Ninjas didn't become a thing in Power Rangers until the Movie and Power Rangers: Ninja Storm.
Yeah, but from the outset there's a focus on martial arts. That, and by the time I started getting to Power Rangers, they were in season 3 of Mighty Morphin, where they had that sort of intermediary ninja thing between their civilian forms and ranger forms.
How the fuck? TMNT 1990 and Secret of the Ooze are more violent than nearly anything Power Rangers! Your parents don't know the meaning of too violent. Batman: The Animated Series is way more violent than all of those combined.
Well, didn't get to TMNT 1990 until well after it was released, and I've never seen Secret (I did see the third film a lot, which I absolutely loved). But it wasn't entirely their fault. I think first, there's the assumption that a cartoon is less violent than live-action. Second, I wouldn't be surprised if something similar happened in the US, but here, Mighty Morphin became big. Really big. Big enough that the violence issue was being discussed on the news and all that. So in hindsight, it's silly, but in the time, there was the controversy, and me not being able to watch it until later years was part of it.
As for Batman, that bypassed me entirely. I remember seeing ads for it, and being put off by how dark it was. I didn't really start watching any superhero stuff until Spider-Man: The Animated Series.
was too part of my childhood. The first one is the best. I vaguely remember the third movie, and I never touched High Noon, because I moved on at that point, and it looked like a disaster. A disaster I am glad to have never watched. Surf Ninjas was part of kid years too, but I have not watched that movie since I was 9.
I remember borrowing Surf Ninjas from the video store with a friend, as we both thought it was part of the 3 Ninjas franchise. We watched it, didn't like it much, and we learnt a valuable lesson in brand recognition.
As for 3 Ninjas...been ages, I'd say either the first or the third is the best, but there's nothing wrong with Kick Back either. As for High Noon...well, doesn't help that I was older, but there's an 'offness' to High Noon that sets it apart from the other three IMO. Partly because of the change in cast, partly because their grandpa is sidelined (though I think that was because his actor was getting on in age), but that aside, High Noon is...weird. It's got this weird mix of juvenile material (e.g. using toys to beat up what are effectively terrorists), with more adult material (e.g. said terrorists opening fire on police, who fire back, who call in SWAT, and the FBI), with Hulk Hogan (as "Dave Dragon") who's given top billing on the cover, yet barely succeeds in doing anything in the movie itself, and what he does do, isn't that impressive.
Granted, all of this was ages ago, but TL, DR, I'd say 3 Ninjas is best viewed as a trilogy, with this "other film" being added onto it.