>>713463631I skimmed through your post and when you said lock on I was in the mind that you were referring to the center camera button when you said lock-on. That's my mistake and that's why I thought it was absurd to suggest people saying a recenter button doesn't exist.
Anyways. Yes, it's true, ninja gaiden does not have a real "lock-on" button and it definitely doesn't need one. Ninja gaiden has soft lock-on which has your attack face the direction of an enemy closest to the direction you're pressing. This is necessary for the game because of the speed and it's also why an actual lock-on button would not work because enemies would be moving around too much and there to be too many enemies on screen to make it work properly. This is a big part of what makes the game feel so fluid to people who actually understand how it works.
I remember there being a pretty good explanation + visual guide on how ninja gaidens soft lock-on works but I don't remember exactly where I saw it, might've been on lparchive