 According to Kato, they used specific locations and environments to justify the need for having a ninja for a main character.Yoshizawa placed greater emphasis on the story, unlike the arcade version, and wrote and designed a plot that included over 20 minutes of cinematic cutscenes—the first time an NES game contained such sequences.Tecmo called the cutscene system "Tecmo Theater" where the game reveals the storyline between Acts through the use of animated sequences.