Okay, trial time over, played a legit game with a more worthy score, at least for now, until I can do even better. Anyway, played the whole game.
1st death score 180400 stage 5-3 (hit by mace guy while trying to avoid jetpack guy)
2nd death by blade tosser in stage 5-3 before getting to Bloody Malth, I got curious as to what item he guarded since I didn't have enough health to trade blows with the boss
3rd death by eagle in 6-2, was too weak from getting hit too much earlier in the stage
4th death by reaper in 6-2
5th death by falling in 6-2, oops, jumped a bit short (1st continue used) high score 235100
6th death by blade tosser in stage 6-3, didn't have enough health when I got here
7th death by eagle in stage 6-3, knocked into pit
8th death by Jaquio (2nd continue used)
9th death by leapers in stage 6-3, damn fuckers, couldn't get them off of me
10th death by leapers in stage 6-3, fuckin' hell I hate these things
11th death by Jaquio, urgh, didn't have enough health, less than half my life filled, and again, those damned leapers were the cause (3rd continue used)
12th death by Jaquio, I keep messing up, forgetting how soon it is that I get to him, I got there with barely any health this time, a couple hits and that was it, back to 6-1 I go again
13th death by a machete guy, wtf, I got screwed bad this time, my timing was off in 6-1 on an enemy and I got juggled almost to death, had only 1 hit left by the time I got to 6-2, what a dumb wimpy ass enemy to die by though
14th death by blade tosser in stage 6-3, I played really clumsy to die again so soon, getting aggravated (4th continue used)
15th death by sword guy in stage 6-3 when jumping to platform it was on, I miss slashed and got knocked into pit
16th death by eagle in stage 6-3, dragged me into pit
17th death by, oops, fell when jump slashing a pumpkinhead guy in stage 6-3 (5th continue used)
18th death by sword guy in stage 6-3, yep, same one as a few deaths ago, what the hell, I'm started to mess up a lot now in dumb places
19th death by flame spitting creature in stage 6-3, but it was due to being juggled by leapers, leaving me no health, it just took the credit of finishing me off
20th death, let kung fu guy kill me in stage 6-3, as after the leapers got through with me I had barely any health left in which to fight Jaquio, and I sure as hell wasn't going to be sent all the way back to 6-1 again (6th continue used)
But that is all I had, though that was enough, I got beat up bad to get to the end, mostly by those leapers, ugh, my worst enemy in the game. Anyway, beat the game, my 4th time ever. Had to relearn a few things. Jaquio, not too hard if I can get there with enough health and now I remember how to fight him (not the cheap spin slash way, kept losing that power up anyway accidentally grabbing something else), take my time, moving back and forth, waiting for an opening to jump up and slash him (but we were pretty much trading blows evenly). My real weakness though, those leapers, if I can get through those guys then I may stand a much better chance at beating this game better, they may have not actually killed me a lot, but were definitely the cause of a lot of deaths by lowering my health too much. And I started dying in terribly easy spots after a while too, was getting irritated and it was causing me to mess up where I shouldn't have.
So, beat Ninja Gaiden with 20 deaths / 6 continues used, but score at 1st death 180400 in stage 5-3:
Ooh scary. Not. Easy boss, dispatched it with very little difficulty. Took out the tail, then the head, then it rolled across the screen, then just hacked away at its center, with a little bit of footwork to keep from getting hit by all those commas.
Ending pics (missed the sunrise though, darn camera):