Ninja Gaiden's easier sibling from the states, all the way down to how the penultimate boss works. Just a great time overall, stellar graphics that still look really good, KGBeast as a one-off mook right out the gate, music and sound effects that hit just right.

Pity about the end, where they clearly ran out of time or money or whatever. The final stage reuses the first song, is much shorter and stacks two bosses on top of each other at the end to make up for it, heavily suggesting that there was supposed to be an entire sixth stage.

Still, the game is fair, generous with both its unlimited continues and the fact that ammo carries over even after game overs. There is some cheap damage, but once you know it's there it's surprisingly easy to get through most stages without dying. And that wall jump feels so damn good.

Weapon balance could be better, but it also doesn't need to be, and the fact that the game resists giving you an option for easily hitting above or below your horizontal plane makes for some great design throughout the run.

Special shoutout to the fact that this game came out before the broad stagnation of Batman's rogue gallery outside of the comics. Maxie Zeus? Firebug? Killer Moth? That's the good stuff.