The game tells the story of a skilled and daring teenage ninja named Hayate, infiltrating an evil castle in an attempt to rescue a princess he loves. Hayate must survive a collection of deathtraps and defeat a variety of mythological creatures and other adversaries on his quest to save the princess and destroy the castle. The game draws players to guide Hayate with a joystick for moving him around and one button for using weapons through 15 different stages that take place in feudal Japan-based areas. There are three difficulty levels. Like earlier laserdisc games such as Don Bluth's Dragon's Lair, Ninja Hayate contains traps and creatures that requires players to dodge or attack them at specific moments, by watching for the warning buzzer in addition to flashing objects. If a player makes a mistake, one life decreases, and when players run out of lives, the game ends. Unlike Don Bluth's laserdisc games, Ninja Hayate is animated with anime drawings by Toei Animation. Another difference is that the game flashes the buttons that need to be pressed directly on the screen. Sometimes it also flashes multiple possible button presses on screen, indicating different paths that the player can take.
Home versions
The Sega CD version was published by Renovation Products, Telenet Japan's North American subsidiary. Renovation sent "Master of the Ninja Arts" diplomas to players who mailed them photographic proof that they had beaten the game on hard mode. Revenge of the Ninja was also later converted by Ecseco to the Sega Saturn and PlayStation. These versions were released only in Japan as part of a double bill with Time Gal, another animated laserdisc arcade game conversion made by Taito, as Interactive Movie Action - Time Gal and Ninja Hayate.
Reception
In Japan, Game Machine listed Ninja Hayate on their January 15, 1985 issue as being the fourth most-successful upright arcade unit of the year. GamePro gave the Sega CD version a negative review, saying the game is inferior to Dragon's Lair and Time Gal with unexciting gameplay and "grainy and soupy looking" graphics. The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave it a 6.4 out of 10, commenting that the gameplay relies "more on memorization than anything else. Nice animation though."
Legacy
The original arcade version had no music except opening and ending theme. Entire music played on the Sega CD version were newly composed.
