so the SNES release completely slipped past me. In fact, I only discovered its existence recently—thanks to the announcement of this new remake.

The screenshots and trailers certainly look impressive, and the game absolutely screams “console‑quality.” But for some reason, the original look and feel are nowhere to be found. Judged purely on its own merits, it’s a solid game — no doubt about that — yet as a sequel, I struggle to see the connection beyond the reused logo and name.

That crude, gritty, industrial atmosphere from the arcade and Amiga versions is long gone. In its place is a far more cartoonish aesthetic, almost as if it belongs to an entirely different franchise. And yes… the iconic music is gone too.

So most of the elements we loved in the first game — or at least the things we thought were brilliant back then — have been replaced. In their place, we get oversized characters, bright colours, and a completely new visual identity. I suppose the shift made sense if the goal was to appeal to the SNES audience of the time, but part of me wishes they had simply given it a new title or at least added a number to it.

The Ninja Warriors Once Again — the remake of the SNES remake:

And that brings us to The Ninja Warriors Once Again, a title that probably sounds far more poetic in Japanese.

The visual style and overall presentation seem to have transitioned beautifully onto modern hardware. In fact, the game looks more appealing now than ever — almost like a lost arcade title that’s finally getting the spotlight it deserved. And as shown in the footage below, the developers even set up full arcade‑style cabinets at last year’s Tokyo Game Show, which says a lot about the confidence they have in the remake’s authenticity.

The level of focus and attention to detail in this new game seems genuinely impressive. :-p

And yes, I had to include that “titties evolution” GIF — normally, little details like that slip right past me. Honestly, I never even considered the robot to be a “she” back in the day. It just wasn’t something I thought about; ninjas, in my mind, were always male… OOPS :-p

That said (and yes, I’m still blushing), I did notice the character was clearly presented as female in the SNES remake/sequel.

The Ninja Warriors Once Again…

The PlayStation 4 version appears to run at a solid 60 frames per second, and thanks to the higher resolution, the game finally recaptures that sense of visibility and spatial awareness the original offered. As shown in the comparison above — SNES on the left, remake on the right — you can now see much farther ahead of your character, which instantly makes the action feel more authentic.

I’m genuinely excited for this release, and I’m hoping to play through it with a friend in co‑op, whether online or offline. The PS4’s excellent PlayShare feature makes that possible, letting you enjoy co‑op over the internet even if only one of you owns the game.

Check out the video below — and prepare your wallet, because the Guru has spoken.

Thanks to Hall Of Light for Amiga screenshots and thanks to Ninja Wiki for SNES pics; the box shots are from my own collection.