I have little else to offer here. The subject line speaks for itself. Ninjas in video games.
Also, I promise no mention of Ninja Gaiden, at least not from me…
Dave: One of the first games that truly enamored me to the smacking around virtual enemies as a ninja was Revenge of Shinobi. This, to me, still stands out as a great little side-scrolling action adventure, packed with cool set-pieces (the truck chase, the airplane fight) and ridiculous, copyright-infringing boss battles (Godzilla, Spider-man, Batman, the Terminator).
Thankfully, our hero has plenty of 16-bit methods of violence at his disposal–shuriken, swords, knives and, of course, his fiery dragon magic, always helpful in a pinch.
By Dave Johnson
My #1 pick is Gray Fox from Metal Gear Solid. He had that creepy Rorschach/Batman throat cancer voice & that wicked light-saber blade. In the boss fight, his hi-tech exoskeleton suit could make him decloak & avoid any weapons fire. It took me a while to figure out to put the gun down & just use punches & kicks. (Are Snake’s punches & kicks faster than a speeding bullet?) At the end, he turns good & sacrafices himself in a bloody, gruesome death to help Snake defeat the Metal Gear Rex.