 In his review of the Virtual Console version, "GameSpot"s Alex Navarro said "the game will beat you to a pulp" and that it "assaults you time and time again with its punishing difficulty, insidiously placed enemies, and rage-inducing boss fights".According to his review, the game starts easy, but the difficulty begins to increase halfway through the second Act and continues through the sixth Act; Navarro describes the sixth Act's difficulty as "one of the bottom levels of gaming hell".IGN said that the game was one of the most difficult video games of all time, setting the trend for the rest of the series; however, they pointed out that its difficulty and graphics are "defining characteristics [that] have carried over through the years into modern day ["Ninja"] "Gaiden" sequels".