Taito developed and published The Ninja Warriors in 1987, with cabinets reaching operators in February 1988. Its defining feature was hardware rather than software: the cabinet housed three contiguous monitors, the outer two reflected into place by mirrors, producing an extraordinarily wide playfield that no home console of the era could reproduce faithfully. The setting is a near-future dictatorship, and the two playable ninja are not human at all but androids built by the resistance and sent to assassinate the ruler. That twist pays off visually – as damage accumulates, the traditional ninja costume tears away to expose the machinery underneath, a striking effect for 1987 hardware. Combat stays deliberately direct, mixing close-range blade work with thrown shuriken against waves of soldiers, and supports two players at once. Zuntata, Taito’s in-house composers, supplied a moody synth score that remains one of the most admired soundtracks of the period and is a large part of why the game is still remembered.