I struggle with the first Ninja Gaiden. The controls feels a bit clunky, climbing stuff takes getting used to, and some of the enemy placements seem a bit over the top, but the journey is still satisfying thanks to it's cinematic soundtrack and variety of environments.

The number one thing you should know before trying to conquer this adventure is that the spin attack is overpowered. If you're struggling to get past a boss make sure to look for a blue spiral icon hiding somewhere behind a candle or wall ornament.

The game also does cutscenes which I'm usually not a fan of, but they're well implemented here thanks to a moody score by Keiji Yamagishi and Ryuichi NItta, good localization, and the state-of-the-art rendering methods. Back then, engineers pushed hardware to the limit for seemingly simple stuff like text and panning, and they were still able to convey everything in terms of timing and cadence.

If Ninja Gaiden seems too hard go play NInja Gaiden 2 first. If you want to learn more about this game and hear the awesome music, check out the NES MEGAMIX. If you want watch a guy in a cowboy hat perform speedruns check out Arcus.