I just beat Ninja Gaiden for the first time last night and now I'm starting my second run but I can't help but notice the similarities between Ninja Gaiden and George Luca's films. Mainly Star Wars and Indiana Jones which appear to have greatley influenced Team Ninja throughout the development of the game. The following are some examples of what I mean.

There are minor spoilers, but nothing major

1) Doku - Lord of the Greater fiends, he's all dressed in Black with a big black helmet with a voice that sounds quite a bit like 'ol Darth Vader. In one scene he says something pretty damn close to the "I am your father" line, but not quite that dramatic :P

2) Doku's Attack (spoiler if you haven't fought him, but this might help when you do) Not only his glowing sword RED like that of the bad guys in the Star Wars movies, but he also does the same saber-throwing boomerang move that Jedis can do

3) virtually all the troops in level 3 are white. Like the Storm-Troopers

Now for the Indiana Jones references...

1) (level trap spoiler) There's a part where you get chased by a boulder like in Temple of Doom, coicendentally, the name of the room is the "Corridor of Doom"

2) You have to get a magic goblet thingy just like the Holy Grail in the Last Crusade

3) There's this guy named "Gamov" that wears a green trenchcoat, glasses, and a German accent. Which reminds me a LOT of one of the head Nazis from Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark.

and the thing that really clenches the whole George Lucas things is that one of the extra power ups that you get after you beat the game and start over is a fucking light saber. What do you guys think?