Ninja Gaiden
Ninja Gaiden, released in Japan as Ninja Ryūkenden and as Shadow Warriors in Europe, is a 1988 hack and slash platform game developed and published by Tecmo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Its development and release coincided with the beat 'em up arcade version of the same name. It was released in December 1988 in Japan, in March 1989 in North America, and in August 1991 in Europe. It has been ported to several other platforms, including the PC Engine, the Super NES, and mobile phones.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA, read 5 September 2026.
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- Released
- 1988
- Developer
- Tecmo
- Platforms
- 3 systems
- Critics
- Not scored
- Steam Deck
- Unknown
- Download
- Not stated
The record
| First released | 9 December 1988 |
|---|---|
| Developer | Tecmo |
| Publisher | Tecmo |
| Platforms | Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Steam Deck |
| Genres | platformer |
Source. Catalogue facts from Wikidata Q2658381, seeded 30 August 2026.
How long is Ninja Gaiden? How long to beat it
Total play time for Ninja Gaiden is about 3.8 hours to do everything, and around 3 hours to reach the end of the main story. These are player-submitted times from HowLongToBeat, not our own, shown with the number of players behind each.
| How you play | Hours | Players logged |
|---|---|---|
| Just the main story: straight through the critical path | 3h | 252 |
| Main + the extras: story plus the side content most people do | 3.4h | 18 |
| Completionist: everything: 100% the game | 3.8h | 40 |
Source: HowLongToBeat community submissions, read 2026-10-19.
Where Ninja Gaiden sits on the grid
The grid places every game in the catalogue on measured axes rather than on an opinion. This is where Ninja Gaiden lands on each map it has the data for, with the share of the catalogue it beats on each axis.
- Year
- 41ahead of 3% of the catalogue
- Reach
- 30ahead of 72% of the catalogue
Percentiles are against the games that carry a reading on that axis, not the whole catalogue: counting a game with no figure as a zero would flatter everything that has one. How the grid works.
What readers say about Ninja Gaiden
Reviews written by people who have played it. These are separate from the GamingPickz Score and are never averaged into it: that score comes from thousands of Steam reviews with a sample-size correction, and a handful of unverified ratings would distort it rather than improve it.
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Where Ninja Gaiden appears
The ranked lists and finder pages Ninja Gaiden qualifies for, from its own genre and platform to what it takes to run.
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Common questions about Ninja Gaiden
What platforms is Ninja Gaiden on?
Ninja Gaiden is available on Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Steam Deck. It first released in 1988.
Who made Ninja Gaiden?
Ninja Gaiden was developed by Tecmo and published by Tecmo.
How long does it take to beat Ninja Gaiden?
about 3 hours for the main story, 3.4 hours with the main extras, 3.8 hours to complete everything, from HowLongToBeat's player-submitted times. These are community medians, so your own run may be shorter or longer.