In my opinion, the Japanese version of Ninja Gaiden III is THE best game on the NES/Famicom and one of the best gateways to retro gaming at large.
Tight controls and game feel and variety in movement between wall climbing and ceiling hanging. Solid spritework with some excellent parallax backgrounds. A soundtrack that, while far from the NES's best, is still quite good and has some highlights (2-2, 4-2, the credits theme). Power-ups that are all effective for combat and a ton of fun to use, especially that extended sword range. Level design that features a ton of variety both in stage hazards and how you traverse them, including tons of verticality in this game. Bosses that are simple but effective, though that final boss kinda rules. And an overall experience that is....VERY approachable in difficulty. Don't be mistaken, Ninja Gaiden III is not an easy game, it has a steady difficulty curve, the early stages will still take a few attempts for someone brand new to action/retro games, and the last stretch of the game is tough even on repeated playthroughs. However, it's substantially more manageable than other retro games and the game's generous checkpoints and password systems keep things fair even if you don't want to save scum.
...But stay away from the US version. The artificial difficulty is awful.
Tight controls and game feel and variety in movement between wall climbing and ceiling hanging. Solid spritework with some excellent parallax backgrounds. A soundtrack that, while far from the NES's best, is still quite good and has some highlights (2-2, 4-2, the credits theme). Power-ups that are all effective for combat and a ton of fun to use, especially that extended sword range. Level design that features a ton of variety both in stage hazards and how you traverse them, including tons of verticality in this game. Bosses that are simple but effective, though that final boss kinda rules. And an overall experience that is....VERY approachable in difficulty. Don't be mistaken, Ninja Gaiden III is not an easy game, it has a steady difficulty curve, the early stages will still take a few attempts for someone brand new to action/retro games, and the last stretch of the game is tough even on repeated playthroughs. However, it's substantially more manageable than other retro games and the game's generous checkpoints and password systems keep things fair even if you don't want to save scum.
...But stay away from the US version. The artificial difficulty is awful.