After over a decade, Ryu Hayabusa is back!
The game begins with a gentle introduction to the control mechanics of Ryu Hayabusa, teaching you how to effectively use your sword, run along walls and jump your way around the environiments. Once this 'training area' has been completed the real game starts where Ryu Hayabusa returns home to find his village in ruins and the ancient Dark Dragon Blade stolen. Outraged by the theft and destruction of his villiage, Ryu quickly sets out for cold bloody revenge. Suffice to say, Ninja Gaiden's storyline isn't going to win many awards, and whilst it has a fair few twist and turns and features a few familiar characters (notably Ayane from Dead or Alive), it definitely takes a back seat to the fantastic action of the actual game - which is fine by me, who needs an excuse to cut up demons with swords anyway?
Ninja Gaiden is everything you would want in an arcade adventure and sets the standard for future games in the genre to follow. Ryu is one of the most athletic gaming characters i've ever seen and has certainly been to the Prince of Persia school of acrobatics. Effortless is the word that immediately springs to mind when you watch Hayabusa go through his considerable repertoire of deadly moves. Throws, wall running, pole swinging, back flipping all can be performed with ease. Impressive to say the least when you consider that the majority of moves only utilise just two buttons. Various combinations will result in uncovering a wealth of combo slashes, kicks and even Ryu Hayabusa's 360 throw from Dead or Alive. Such simplicity means you always feel in complete control and never have to resort to mindless button mashing. Even with different weapons the control remains just as good. Although you initially start of with your family's Katana sword, later levels see you pick up weapons that range from a ridiculously oversized sword, a pair of Nunchaku to the deadly Vigoorian Flail. Each individual weapon has its own movement routines and you'll need to use every one in order to survive. The feeling you get when you rack up an eighty plus combo is immense and incredibly stylish to boot. Indeed, such is Gaiden's style; even a novice player can still look cool and appear to be in complete control. (Well, until the inevitable death occurs anyway.) Similar to Devil May Cry, when you defeat an enemy, they leave behind coloured orbs. Red ones refill your magic abilities, blue restores energy, while yellow gives you money. Of course, the more impressive the attack the bigger the reward. Ninja Gaiden, like recent games such as Viewtiful Joe and, the already mentioned, Devil May Cry, is a game that definitely rewards style over substance.
Now, while the control may be relatively simple, Ninja Gaiden as a game certainly isn't. Just your very first encounter with the enemy has you pit against two ninjas on the edge of a cliff. From there it only gets harder as you face off against three or four enemies at a time. Occasionally you will fight wave after wave of enemies without reprieve with health potions certainly not plentiful or cheap. The incredible, screen filling, bosses of Ninja Gaiden are no different, with even the first boss possibly needing several tries to defeat and some of the later ones proving a real test. All of the enemies think on their feet and don't settle into a pattern for the most part. Some of the enemies will attack a certain way, but when three of them attack simultaneously and cram you into a corner you might think twice about exploiting any sort of 'pattern' that they might have settled into.
Alot of the levels seem to have a 'lesson' or 'common theme' associated with it. You will need to master blocking and agility for the first level, you will need to master covering the distance and using the bow for the second level. As you add more weapons and moves to your arsenal you will have to become accustomed with the new moves quickly to survive. To aid in your quest, Muramasa, the legendary blacksmith, will offer you weapon upgrades, potions, ammunition and more at his store. You can pay for these services by collecting the yellow orbs that i mentioned earlier. Some areas will respawn its enemies if you go back, so there is always a source for more money if upgrades are needed to defeat a harder enemy later on. As well as weaponary, Ryu has access to magic called Ninpo. You start out with a nostalgic favorite from the past - The Art of the Fire Wheel where you momentarily burst into flame and fireballs spin around you damaging all in your path. As you travel through the different areas of the game you can also purchase new ninja magic techniques or acquire them from other sources such as Fire balls or Ice attacks. Each one is more lethal than the last and every one of them is very cool to watch in action. You can also pick up armlets that grant different effects such as defensive power or offensive upgrades which certainly adds an element customization to the game where you can mould Ryu to your own fighting style.
Now, while I can't praise the superb combat enough, there is at least one downside to Ninja Gaiden which resulted in some frustration: the camera. For most of the game, the camera does a great job of giving you a great view of the action. However, that’s not always the case. Pressing the right shoulder button resets the camera directly behind Ryu, which on paper sounds a near flawless system, but can have unpredictable results. In some areas the camera gets completely obscured by Ryu or parts of scenery – meaning you can’t see the boss character thundering towards or see that grenade that's landed right next to you. Thankfully the camera doesn't harm the game in a major way, it just means that you need to be as proficient at controlling the camera as you are at fighting.
Few games look as good as this
Ninja Gaiden is arguably the most beautiful game on the Xbox. It features some of the best FMV cutscenes this side of Square's latest Final Fantasy game. The framerate is consistant with only some very minor hiccups on some extremely rare occasions, if you see them at all. The areas in the game are quite varied. The first level begins just outside the Ninja Stronghold. As you make your way through the stream and cliffs you come to enter to the stronghold which is incredibly detailed and authenitically very Japanese. Each area within is detailed with tapestries, wooden flooring, traditional Samurai armor, and the occasional stack of ornate boxes for you to kick open and loot. The second area is a village where you will square off against foot soliders and horse-mounted Samurai in your pursuit of your enemies. I won't spoil the story for you, but as you progress you'll also fly in a Zeppelin, run through a military-occupied city, and navigate your way through deep underground tunnels.
Though i wouldn't expect anything less from the makers of Dead or Alive, Ryu's animations are brilliantly motion captured and suitably fluid. Ryu is a ninja, and he certainly moves like one. Each of his many weapons features a completely different set of animations and an amazing attention to detail. The enemies are equally detailed with fluid animations and an even wider variety of Ninja-crushing weapons. It can all be played in 16x9 widesreen which definitely sweetens the deal.
The ever-changing musical score matches the visuals very well. Each different environment has its appropriate piece of music to fit it along with the ambient and background noises. Modern sounding instruments are used within the more human-made levels such as the Zeppelin and the City stages whilst the music sounds much more primitive during the more organic underground/cave areas. Sound effects are a real treat with the swishing of swords to the splatter of blood all increasing your immersion into the game. Voice acting, never a strong point of Tecmo games, is rather weak and i would recommend everyone making the switch over to JPN voice/ENG subtitles which can thankfully be found in the options screen.
Ninja Gaiden - the weak need not apply
Overall Ninja Gaiden is a great game. Despite the minor camera problems, this is one of the best games on Xbox and the best game of its kind since the original Devil May Cry. I strongly recommend this game to anyone who doesn’t mind putting 15-20 hours into a game and not worrying about restarting if you die a few times. Ninja Gaiden is not a game for casual gamer or those that get easily frustrated. The graphics are amazing with gameplay equally as impressive. I can't say that I'm too happy about Microsoft's decision to remove the many decapitations you can pull off in this US version for the PAL market (after all, an 18 certificate never did any harm to the GTA series now did it?!) but nevertheless, Gaiden delivers in just about every other department. With a completion time of 15+ hours and loads of replayability value, Ninja Gaiden is a game that should be given a place in every gamer's collection
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