Ninja Crusaders

Ninja Crusaders is a 1990 NES side-scroller by Sammy. Two ninja warriors team up to fight a futuristic evil army, with full simultaneous two-player support throughout. Players choose from three weapon types — sickle, chain, and sword — and collecting runes transforms them into one of four animal forms: tiger, dragon, scorpion, or falcon, each with distinct abilities including charging dashes, sustained flight, and wide sweeping attacks. These transformations serve both as offensive tools and as keys to clearing certain stage obstacles. Levels span cities, caves, jungles, and fortresses, with enemies ranging from robot infantry to towering boss serpents, all delivered with the punishing difficulty expected of late-1980s action platformers.