Ninja Gaiden

"At Long Last a Worthy Action Adventure!"

*small disclaimer: In writing this review I have tried very hard to avoid comparisons to Devil May Cry, a similar game available on the Playstation 2. For detailed comparisons, you should visit the Ninja Gaiden and Devil May Cry message boards.

The name alone inspires nostalgia and with good reason. You can find Ninja Gaiden on many systems starting from the original on the arcade and then (in no particular order) on to the GameBoy, GameGear, Lynx, Master System, Nintendo, Super Nintendo, TurboGrafx 16, and finally its new home, the Xbox. It's been approximately 10 long years since its last incarnation, Ninja Gaiden Trilogy, and though it's been dormant for a long time, gamers never forgot about it. We have been waiting a long time for somebody to ressurect the series and breath new life into it. And this is exactly what Tecmo and Team Ninja have done.

Team Ninja took a big risk with this game. Taking a beloved franchise like Ninja Gaiden and attempting to 'modernize' it by bringing it into the 3D action world takes not only guts, but tremendous talent as well. As revolutionary as Shigeru Miyamoto's flawless transition of the Mario franchise from 2D side-scroller to fully 3D world was, so too is Team Ninja's perfectly executed transition from 2D side-scrolling brawler, into fully 3D action adventure game.

And when I say perfectly executed, I mean it. Fans of the original arcade game and its trilogy on the Famicom cherish these games with a fierce loyalty. All the elements of these games worked together in harmony. The sound and music, along with great graphics, cool level designs and insanely difficult bosses were all pieces that were crucial to designing a worthy follow-up. As a result there were many games that were similar to Ninja Gaiden 1,2 &3, but they were rarely as well done.

Of course, when trying to resurrect Ninja Gaiden as a next-generation 3D action title, Team Ninja found themselves as the underdogs. They had to decide how they were going to approach taking this game into the 'new world' of next generation video gaming. Questions needed to be answered about the relevance of continuing the somewhat outdated storyline of the Ninja Gaiden Trilogy, or whether they would simply make up a new story that is not related. They needed to determine what kind of fighting mechanics the game was going to have. What moves from the original Trilogy would be preserved and what would be needed in order to make a smooth transition into the 3D world, where enemies can attack from all directions. In short, they had to have specific goals for making the new Ninja Gaiden. I believe this can best be summed up in the words of Tomonobu Itagaki, who is the head of Team Ninja. His whole reasoning behind resurrecting the Ninja Gaiden franchise was ''we are simply making it the most amazing action game in the world!'' Talk about lofty goals! This of course meant that while certain elements of the original trilogy were going to be making a comeback, much of the new game would be forging into new territories and be completely new and original to the series. Again, to quote Mr. Itagaki, ''... a game's faithfulness and legitimacy as a sequel should be defined, not on the basis of story, but rather on gameplay. This is the way of thinking of the hard-heads of the world.'' So for one, the story was going to be decidedly different from the trilogy. Rather than taking place in the 20th century, it would take place in the 21th century. And the changes didn't stop there. The next major change would be of a very different but equally significant variety, and that is the style of the game itself. In Japan, the original trilogy is considered to be of the ''Oboe-ge'' variety, which means ''Memorization Games.'' What this means is that when fighting enemies, and especially bosses, memorizing the patterns of enemy attacks was of critical importance. This part of the original games would be taking a back seat to player reflexes, which rewards players who are quick.

Now these to changes alone may be aggravating to the hardcore fan of the original trilogy. Some will undoubtedly see this as sacrilege. Others, like myself, are more forgiving and realize the value of these changes. This situation is very much akin to the transition of Metroid Prime from third person to first person perspective. This was seen as essentially changing the entire essence of the game, but there were those who were faithful to Shigeru Miyamoto and his vision; and those people were rewarded handsomely with a game that lived up to the expectations of what a Metroid game is all about. Anyways, the point is that these fundamental changes actually work, and are essential to how Ninja Gaiden performs as a whole. Remember me mentioning how All the elements of these games worked together in harmony? Well, it's the same thing. These changes make the game work. -An interesting aside of this tale is that Tomonobu Itagaki admits to having never actually played the original trilogy. So how did Ryu Hayabusa become the center of his attention? Well, he was chosen because of his popularity over in Japan in the Dead or Alive fighting series. Talk about serendipity! - for us Ninja Gaiden fans, I mean.

GRAPHICS

Remember when I quoted Mr. Itagaki as saying that a game's faithfulness should be judged not on the story but on the gameplay? Well, he may have had a point, but to his credit another faithful adaptation of the Ninja Gaiden series is the graphics. And this is where the real review starts. Why start the review with graphics, you ask? Surely, there are more important issues than that? Well, that is true, but, to someone who's as aesthetically oriented as myself, this game truly is a sight to behold. This is one of the best looking games on any system, let alone Xbox. The colors are all brilliant and varied. The textures are all sharp and varied as well, though some of the environments could've used some more variety to them. Playing this game on my roommate's component television is something that everyone should experience at least once, and this game also supports HDTV 480p, which is discernibly cleaner and slightly sharper than on an analog television. There are few ''jaggies'' as the anti-aliasing is quite good, and the draw distance is quite far in this game, negating any fog. Considering how big some of the open environments are, this is quite good. Also, the designs for creatures as well as characters are quite detailed and varied. Some of the demon-spawn that you encounter are truly ghastly. Ryu himself also looks great. I'm having a hard time deciding whether or not he looks better in DOA3, but the fact remains that he's one great looking character. Also, I'd be doing Ninja Gaiden a disservice by not mentioning how extraordinary its cinematics are. The only other company's that can even compare with them are Blizzard (of Warcraft fame) and Square (of Final Fantasy fame). To be ranked with those two is high praise indeed!

SOUND

While not in any way terrible, the music in this games seems to suffer a lack of energy, as though it were last on the agenda in making the game. The music is very bland and basic, belying the game's true nature. When Hideo Kojima hired Harry Gregson to compose the music for Metal Gear Solid 2, he realized how important the musical accompaniment was for a game to incite an emotional response from the player. Here, though, the music seems as though it was neglected. On the the plus side, however, the sound effects are very good. Everything from running through shallow to deep water to running on walls sounds different and unique. The voice acting in the game is also done well.

CONTROL

The controls for this game are very intuitive and work very very well in the game's sometimes complicated 3D environments. There are three different attack buttons which can be used in a number of combinations to produce ''combos.'' Jumping is handled wonderfully and Ryu can do some truly amazing acrobatics by jumping off walls. He can run up them, along them, or do multiple jumps from wall to wall. The camera isn't fixed but rather follows you from behind. You can change the angle at any time by centering it behind Ryu, just by pressing a button. It is very well done, and is not a hindrance at all, though it can be trying sometimes in close-quarters.

GAMEPLAY

Like Mr. Itagaki said, in order to make a faithful sequel, the gameplay must be fun. Fortunately, as a core requisite for an action title, Ninja Gaiden's gameplay is top notch. There is tremendous variety in the number of different attacks and combos that can be performed against enemies. This includes both ground combat and some amazing aerial maneuvers that Ryu can perform. While fighting a group of enemies, walls can become your best friend. You can run up them and do a powerful jumping attack, you can run on them to escape enemies, or you can leap off them and decapitate a few heads using one of Ryu's more powerful techniques. The inclusion of additional items like Ninpo (magic) equipment to enhance your attributes, and powerful and unique weapons with their own separate moves and combos is something that give Ninja Gaiden tremendous versatility and replayability. Just like its predecessors, Ninja Gaiden is a challenging game. I hesitate to use the word ''difficult'' because this has a negative connotation, but in reality it can be quite difficult, especially on higher difficulty settings. This was a wise move on the part of Team Ninja, because not only is it a throw-back to the original trilogy, but it also ensures that players do not just whip through the game. I estimate that I will take the average gamer at least 20 hours to complete this game on normal difficulty setting.

STORY

Another part of Ninja Gaiden that could've used some more polishing is the story. The story itself has absolutely nothing to do with the original trilogy (thankfully) but is by no means a fully realized and engaging story. There is absolutely no way to feel for the one dimensional characters who serve only as a means to progress the ''story'' along. It is quite clear that the story took a backseat to the gameplay. Though a good story is not absolutely necessary for a good action game, it is still something that many gamers look forward to and they will undoubtedly be disappointed (as I am) with this one.
I would like to conclude with a small comparison between Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden. Team Ninja claims to have been inspired by Devil May Cry, and this is no surprise. Devil May Cry was and still is an incredible game. Both Dante and Ryu are very cool characters and Ninja Gaiden and Devil May Cry are both very cool games. Devil May Cry really paved the way for Ninja Gaiden, and Team Ninja learned from DMC's shortcomings by making Ninja Gaiden longer, and by giving Ryu more moves and more variety. But Devil May Cry will always have one thing over Ninja Gaiden - Super Dante. For those of you wishing for clarification, go to the Devil May Cry message boards, or better yet, play Devil May Cry. It will give you a better appreciation of Ninja Gaiden. With that said, go on and play Ninja Gaiden, you won't find a better action adventure game on the Xbox.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/02/04