10 Dumbest Reasons Why Video Games Were Cancelled
3. Ninja Gaiden (Master System Version)
Taito's 1987 game, Double Dragon, single-handedly popularised scrolling beat-em-ups. Within a few years, there were tons of similar games including Final Fight, Captain Commando, and Streets of Rage.
Tecmo, who are best-known for creating Ninja Gaiden, wanted to take advantage of this new style of gaming. When Tecmo partnered with Sega to make Ninja Gaiden for the Master System, they decided to tweak the game as a scrolling beat-em-up.
Even though the developers completed cut-scenes, bosses, and seven levels, Sega abandon the project. Since Streets of Rage was the most popular game in the genre at the time, the company was worried Ninja Gaiden would take away sales.
This was a ridiculous argument for two reasons. Firstly, there were loads of other beat-em-ups at the time like Golden Axe and Altered Beast that went on to become very successful. This would be like if Midway didn't release Mortal Kombat because they were worried it was too similar to Street Fighter.
Secondly, if Ninja Gaiden tooks sales away from Streets of Rage, Sega wouldn't lose money because they owned both properties!!
Speaking of Streets of Rage...