Namco's Japan-only 1988 beat 'em up arcade game of Mirai Ninja is divided into twelve stages, each of them based upon a key scene in the movie; The Deserter, Who Awaits You, Battle Cry, The Core, Intrusion, Labyrinth, Water Course, Metropolis, Upsidedown, Head Winds, Castle Kurosagi and Arrival. The first, third, fifth, seventh and tenth stages are all very straightforward, but there are a multitude of paths that you can take through the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, ninth, and eleventh stages - and the eleventh stage is unique in that you'll be trapped in it forever unless you know the correct way out, due to it being littered with "Warp Statues" that will "poof" you back to the beginning if you get too close to them. The twelfth, and final, stage is an immediate boss fight with Raimei Hoshi; once you have defeated him, the hologrammatical image of Shikinami Kurosagi will appear in the background for the tenth and final time as Ashura (who originally appeared as the boss of the tenth stage) rises up from below for a second time. But once you've thrown enough shurikens at him to make his last dreadlock fly off this time, an electrical force-field will appear around him, which means the only way you can finish him off is by running up to him and continuously slashing him with your sword at close range - and because you will lose 12 (一二) to 15 (一五) energy points every time you get hit, you must have at least 70 (七〇) energy points left to do so. If you do not, you will never be able to destroy him and win the game.
Mirai Ninja's life meter uses Kanji numerals instead of Arabic ones, which had previously been used in Namco's own Genpei Tōma Den two years earlier for the score display (along with the Ken and Zeni counters in the bottom-left corner of the screen); for those of you who haven't played the earlier game, here is what they mean: 〇 = 0, 一 = 1, 二 = 2, 三 = 3, 四 = 4, 五 = 5, 六 = 6, 七 = 7, 八 = 8, 九 = 9. At the start of the game Mirai Ninja will have 99 (九九) energy points, and will lose 12 (一二) to 15 (一五) of them each time he gets hit - however, each time he clears a stage he will gain 25 (二五) to 30 (三〇) of them back. If Mirai Ninja should run out of energy points (〇〇), the game will ask if you want to continue by inserting another coin and pressing either Start Button before a ten-second timer runs out; however, if you choose to do so, your score will be set back to a value that subtracts the current stage's number by 1 and multiplies it by 30000. Therefore, continuing is not recommended if you are playing for points - unless you'd gone out on the first stage.
There are eight different types of powerups that can be found throughout this game; Chishiki (blue, will give Mirai Ninja the power to throw shurikens in an upward curve for a short period of time), Cocolo (turquoise, effect unknown), Honoh (pink, effect unknown), Ikari (red, will allow Mirai Ninja to throw energy bolts at the enemies instead of his usual shurikens for a short period of time but at a slower pace), Inori (gray, shrinks any enemies currently on screen, and immediately beyond), Kudaki (orange, will instantly kill any enemies currently on screen), Waza (green, will allow Mirai Ninja to throw three shurikens at once for a short period of time) and Chikara (yellow, will give Mirai Ninja 20 extra energy points). Finally, if your score is the highest on the cabinet to date, you will be able to enter up to sixteen letters in your name in first place at the top of the table - but if it is not, you will be able to enter up to three in second to twenty-third place below. This means that the default high score's name of "MIRAI NINJA TM" will be shortened to "MIR" if topped.