Original artwork, not a still
Secret Service agent, intro cutscene (arcade, 1988)
The president has been kidnapped by ninjas. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue the president?
— Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja · 1988
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The most gloriously 1980s sentence in games: a taunt that doubles as a mission briefing and a dare. Its absurd premise, a president snatched by ninjas, has become shorthand for arcade excess, and the question has been borrowed by countless games, memes and reviews. Many players know the line without ever having played the game, which is exactly how long the intro cutscene has outlived the quarters.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Bad Dudes vs. Dragon NinjaShow the scene
Bad Dudes vs. DragonNinja (Data East, 1988) opens in Washington, D.C. with a title card about rampant ninja-related crime that even the White House is not exempt from. A Secret Service agent then addresses the game's two street brawlers, Blade and Striker, and puts the question to the player. In the game the kidnapped man is named "President Ronnie", a stand-in for Ronald Reagan; the arcade then sends the pair through New York streets, a moving truck, sewers, a forest and a freight train to an underground factory, and ends with the heroes eating burgers beside the rescued president.
Sources (1)
- Wikipedia: Bad Dudes vs. DragonNinjaPlotReference checked
Context reviewed