Shinobi on NES is one of those old-school ninja games that doesn’t mess around. You’ve got five missions to tackle, each split into a few stages packed with hostages to rescue—and you have to save every single one before moving on. No shortcuts here. The last stage in each mission swaps hostages for a big, nasty boss fight, which keeps things tense.

Between missions, there’s a bonus stage where ninjas come flying at you—clear them all, and you snag an extra life. Handy, because once you hit the fifth mission, the game cuts off your continues. If you run out of lives, it’s back to the start. Brutal, but that’s how they rolled back then.

It’s simple but punishing, the kind of game where every jump and shuriken throw matters. You’ll either love the challenge or rage-quit by stage two.