{{Short description|1985 video game}} {{Infobox video game |title = Sega Ninja |image = Sega Ninja arcade flyer.jpg |caption = Japanese arcade flyer |developer = [[Sega AM1|Sega R&D1]] |publisher = [[Sega]] |artist = [[Rieko Kodama]] |platforms = [[Arcade video game|Arcade]], [[SG-1000]], [[MSX]], [[Master System]] |released = {{Collapsible list|title={{nobold|March 1985}}|'''Arcade'''{{vgrelease|JP|March 1985<ref>{{cite web |title=Ninja Princess |url=https://mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp/id/M731380 |website=Media Arts Database |publisher=[[Agency for Cultural Affairs]] |language=ja |access-date=1 August 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Akagi |first1=Masumi |title=アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005) |trans-title=Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971-2005) |date=October 13, 2006 |publisher=Amusement News Agency |lang=ja |location=Japan |isbn=978-4990251215 |pages=35|url=https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005/page/n35/mode/2up}}</ref>}} '''SG-1000'''{{vgrelease|JP|February 1986<ref name="GMM283">{{cite web|title=70 Sega Home Software(Japanese, top-right)|url=https://retrocdn.net/images/b/ba/GameMachine_JP_283.pdf|work=Game Machine Magazine 1st May '86| date=1 May 1986 |issue=283|page=10|publisher=Amusement Press Inc., Osaka, Japan|accessdate=25 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last=Marley|first=Scott |date=December 2016 |title=Essential Games: The Titles that Made the SG-1000 Shine |magazine=[[Retro Gamer]] |issue=163|page=59|publisher=[[Future Publishing]]}}</ref>}} '''MSX'''{{vgrelease|JP|May 1986}} '''Master System'''{{vgrelease|JP|8 November 1986<ref name="Sega titles - Sega JP">{{cite web |title=Software List |url=https://sega.jp/history/hard/segamark3/software.html |website=Sega Hardware Encyclopedia |publisher=[[Sega|Sega Corporation]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621034428/https://sega.jp/history/hard/segamark3/software.html |access-date=May 15, 2023 |archive-date=2019-06-21 |language=ja}}</ref>|NA|December 1986<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Availability Update |magazine=[[Computer Entertainer]] |volume=5 |issue=10 |date=January 1987 |page=14 |url=https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/f324dbcc-69e7-48e8-b4b5-7f61c51cfc52}}</ref>|EU|November 1987<ref>{{cite web|title=Mega Cartridges |url=https://www.smspower.org/Scans/Mastertronic-Catalogue-TheSegaMasterSystemGameCatalog1987-A?gallerypage=2|work=Mastertronic - The Sega Master System Game Catalog 1987 - A - United Kingdom Catalogue|publisher=[[Mastertronic]]}}</ref>}} }} |genre = [[Run and gun video game|Run and gun]] |modes = [[Single-player]], [[multiplayer]] |arcade system = [[Sega System 1]]<ref name="system16">{{cite web |url=http://www.system16.com/hardware.php?id=693 |title=System 1 hardware (Sega)|accessdate=2006-06-18}}</ref> }}

'''''Sega Ninja''''', originally released as {{nihongo foot|'''''Ninja Princess'''''|忍者プリンセス|Ninja Purinsesu|lead=yes|group=lower-alpha}} in Japan, is a 1985 [[run and gun video game]] developed and published by [[Sega]] for [[arcade video game|arcades]]. The player controls Princess Kurumi (くるみ姫 ''Kurumi-Hime''), the titular [[female ninja]], who battles enemies using [[kunai|throwing knives]] and [[shurikens]].<ref name="rainemu">{{cite web | title=Sega Ninja/Ninja Princess | publisher=Emulation Status | url=http://emustatus.rainemu.com/games/seganinja.htm | accessdate=2006-06-18 | url-status=dead }}</ref> In contrast to most later games in the genre, ''Ninja Princess'' has a [[feudal Japan]] setting with a female ninja protagonist.<ref name="HG101"/>

A revised edition for the [[Master System|Mark III]] console, titled ''Ninja Princess 1 Mega Ban - Ninja'' (忍者プリンセス1メガ版 忍者), was released in 1986, replacing the female protagonist with a male [[ninja]] protagonist who has to rescue her. This version was later released as '''''The Ninja''''' for the [[Master System]] internationally.

==Gameplay== [[Image:Seganinja.png|thumb|left|Screenshot]]

''Ninja Princess'' is a [[run and gun video game]].<ref name="HG101">{{cite web |last1=Derboo |first1=Sam |title=Ninja Princess |url=http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/ninja-princess/ |website=Hardcore Gaming 101 |date=September 12, 2017 |access-date=6 June 2021}}</ref><ref name=ugo/> The gameplay involves the player shooting enemies and defeating [[boss (video games)|bosses]] along the way. Enemies include [[samurai]], [[ninja]] and dogs. The player's normal weapons are an unlimited supply of throwing knives, but [[power-up]]s to shurikens are available. In addition, the player can also turn [[invisibility|invisible]] for a short period of time. While most of the stages are vertically scrolling, a few of the levels add some variety including a level where the player must scale a wall.<ref name="rainemu" /><ref name=ugo/>

==Plot== The game is set during Japan's [[Edo period]], in about the year 1630, in a province called Ohkami in the western region, where the power has been seized by an evil tyrant named Gyokuro. The goal is to end his oppressive rule and restore peace.

==Release== [[Image:The ninja.jpg|thumb|''Sega Ninja'' was released as ''The Ninja'' for the [[Master System]] (pictured: box, cartridge and instructions)]]

Ports of the game were released for Sega's [[SG-1000]] and [[Master System]] consoles. The latter version, retitled ''Ninja Princess 1 Mega Ban - Ninja'',<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.arcade-gear.com/Games/Ninja_Princess/Ninja_Princess.htm |title=www.jap-sai.com - Ninja Princess |access-date=2013-12-21 |archive-date=2013-10-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131003110205/http://www.arcade-gear.com/Games/Ninja_Princess/Ninja_Princess.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> was released a year after the arcade game and changed the protagonist from female to male.<ref name=ugo>[http://www.ugo.com/games/ninjas-in-games-top-11 Ninjas in Games | An evolution of ninjas in video games throughout the years.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615192317/http://www.ugo.com/games/ninjas-in-games-top-11 |date=2011-06-15 }}, UGO.com, June 4, 2008</ref> Other changes include the rearranging of stages from the original Japanese release in western releases of the game as well as a [[scroll]] system, which requires the player to collect five green scrolls in order to get to the final level of the game, as all of them give hints on how the final level must be entered. If the player finishes the game without them, the game will backtrack to a level closest to where a missing scroll lies.<ref name="klov">{{cite web | title=Sega Ninja | publisher=Coin-Op Museum | url=http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=9473 | accessdate=2006-06-18}}</ref> Graphics are also different, made in a more realistic style.

==Reception== In Japan, ''[[:ja:ゲームマシン|Game Machine]]'' listed ''Ninja Princess'' as the most successful [[table arcade cabinet]] of April 1985.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)|magazine=[[:ja:ゲームマシン|Game Machine]]|issue=259|publisher=[[:ja:アミューズメント通信社|Amusement Press, Inc.]]|date=1 May 1985|page=21|lang=ja|url=https://onitama.tv/gamemachine/pdf/19850501p.pdf#page=11}}</ref>

''[[Computer Gaming World]]'' stated that the Master System version was the most entertaining of three martial arts games that Sega released together (the others being ''[[Black Belt (1986 video game)|Black Belt]]'' and ''[[Kung Fu Kid]]''), and approved of its unusual visual perspective.<ref name="cgw198810">{{cite magazine | title=Video Gaming World | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=October 1988 |author1=Worley, Joyce |author2=Kunkel, Bill |author3=Katz, Arnie | page=48}}</ref>

==Legacy== In 2017, Sam Derboo of ''Hardcore Gaming 101'' noted that ''Ninja Princess'' predates [[Capcom]]'s genre-popularizing run and gun shooter ''[[Commando (arcade game)|Commando]]'' (1985), and he considers ''Ninja Princess'' to be "in some ways the more advanced concept." While he considered ''Commando'' to be a refinement of [[Taito]]'s ''[[Front Line (video game)|Front Line]]'' (1982), he said that ''Ninja Princess'' brought "a fresh setting and interesting new elements." He also praises the female protagonist, but criticizes the console versions for making the protagonist a male ninja who has to rescue her instead. He nevertheless considers it "no doubt one of the better overhead run-n-gun shooters out in the mid-’80s."<ref name="HG101"/>

''Sega Ninja'' is a plot point in the novel ''[[Ready Player Two]]'' (2020).

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{MobyGames|id= -group/sega-ninja-games |name=''Sega Ninja'' games}}

[[Category:1985 video games]] [[Category:Arcade video games]] [[Category:Master System games]] [[Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games]] [[Category:Multiplayer hotseat games]] [[Category:Run and gun games]] [[Category:Sega arcade games]] [[Category:Sega System 1 games]] [[Category:Sega video games]] [[Category:SG-1000 games]] [[Category:Vertically scrolling video games]] [[Category:Video games about ninja]] [[Category:Video games about princesses]] [[Category:Video games developed in Japan]] [[Category:Video games featuring female protagonists]]