"Yet another Ninja game with swords and evil everywhere. Woo hoo!"

Graphics: 8/10
Sound Effects: 8/10
Music: 8/10
Originality: 6/10
Play Control: 10/10
Group Enjoyment: 6/10
Individual Enjoyment: 8/10
Challenge: 8/10
Ending: 7/10
Overall: 8/10

Ninja Gaiden concludes the Nintendo series of Gaiden games, featuring our hero (Ryu Hayabusa, pronounced ''ree-YOU'', not ''RYE-yuu'') being framed for the murder of his friend, Eileen Lew. In order to solve the mystery, Ryu decides to visit the place where she was apparently murdered, and find some interesting secrets that lead him all over the world, uncovering the mystery and defeating evil all the while. So, does Ryu do it, or is he forever doomed to fight off those pesky fans who can't even pronounce his name right, just like the guy from Street Fighter?


Good Points:
Ryu is back with new abilities, new weapons, and an upgrade to his sword. The music, as is customary, is catchy and driving, accompaning you through each stage. The boss music is the same, though...we wouldnt' want THAT to change, now would we? The graphics have also been improved greatly, and the cut scenes are as good as ever!


Bad Points:
Well, the plot is kinda thin. You follow the clues to your next mystery, and all the while there's some wierd guy following you. How quaint. Then you have the fact that the series, while fun and cutting edge (literally) at the beginning, is starting to show it's age. They should start coming up with something else, like maybe a 2 player version. And I'd talk about the challenge, but if you really want to know, just scroll down to ''Challenge''.


General Ratings:

Graphics: The graphics are great as always. The enemies are well drawn, the backgrounds are great, and Ryu is animated as well as he always has been. The sword enhancement creates a gigantic sweep from his Dragon Blade, which is a nice effect, but I would have liked to see something else, like a light glimmer off of it. Well, the cut scenes are great as always. Just watch the scene where Ryu talks to (villain who's name I cannot reveal). They even have those neat lines moving up and down the giant TV screen!

Sound: Ryu going ''Ha'' whenever he swings the sword is nice, and all the individual attacks have their own sounds. Then you have the enemies, the projectiles they shoot, and various other bad things that happen to you in each stage. Well, it's still a good game from the sound standpoint, even if you DO tend to get sick of ''Ha! Ha! Ha!'' whenever you start to wail on an enemy.

Music: It's not perfect this time around, because they reuse a great portion of the music from earlier stages in the later stages. The music is still good, catchy, and suits the mood of each stage, though. The music for 2-1 is absolutely perfect for running through the desert, hacking away at evil enemies (not that I'd know from personal experience what that's like).

Originality: You have a new plot, you have new cutscenes (obviously), and you have a couple of new weapons. Sure, the enemies and bosses are all different, too, as are the stages, but there's only so much you can take of the same template over and over again. I mean, from Final Fantasy 1 to Final Fantasy 3, there were SO many changes, it was ridiculous! This game really only changed the plot (which is obviously supposed to happen), the bad guys, and the stages. That's pretty much it. Oh yeah, and the music.

Play Control: You can bound all over the place, launch special attacks from midair, then land into a crouch while swinging you enhanced sword to slice your enemies. Very nice. You can also, in this game, climb up and down walls indefinitely, which makes movement easier. Of course, that movement was in the previous game, but another nice feature of this game is the fact that Ryu can now grab onto certain ledges and ceilings/bars and climb hand over hand along them, while attacking. He certainly is the mobile little ninja, isn't he?

Enjoyment: Well, let's face it, people aren't going to want to watch it THAT much, although it is fun to watch someone actually get through this game. I mean, how many people do you know of can get through even half of the game? If you're playing solo, though, then you're going to have much more fun.

Challenge: Although the challenge for this game is sky high, the thing that kept it from getting a higher score is that it isn't very well paced. The first stage is a breeze, and you can easily pass through it without any real trouble. The next stage isn't THAT hard until you reach the rising lava portion. The third stage messes with your head, since when you see fish jumping at you, you're more inclined to jump over them...too bad you were on a moving platform, and you ended up drowning in the process.

Ending: The ending is good, but frankly, after all the effort you put into the game to see it, it's just not that worth it. Oh well...


Overall:
Overall, this is a fine addition to the Ninja Gaiden series. Although it's not quite as good as 1 or 2, it's still a great game. I wish Ninja Gaiden 1 or 2 had the moves of Ninja Gaiden 3, with the clones from 2 and the spinning slash from 1, and the enhanced blade from 3. Wow, you'd be freakin' unstopable! Oh well, if you see this game for a cheap price, get it. It's fairly rare, and sure to test your patience and reflexes.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/17/00, Updated 04/17/00