The character was very well received. According to GamesRadar, "Rikimaru defined PSOne-era stealth action months before Solid Snake got around to it, and since then he's ninja'd his way through over a dozen games." CraveOnline compared Rikimaru and Ayame to "Batman with all their decoys, dog whistles, disguises, grappling hooks and other toys, an essential part of the ninja experience that had been missing from video games for far too long." In 2008, GamesRadar mentioned Rikimaru and Ayame in the list of the best assassins in the ninja category as "probably the most realistic depiction of ninjas ever to appear in a videogame." In 2009, GameDaily featured them in the article "Gaming's Greatest Patriots: Team Japan". Robert Workman of GameZone included both "the young, beautiful Ayame and the older, much more experienced Rikimaru" on his 2011 list of "best video game ninjas" as they "both are awesome when it comes to battle, as they leave their enemies laying in a bloody heap. What’s more, they can sneak around better than most anyone on this list." In 2012, What Culture put them at seventh spot on a list of unstoppable video game assassins, stating that "the deadly combination of Rikimaru and Ayame hasn’t rarely been matched in any game since."