Infinitely more sober than NES Ninja Gaiden, putting much more emphasis on platforming challenges. The calculated, razor-sharp level design of the original is gone, and in its place is more open-air, floaty design where you can glide and damage sponge your way to the end relatively easy. It's also somewhat 'indie throwback' in its level design, with some sections where you chain walljumps and ledge-swings together to cross gaps, almost like a meat boy or celeste adjacent game. Bosses are also 'better', at least by proxy of 'I have range of movement and can identify a reasonable pattern'.

The vibe is where things get really fumbled by SEGA, with no returning characters besides Ryu and a setting that's as stock Master System Ninja Brand (tm) as it gets. There's story illustrations between stages, but they're not cinematic or noir in execution - just very vanilla anime. But at the very least, it's still a good-looking game, maybe one of the best on MS. With some more visual details, it could easily pass as an early genesis title.

But the one thing it does authentically rip from NES NG is a dreary endgame, with some really tiring memorization-based challenges. Not even close to as hard as NES, but it's just petty shit that becomes exhausting to put up with. Continues are thankfully very generous.

It's decent and smooth throughout and another rare Master System W, but I'm just kinda bewildered it exists in the first place. I wonder what a SEGA-developed mega man game would've looked like.