Joe Osugi
A police officer and ninja who infiltrates criminal strongholds, rescues hostages, and arrests gang leaders.
Documented for this version
D-pad | Move and crouch |
|---|---|
A | Jump |
B | Attack with the sword |
L | Use or cycle a secondary weapon |
R | Use or cycle a secondary weapon |
Start | Pause the game |
How it plays
The game uses a side-view perspective. Joe must explore maze-like stages, defeat or avoid criminals, rescue every hostage, and capture the stage boss before escaping.
Joe can run, jump, climb, slash with his sword, throw shuriken, deploy secondary weapons, and use a grappling hook to reach ledges or swing across gaps. Hostages can be carried and placed in safe areas, so reckless attacks can fail the mission.
Completing stages unlocks later missions. The game is structured around increasingly complex layouts, stronger enemies, and tighter rescue requirements.
Plan your run
Study each room before attacking. The grappling hook is useful for controlling distance, reaching elevated platforms, and escaping groups of enemies.
Rescue hostages as soon as the route is safe, then move them away from active combat. Use stealth and single-target attacks when possible, because careless sword swings can endanger civilians.
Save powerful secondary weapons for bosses or crowded rooms, and learn enemy attack timing instead of trading hits.
Meet the cast
A police officer and ninja who infiltrates criminal strongholds, rescues hostages, and arrests gang leaders.
Before you begin
Check upper ledges and side passages before leaving a room.
Keep hostages away from enemies and explosions.
Use the grappling hook to reposition rather than approach every enemy directly.
Ninja Five-0 is a side-scrolling action platformer developed by Hudson Soft and published by Konami for the Game Boy Advance. It follows Joe Osugi, a police officer trained as a ninja, as he infiltrates criminal hideouts, rescues hostages, and arrests gang leaders. The game combines sword combat, projectile weapons, acrobatic movement, and a grappling hook with a limited stealth system. Each stage is a compact mission with several objectives rather than a simple race to the exit. Its demanding combat and unusual emphasis on hostage safety earned it strong critical praise, and it later became one of the more sought-after original games in the GBA library.
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