The Poorly Described Game... um, game.

[Tawmis]

Hmm, I googled "Street Fighter knock offs" and came across a few (un)likely candidates. *shrug*

Could it be ... "Breakers"? *crosses fingers*

It is not "Breakers."

I wouldn't check for "knock off" as a part of the search. The game, not by Capcom, was quite successful. As I said, ended up spawning like a total of 11 games.

But for my clue...

For the longest time, I thought the two brothers in this game, shared the same last name as an American actor who was in Up the River (from 1930). They are spelled the same, except the last letter.

[Rath Darkblade]

"Breakers" was actually one of the more successful "copies" of Street Fighter. But not many games spawn 11 successors.

As for "Up the River" -- that doesn't help much. It could be Spencer Tracy (as St Louis), Warren Hymer (as Dannemora Dan), Humphrey Bogart (as Steve Jordan) or William Collier Sr. (as Pop).

Hold on. This wouldn't happen to be Prime Time Fighter, would it? *crosses fingers again*

[DeadPoolX]

This sounds like Fatal Fury: King of Fighters to me. The brothers would be Terry Bogard and Andy Bogard, and I imagine the third character was Joe Higashi.

I always figured the most popular character was Mai Shiranui. She was practically "falling out" of her outfit.

[Tawmis]

"Breakers" was actually one of the more successful "copies" of Street Fighter. But not many games spawn 11 successors.
As for "Up the River" -- that doesn't help much. It could be Spencer Tracy (as St Louis), Warren Hymer (as Dannemora Dan), Humphrey Bogart (as Steve Jordan) or William Collier Sr. (as Pop).
Hold on. This wouldn't happen to be Prime Time Fighter, would it? *crosses fingers again*

The clue was refering to Humphrey Bogart, because as DPX guessed the brother's names were...

This sounds like Fatal Fury: King of Fighters to me. The brothers would be Terry Bogard and Andy Bogard, and I imagine the third character was Joe Higashi.
I always figured the most popular character was Mai Shiranui. She was practically "falling out" of her outfit.

You are correct!
(Er, about the guess... and technically, I guess Mai too...)

[DeadPoolX]

I remember a console game that was known for both its highly difficulty and cinematics (for its time) where you engaged enemies as a ninja.

[Rath Darkblade]

Hmm. Was this game released for arcades and PCs, too?

[DeadPoolX]

Hmm. Was this game released for arcades and PCs, too?

The particular version of this game that I played was NOT released on any computer, but WAS released on a number of consoles. Mobygames incorrectly says this version was also released in physical arcades, but it was not; it might exist on virtual arcades through other consoles, but it was never in an arcade itself.

You should know that there was a separate version of this game (with the same name, but had VERY different gameplay) released in the arcade and on some computers, but you should ignore this version.

Did all of that make sense? This is an unusual situation with different versions of games that share the same name, so it can get confusing.

[Tawmis]

Was it one of the NINJA GAIDEN games?

[DeadPoolX]

Was it one of the NINJA GAIDEN games?

Yes, it's one of the Ninja Gaiden games, but which one?

[Rath Darkblade]

Sigh, I give up. I know very little about action games or fighting games, and there are far too many Ninja Giaden games.

[Tawmis]

Was it one of the NINJA GAIDEN games?

Yes, it's one of the Ninja Gaiden games, but which one?

Well, I am going to use a Wikipedia page to help narrow it down...
Based on this Wikipedia page...

Was it played on the NES?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja_Gaiden

Sigh, I give up. I know very little about action games or fighting games, and there are far too many Ninja Giaden games.

Ya kill me man. If every time ye mentioned a "Quest for Glory" part for one of the other games, and I said I quit (just because it's the one Sierra game I've probably played the least - other than Codename: Iceman)... Naw. I use google and such, to try and help - at the very least, if I can't guess it - help other folks playing, by narrowing it down.

Just look at the Wiki page I posted.
Easy ways of narrowing it down by console, date, etc.

[DeadPoolX]

Sigh, I give up. I know very little about action games or fighting games, and there are far too many Ninja Giaden games.

What happened to your aforementioned Google-Fu?

Was it one of the NINJA GAIDEN games?

Yes, it's one of the Ninja Gaiden games, but which one?

Well, I am going to use a Wikipedia page to help narrow it down...
Based on this Wikipedia page...

Was it played on the NES?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja_Gaiden

Yes, this particular Ninja Gaiden game was played on the NES... and now, you have a 33.3% of getting it right on the next try.

[Tawmis]

Was it one of the NINJA GAIDEN games?

Yes, it's one of the Ninja Gaiden games, but which one?

Well, I am going to use a Wikipedia page to help narrow it down...
Based on this Wikipedia page...
Was it played on the NES?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja_Gaiden

Yes, this particular Ninja Gaiden game was played on the NES... and now, you have a 33.3% of getting it right on the next try.

I am gonna go for the first one -

Ninja Gaiden (NES) - Because it specifically mentions a cut scene "The first stage in the NES game is a loose adaptation of the first stage in the arcade game and the opening cutscene in the NES game vaguely resembles the intro in the arcade version. "

[Rath Darkblade]

Sigh, I give up. I know very little about action games or fighting games, and there are far too many Ninja Giaden games.

What happened to your aforementioned Google-Fu?

It steamed right out of my brain, because of this heatwave we're having -- 5 days in a row of 100 F+, plus 70+ percent humidity, and climbing. It makes thinking logically very difficult, especially about things I have no idea about.

Just look at the Wiki page I posted.
Easy ways of narrowing it down by console, date, etc.

Sorry, I didn't think to do that before. *blush* Now that I did, I've narrowed it down to 3 candidates.

It could be ... let's see:

- NINJA GAIDEN (1988) ... but that went to arcades as well, and I think DPX mentioned this one was not in arcades. So that's out.

So ... could it be "Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom"? *crosses fingers*

[DeadPoolX]

I am gonna go for the first one -

Ninja Gaiden (NES) - Because it specifically mentions a cut scene "The first stage in the NES game is a loose adaptation of the first stage in the arcade game and the opening cutscene in the NES game vaguely resembles the intro in the arcade version. "

Correct! It's the NES version of Ninja Gaiden (which was nothing like the arcade version, despite sharing the same name in North America) and was widely considered to be the first NES game to have cutscenes. It was also frustratingly difficult, but that wasn't uncommon for NES games.

Anyway... it's your turn now, Tawmis!

It could be ... let's see:

- NINJA GAIDEN (1988) ... but that went to arcades as well, and I think DPX mentioned this one was not in arcades. So that's out.

You didn't read what I wrote in an earlier post carefully enough.

I'd recommend you also look at those links in my reply to Tawmis. They show both the NES version and the arcade version of Ninja Gaiden, and how they were entirely different games. Also, for some reason the arcade version was called Shadow Warriors outside of North America.