{ { Infobox video game
|title=Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom
|image=Ninja Gaiden III The Ancient Ship of Doom.jpg
| alt = Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom
|caption=North American box art (NES version) |developer=Tecmo |publisher=Tecmo |composer=Hiroshi MiyazakiKaori NakabaiRika Shigeno |director=Masato Kato |designer= |writer=M. AkamaMasato Kato |series = Ninja Gaiden |released={ { collapsible list|title=June 21, 1991|NESAtari LynxVirtual Console (Wii)Virtual Console (3DS)<ref>{ { cite web |title=Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom |website=Nintendo.co.uk |url=https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/NES/Ninja-Gaiden-III-The-Ancient-Ship-of-Doom-846812.html |access-date=2020-05-19}}</ref>}} |genre=Platform |modes = Single-player |platforms = NES, Atari Lynx, Super NES }}Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom is a side-scrolling platform video game developed and published by Tecmo. It was released in Japan on June 21, 1991 for the Famicom and in North America on August 15, 1991 for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The NES version was not released in Europe. It was later ported to the Atari Lynx by Atari Corporation and released in 1993 in North America and Europe, the European version retaining the North American Ninja Gaiden III title. It was also re-released as part of its Ninja Gaiden Trilogy Super NES compilation in 1995 in Japan and North America. Long after, it was released for the Virtual Console service in North America on for the Wii and in North America and Europe on and respectively for the Nintendo 3DS. It was designed by Masato Kato, who took over for Hideo Yoshizawa—designer of the first two games in the NES series.
The game is the third installment of the Ninja Gaiden trilogy, set between the first two games in the series, Ninja Gaiden and Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos. The player controls Ryu Hayabusa as he is framed for the murder of Irene Lew and investigates the circumstances behind her death. He eventually discovers a plan by CIA agent Foster and another person named Clancy to utilize an interdimensional rift to create and control a race of energy-infused superhuman mutants. The game features similar gameplay to its previous two Ninja Gaiden titles and includes some new features such as the ability to hang overhead from pipes and sword power-ups.
As with the previous titles, Ninja Gaiden III received mostly positive reviews from critics. Early reviews praised the game for its plot, gameplay, and difficulty; later reviews criticized the plot, level designs, and the game's difficulty level, in which the North American version was intentionally made harder than the Japanese version through limited continues, stronger enemies, and omission of a password system. The Atari Lynx port, while receiving general praise for graphics and controls, received poor reception for its sound and for the inability for players to see characters and items, attributing it to the Lynx's small screen.
Plot
Between the events of the original Ninja Gaiden and Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos,Instruction Manual (NES), p. 6. "After Ryu's victorious duel with Jaquio, Ashtar returned to the bowels of darkness and bided His time. But another evil creature was already on its way as another adventure awaits the unsuspecting Ryu Hayabusa..." CIA agent Irene Lew is chased by a man who looks like Ryu Hayabusa to a cliff edge, where she falls to her apparent death. In an effort to clear his name, Ryu investigates the laboratory where Irene was killed. A mysterious man appears there and tells Ryu to go to the Castle Rock fortress, where he will give Ryu more information about Irene.Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom. Clancy: "Go to the Castle Rock fortress...I don't have time to give you the details now, once you get there you'll learn all about Irene".
On his way to the outer limits of Castle Rock, Ryu encounters A. Foster via a video image. Ryu inquires about Irene, to which Foster replies: "I don't know what you're talking about".Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom. Foster: "Hmmm...I don't know what you're talking about. I heard that you killed Irene". Ryu encounters his look-alike who killed Irene. The look-alike flees, saying that Foster has ordered him not to eliminate Ryu quite yet.