Ninja Master's Haoh-Ninpo-Cho (ニンジャマスターズ ～覇王忍法帳～, Ninja Masutāzu ~Haō Ninpō Chō~, "Ninja Master's Scrolls of the Supreme Ninja Arts"), most known as just Ninja Master's, is a ninja-themed competitive fighting game produced by ADK originally released in 1996 for the Neo Geo arcade and home platform. It was later featured in the 2008 compilation ADK Tamashii for the PlayStation 2. It was the sixth and final fighting game produced by ADK, following the four games in the World Heroes series and Aggressorsof Dark Kombat.
The story revolves about the mysteries surrounding a cruel demon named Haoh. Years ago, the warlord Oda Nobunaga ruled all of Japan with an iron fist and is said to have been in cahoots with Haoh himself until he died... so when a reborn Nobunaga appeared long after his supposed death, several warriors set out to defeat him and Haoh. One of them is the protagonist Sasuke, a ninja whose father was killed by Haoh and has abandoned his clan to exact his revenge.
Ninja Master's follows the conventions of many previous 2D fighting games released for the Neo-Geo. The player must defeat their opponent in combat in a series of best-two-out-of-three matches. Characters can change between using the character's weapon or fight hand-to-hand during the middle of combat. It also has a super meter similar to The King of Fighters and other fighting game series.
Tropes present in the Ninja Master's series:
- Action Girl: Natsume and Kasumi are accomplished fighters.
- Bust-Contrast Duo: Kasumi is more slender than Natsume, who has a bigger chest. Also, her personalities are way different as their bust sizes.
- Compilation Re Release: Ninja Master's has a comeback being part of the 5-game compilation ADK Tamashii for PlayStation 2 in 2008 and later as one of SNK's Virtual Console games in 2011 and on the Neo Geo X handheld system in 2012.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Ranmaru, obviously.
- Fiery Redhead: Raiga is a passionate bounty hunter with red Barbarian Long Hair.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: Again, Oda Nobunaga is a warlord from literal Hell and Ranmaru Mori
is The Dragon to him. In a subversion, Ranmaru is not happy to be immortal and to see Nobunaga consumed by Haoh: the one he loves and has an Undying Loyalty to is the real Nobunaga that he served under, not the one roaming around and terrorising everyone. - Intercontinuity Crossover: Of all fighters of this game, Sasuke is the only one that appears in another media, specifically in SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS as a Character Card.
- Just Like Robin Hood: Ishikawa Goemon is seen doing this, like in his legend.
- Ninja: It's in the name, obviously. Out of all the characters in the game Sasuke, Kamui, Natsume, Kasumi and Raiga are ninjas, and Sasuke and Kamui's conflict started when Sasuke left his clan for his own personal quest.
- No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Like the half of characters are based on existing famous ninjas and historical characters, as well some characters based on classic tales (like Sarutobi Sasuke and Oda Nobunaga in his demonic form Haoh).
- Stance System: The game allows the player to choose between having their charas fight bare-fisted or not.
- Weapon-Based Characterization: Of several kinds: katanas (Karasu, Kamui, Ranmaru), twin daggers (Sasuke), cleavers (Raiga), big guns (Goemon), hammers (Unzen), crescent moon knives (Natsume), etc.
