Ninja Combat (Arcade, 1990) - Demo and gameplay

In this video, originally published in October 8, 2025 at our Gaming Room channel, we have the demo play (attract mode), the intro scenes, and a quick, casual gameplay session (burning a lot of credits, really) of the arcade version of Ninja Combat, a beat ’em up by Alpha Denshi where two ninjas, Joe and Hayabusa, cross New York fighting a clan responsible for the appearance of a mysterious tower in the middle of the city, from which the invasion began. The game was published by SNK and was first released for arcades in 1990 and later ported to other platforms such as Neo Geo, PS2, Wii, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.

During a Ninja Combat session, players (up to two at the same time in co-op mode) face hordes of different enemies, collecting bonuses and new weapons — including nunchakus, maces, axes, and katanas. There’s also a special move that can hit several opponents at once and a ninja magic attack that must be charged with the attack button and consumes health when used. One of the interesting features of Ninja Combat is the ability to recruit sub-bosses at the end of stages, who join your side for one reason or another. These characters have unique abilities and moves, but cannot pick up the weapons that occasionally drop around the stage.

This game bears a strong resemblance to the classic Gang Wars (1989), another ADK title distributed by SNK in arcades, and the classic Sengoku (1991). It features bright, colorful graphics, fast-paced action, and a setting and theme straight out of the best urban action movies from the 1980s. However, its unbalanced difficulty curve turns it into a brutal coin-eater at some point — though that wasn’t uncommon in arcades. Either way, Ninja Combat managed to win over part of the critics and market, especially the American one.

Now, head into the heart of a New York haunted by this strange tower full of bizarre enemies to relive this Alpha Denshi title (or discover it, if that’s your case), share your thoughts in comments and send it to your friends to help us, okay?

Cheers!

More info and gaming

• Ninja Combat @ Gaming Room – Source, with more info and media. In Portuguese.
• Ninja Combat @ Ace Online Games – Play the game in your browser!
• Ninja Combat @ MobyGames – More info and media.
• Cadillacs and Dinosaurs: demos, cutscenes and gameplays
• Twelve action and fighting movies for Mortal Kombat fans
• Last Resort (1992) - Demo & quickplay
• Shadowrun (SNES) – Morgue Theme
• Rocky (Sega Master System) – Original background music (MIDI version)
• The Punisher (1993): intro, demos and quickplays of the arcade version
• Golden Axe bios, demos and quickplays (Arcade, 1989)