Ninja Five-O

Joe Osugi's grappling rope does as much work as his sword in Ninja Five-O, the Hudson Soft side-scroller Konami published in the United States in 2003. He is a ninja police officer, and each building asks him to bring hostages out before the armed men finish the job. Europe received the same cartridge under the name Ninja Cop.

The camera stays in a strict side profile. The rope hooks beams and crates, swings him over gaps, and yanks a thug into a throw. Hostages have to be walked clear while the clock and the gunfire keep moving.

A sloppy swing drops him into a shot he cannot trade, and ordinary contact is already expensive. Shuriken cover the moments when a hook is the wrong tool. Learning a floor means knowing which beam is safe and which guard fires the instant he lets go.

Hudson Soft built the rooms, and Konami handled the American release of that strict rescue run. Later buildings add lasers, extra floors, and less time to pick the next hook.