Dynamic top down ninja action with varied locations and swarms of enemies. Spectacular special moves and pleasant co op. Often forgotten but charmingly funky.
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Category
Action1 player12+
Co-op
Description
Three ninja commandos travel through time to battle enemy armies across different historical eras. Published by ADK, released in Japan in September 1994. Top-down action with three playable characters, travel to prehistory, Egypt and the future, two-player co-operation. Neo Geo CD edition.
Ninja Commando review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
2/5
Story
★★★★★
"Classic"
The game superimposes two imaginations without reconciling them: legendary ninja face modern machinery, and the progression crosses period castles as readily as laboratories. The animal transformations, tiger, dragon, firebird, briefly fill the entire screen, a moment when the artwork allows itself a breadth the rest of the game forbids itself.
The pieces alternate traditional instrumentation and electronic rhythms according to the setting crossed, which gives the soundtrack the same deliberate heterogeneity as the image. The summonings are underlined by a clean break, a gong stroke followed by silence, a device that grants those three seconds a disproportionate and perfectly effective solemnity.
Complete: box, manual and disc/cart very clean. Lightly handled.
Q1 damagedQ6 completeQ10 new
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Collector interest
An ADK run-and-gun where three ninja-commandos travel through time to fight armies in different eras, the Japanese version on the Neo Geo CD. Its desirability rests on its time-travel concept unusual for the genre and the affordable access the disc gave to an early-machine title. Collectors seek it for that originality and its frantic action across varied historical settings.
Is Ninja Commando still worth playing in 2026?
Ninja Commando is an ADK action game in which three ninja commandos travel through time to face armies of enemies with spectacular techniques and magic. The snappy scrolling, the flamboyant ninja powers and the two-player co-op mode bring a delightful outlet, in the vein of the Ninja Commando arcade game. The repetition and a certain visual chaos temper the enthusiasm. For fans of retro ninja-themed run and gun and old-school cooperative action, it is a snappy and colorful diversion.
