NINJA GAIDEN (Arcade) - No Death Clear

I finally got around to learning the original Ninja Gaiden, which was a Double Dragon type of beat 'em up. It still holds up pretty well, and it's cool seeing the ninja actions they created for the game - a lot of which were carried forward into the 3D reboot series. And as a wrestling fan, I always get a kick out of the references in these old games, like the Road Warriors appearing as bosses (complete with a knockoff Iron Man theme), and a big Stan Hansen sign lol. But I digress.
The game itself is pretty fun, though it has some boring segments and a bit of jank you need to adapt to. It's also not very hard, so I think it's worth giving a shot for fans of the newer games if you want to see where it all started. Note that there are a few more guaranteed 1ups you can after stage 2, but I skipped them because that woul just add some unnecessary risk for what I was trying to do.

0:00 Intro
0:55 Round 1
4:09 Round 2
7:58 Round 3
12:57 Round 4
18:18 Round 5
23:46 Round 6
30:14 Ending & Credits
-----
Beat 'em Ups (e.g. Final Fight):    • Beat 'em Ups  
2D Action (e.g. Metal Slug):    • 2D Action  
STG/Shmups (e.g. Dodonpachi):    • STG Replays