The German rating board deemed the game's gore and violence excessive and refused to rate the game at all. Since this had the potential to place the game on Germany's "List of Media Harmful to Young People", banning shops from either advertising or selling the game to customers of 18 years or older, Tecmo censored the PAL version to obtain a rating. A year later, Tecmo managed to obtain an 18+ rating for the uncensored release of Ninja Gaiden Black.