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Ninja Gaiden
GameRatio Review
XBOX |
View Full Game Info
Published by
Tecmo
Released on
2004-03-02
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| 91% GameRatio |
95% GR% Review |
xenoranger
Reviewed on
2004-03-30
Never before has ninja action been this fun.
To start out, let me take a moment to say that I’m pretty sick of Ninjas at the current moment. It was fun as a kid to watch GI Joe and root for Stormshadow, while eating my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cereal, and later play with my foam nunchaku. Now, I’m older, and I don’t share the same passions as my childhood counterpart. After Nightshade, Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I’m rather annoyed with the whole ninja angle. What’s even worse is a reoccurring trend in stories, but I’ll discuss that later.
Most noticeable aspect of Ninja Gaiden is the controls. Unlike Shinobi and its sequel, Nightshade, Ninja Gaiden captures the essence of the anime ninja. By allowing players to run up walls and triangle jump, it feels as if you’re really reenacting a scene from one of the many martial arts animes. The only problem with some of the acrobatics is that sometimes, you will want to just jump and bounce off a wall, but it is far too easy to find yourself running along the wall instead. Players have a series of combo attacks at their disposal through usage of the X and Y buttons. Repeated pressing of either will yield quick combos, but learning to mix up the pressing of X and Y allow for greater damage. This is not only with Ryu’s sword, but Ryu can also obtain other weapons, like nunchaku and a War Hammer. These other weapons have their strengths and weaknesses. The nunchaku may be faster than Ryu’s Dragon Sword, but it deals less damage. The War Hammer is slower, but can bludgeon opponents to death in fewer swings. Players must choose the weapon that not only suits their style of play best, but also the weapon that works best for the situation. Because of its nature, nunchaku are great for when surrounded by opponents, whereas the War Hammer works better in one on one fights.
In addition to the anime feel, Ninja Gaiden also features a learning system. The more you fight the more moves you gain at your disposal. In addition to learning, you can also find new skills by searching the corpses of the fallen for scrolls. This is where you’ll gain most of your throws. The nice part about the learning system is that when you gain a new weapon, you don’t have to start from nothing. You’re given more than enough combination attacks as well as special attacks to fight well. In previous Ninja Gaiden games, you could pick up items that allowed usage of the Ninpo Arts. Originally, these were called Ninjitsu Arts, but better translation, and an overall better understanding of Japanese language for game players has changed this name. The Ninpo Arts feature the Art of the Fire Wheel, the Art of the Inferno, as well as some new additions. In this game, the Art of the Fire Wheel no longer makes Ryu invincible. He now has fireballs circling him and inflicting damage on near by opponents. The Art of Inferno replaced the old Art of the Fire Wheel, which was a projectile fireball attack. This time, Ryu unleashes a huge flame tongue, burning everything in its path.
Players may love the feel to this game, but it seems to have no emphasis on story at all. The story, which is unfortunately cliché in this day and age, revolves around a cursed blade. It is the evil Dark Dragon Blade that has been awakened. This blade was said to have been made from the tooth of a black dragon. It contains enough power to make its wielder nearly invincible. Someone stole it from Ryu’s village and burned the village to the ground. Now, Ryu seeks revenge on this adversary, not just because he burned the village down, but also because he delivered a near fatal wound to Ryu. Nothing is said of how Ryu survived being almost completely sliced in half, but the youth and innocence in his eyes are now gone as he seeks vengeance. This is about the most players will get from the story. The rest is pretty must conveyed through cinemas without dialog. No monolog or anything, just cinemas showing Ryu’s transition from one bad situation to another. In the few cinemas where there is dialog, players will know just enough to figure out why they have to complete the next mission, but not enough to understand the over all events.
The Xbox has been pushing some rather impressive graphics these days, and Ninja Gaiden is no exception. Beautifully rendered scenery and models flood the screen. Most notably are the visual effects. From Ryu’s show dash attacks (which I think is getting too overdone in ninja games) to the realism of the Ninpo Arts, Techmo spared no expense in making this on of the best looking games on the market. An honorable mention is the appearance of a young Ayane (Dead or Alive Series). Ayane appears both younger and innocent compared to her calloused and bitter alter ego from Dead or Alive. I also feel I should add that for once, Ayane is not overly endowed.
Since there is no long extents of dialog, the only audio players are treated to is in the action sequences. Fighting grunts, groans, and yells are pretty much standard compared to other games. I can’t give Techmo any points here. They basically just copied the majority of sounds used in other ninja based games. The only difference is the dialog. The few moments of dialog have some good voice acting. If I had to point out an audio highlight, it’s the demon horse rider you fight at the end of the second mission. When listening to his horse, it does not whinny like a normal stallion. Instead it has this half- growl, half-nay voice. It kinda puts a chill down your spine the first time through, but other than that, you really can’t say much for sound effects in games these days. The background music does help set the mood, but matches no better than the majority of titles out there.
I guess my biggest complaint about Ninja Gaiden is that it features a ninja. I know that’s kinda part of the point, but since it seems that it’s been ninjas, ninjas, and more ninjas, I would’ve liked to see a change in pace. Despite my personal feelings, I really enjoyed this game. Especially the fact you can unlock the original 3 Ninja Gaiden games that originally appeared on the Nintendo Entertainment System back in the late 80`s and early 90`s. Because of high end graphics and the raw power required to run the game, player with an Xbox using the Thompson DVD-Rom may be unable to play this title. The Thompson DVD-ROMs were not as powerful and reliable as the Samsung and the Phillips. Check out the Xbox official website for information of the differences.
To date, this is one of the MUST OWN Xbox titles. Ninja fan or not, you will love this game. It has its tedious moments, but it keeps players coming back for more. Plus, to Xbox-Live subscribers, there are additional levels and content downloads available to extend your playing experience.
GameRatio review by xenoranger
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