Ninja Gaiden

"Childhood memories relived ... Truley amazing game!"

Forgive me for my bad spelling and grammar … its 7am, and I’m tired!

17 hours later, I have finished what to me is one of the all time best next-gen games to date. I would rate it second behind Halo, and in front of Metroid Prime. Both of those two games being the only next-gen games in recent history that have kept me playing non stop until I finished it. I have gone through many a gaming phases, and I find myself giving up on these new age games more and more frequently. I am what some would say a “old school” or “hardcore” gamer. I am a huge fan of the classics, and have been somewhat disappointed in the lack of originality, creativity, and final product delivered by these big budget games being flooded into the gaming market.

When I saw the first Ninja Gaiden video released last year during the E3 show, I was extremely excited. Ninja Gaiden, is without a doubt one of my all time favorite old school games. I remember playing each and every one of the original 3, as well as the arcade game, and having such a blast. The original Ninja Gaidens rank up their with the elite games of our time, as they can still be played to this day and enjoy the hell out’ve!

Ninja Gaiden was one of those games, that would piss you off to the point that you wanted to break your controller, and never play it again. Yet, no matter how many times that gdamn bat would knock you off after you jumped onto a platform, you learned from you mistakes and kept playing. It ranks up there with contra. Those types of games that no matter how many times you died, you strived for that perfect run.

Not in quite some time have I seen that re-enancted in any next-gen game. Games now a days are too flashy, to … hollywoodish so to say? Is that a word? I don’t know … but most of you know what I’m talking about. Gaming has really lost something these this last decade, and a lot of us still yearn for it. Ninja Gaiden has delivered on every possible aspect that any gamer could ever want.

The shear mechanics, creativity, and thought process that went into this game are pure genius. Being able to scale any wall, jumping off multiple enemies, performing a wide variety of combos amongst numerous weapons, casting spells, upgrading weapons and spells, treasure hunting, puzzle solving, extremely hard bosses, and the best AI seen in a game since Halo. I’d like to give props on the amazing AI. These enemies … are smart, fast, and difficult. Although after time, you can learn patterns to each type of bad guy, they put up quite a challenge every time. I can’t tell you how many times I got so unbelievably pissed off at those damn black ninjas … oh, those bastards!

Having a variety of weapons with a multitude of combos, adds a lot of flavor to the game. Although I stuck with the Dragon Sword for about 80% of the game, the others were still fun to use. I really enjoyed the flails. Although they were not helpful in a lot of situations for their weak power, they made areas with numerous enemies fun and easy. All the other weapons were very cool, but were never used. The numchucks were outmatched by the flails, the warhammer and yellow sword (don’t remember the name), are way to slow to be helpful, and the sword you get from the black knight is not as good as the dragon sword, and it drains your health while in use. The projectile weapons are what really made the weapons shine. Having an unlimited amount of shurikens = lots of fun! Even if they couldn’t damage certain enemies, they were still fun as hell to through. The incinarary shurikens were a blast as well. Nothing better than chucking a knife into an enemy and watching them blow up. My first impression of the bow seen in the E3 video lead me to believe that it was going to be useless. As well as I was not happy with the lack of crosshair. Little did I know that the bow is very very useful in the game, as well as you feel more skillful shooting down enemies without a crosshair.

Although it took some time to acquire enough essence to upgrade all the weapons, it was well worth it. They each take a new form upon final level, as well as they do a lot more damage. Yes, the wooden stick does upgrade. Looks like a giant paddle … not worth the time, but cool to have nonetheless. Unfortunately I only upgraded my Lighting spell to level 3, as fire and ice only made it to Level 2. The lightning spell saved my ass more than I can remember, upgrade it first … trust me, worth it.

The graphics in this game are so amazingly beautiful. They really don’t shine until Chapters 15 and 16 (the last two of the game.) Running across a bone bridge that rotates as you run across it, watching the most twisted and trippy tornadoes spin in the background, while running up to a giant castle made of creepy as skulls. Wow … simply amazing is all I can say. Square has always been notorious for displaying the most impressive CG movies, they are quite simply unmatched. Well, it’s nice to see that someone else out there knows what their doing. These CG movies, are simply incredible. I can’t even put into words how sweet they are … I’m just really glad that after you complete the game you get a movie gallery go back and watch the movies (15 total, each very cool!)

Many a times did I die in this game … each time more frustrating than the last. Knowing that I made a stupid mistake that I knew … “next time it won’t happen.” This essence of the game reminds me a lot of Splinter Cell (which might I add is one of my favorites). Knowing that if you had another shot, you could do it better. That happens many times in this game. Fighting a boss for the first time and using up all your health potions, only to find out that you cant get anymore for another 20 minutes. Yeah, it was difficult rationing the potions at times, but made it all the more challenging.

Another big thing I’d like to point out. How many games do enjoy just running around? Besides GTA and having cars to drive, this is the most enjoyable game to simply run around. No matter where I went, I was jumping, rolling, jumping onto walls, and jumping on another wall … I couldn’t just run. I had way too much fun running from area to area.

The combat in this game is superb. Unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I originally thought after seeing another video that this was more or less a Devil May Cry rip-off. Hell no! Devil May Cry was cool and all, but is nothing now that Ninja Gaiden has shown us what a real action game is all about. Never has it been so much fun to fight any enemies. Barrel rolling behind an enemy, slashing them up into the air, followed by a round house, finishing with a head chop by dashing through the air. Many possible combos can be performed, all of which are fun as hell, and are pulled off with such ease.

There isn’t much to say about the sound, except that it was perfect. No complaints coming from me … the Dolby Digital 5.1 was right on.

Overall, I’d just like to say THANK YOU team ninja. If I was in a theatre, I would’ve gotten up and clapped during the end credits. Very rarely does a game come along these days that completely grab my attention, and I can think of nothing else. I used to be a video game addict during the old school days, but lack of games like this has given me a bitter taste about the future of our oh so beloved past time. This game does everything perfect. Very very minor complaints about the camera. The difficult level was absolutely perfect. Been so long since a game was truly challenging. As said before, I had original thought this may be a Devil May Cry or Onimusha rip off. No way … is this not a hack and slash … this is a skill full ninja game that is unmatched in every way possible. When I was a kid, I would reply my games so many times after I beat them. Ninja Gaiden, MegaMan, Mario, Contra, Dragon Warrior, Wizards and Warriors, Trojan, Blaster Master, Castlevania, Double Dragon, Gauntlet, Final Fantasy, TMNT, and many many others were all games that I have had to beat well over a dozen times in my history. Each of which I would still go back and beat once again, because they were that damn good! The new Ninja Gaiden now takes a very high rank amongst those elite games.

Now, I gotta play it again and get all those g’damn scarabs! Unfortunately I finished with a total of 39, but I know where at least 2 were that I left behind. I hear that after completion of hard you get a plasma saber, as well as unlocking Very hard mode. If you beat that, you unlock the mk ii plasma saber, which to my knowledge no one has yet to see it.

All I have left to say at this point … play the game, don’t cheat, and don’t give up! Yeah, it may be difficult at times, but trust me, it’s completely worth the time and frustration. The game consistently gets better as you go.

I give this game a perfect 10. It’s going to be a close one with Halo 2 this year, but I honestly feel that this game deserves game of the year!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/05/04