This is a two-player team effort game. Both eight-way joysticks have a button on top to grab onto to poles and swing-kick your opponent. Each Ninja has five techniques: the Triple Blow combo, the Flying Neck throw, the Hang Kick, the Phoenix backflip, and the Tight Rope technique. Players can throw their opponents into trash cans or phone booths to break the items and reveal a secret bonus inside.

The object is to fight your way through six U.S. cities to collect items, destroy the assassination squads, and defeat the end bosses. The game ends when you defeat the head boss in the last stage, and the Ninja finally goes back to his homeland in Japan. As always, he lives happily ever after, until another group of terrorists try to rule the world.