Ninja Gaiden is an action game released for the Sega Game Gear in 1991 developed by Sega with a license from Tecmo. It stars Ryu Hayabusa as he races to a demon from starting a world war, and is part of the Ninja Gaiden series, although it's plot is not connected to any of the other Ninja Gaiden games. This was the first time a game in the series was released bearing the Ninja Gaiden label worldwide, and not bearing the original title Ninja Ryūkenden in Japan nor being retitled Shadow Warriors in Europe, as was the series usually known in both regions.