Ninja Gaiden on the Sega Master System is one of those games that looks simple at first—until you realize how fast it wants to kill you. You start off with a basic sword slash and a jump, but within minutes, you're dodging shuriken, wall-jumping past traps, and getting absolutely wrecked by enemies who don’t mess around.

The controls are tight, though, and once you get the rhythm down, chaining moves together feels great. The bosses? Brutal. The first one took me way too many tries, but that moment when you finally nail the pattern is pure satisfaction. Also, the music slaps—that tense, synth-heavy soundtrack still holds up.

It’s not just mindless action, either. There’s a legit story here with cutscenes, which was pretty rare for an '80s action game. Sure, the difficulty might make you want to throw your controller, but if you’re into classic ninja action with zero hand-holding, this one’s still worth the pain.