REVIEW - Ninja Gaiden (2004)

GENRE(S): Action
RELEASED: March 2004
AVAILABLE ON: Xbox
DEVELOPER(S): Team Ninja
PUBLISHER(S): Tecmo
PLAYERS: 1

Tecmo originally planned to resurrect the Ninja Gaiden franchise as a 1999 arcade game for Sega. Plans for returning to the arcades were scrapped in a very early stage of development and work began on a Dreamcast game. When Sega announced the discontinuation of the Dreamcast, Tecmo announced that Ninja Gaiden would be a U.S. launch title for the Sony PlayStation 2. In yet another twist of events, the game was declared an Xbox exclusive at E3 2002, according to the will of the new head of the Ninja Gaiden franchise's development, Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki. The game was originally scheduled for release in early 2003, but ended up being delayed by a whole year. After a rare five years in development, Ninja Gaiden finally hit the shelves in March 2004, and became one of the decade's most critically acclaimed games, not to mention one of the Xbox's most highly esteemed exclusives, and it has also been named the most difficult video game of the sixth generation of consoles. With two different remakes and two sequels of the game for both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 under Team Ninja's belt, how does the original article hold up?

D.D.E. 2004

He has a blue flame where his face should be.
Just so you know he's evil.

Young Ryu Hayabusa is out to destroy the Vigoor Empire for the utter slaughter of his clan, including that of his childhood friend, and the theft of their sacred Dark Dragon Blade. Even getting fatally wounded in the hands of an Imperial soldier only makes Ryu stronger and more determined to get his revenge.

All I've been hearing this past decade is how difficult Ninja Gaiden is. I wasn't much of a scene scout back when Ninja Gaiden came out on the Xbox; I knew much less of big releases on the Xbox and the GameCube 'cause I was a Sony flag waver to the core. I wasn't sure if Ninja Gaiden was a remake or a reboot - as it seems, even the developers were not sure what to call it! Anyway, the Ninja Gaiden franchise got a huge boost from the release of this game - but, I have friends who didn't realize at some time that the game is actually of the same series as a game called Shadow Warriors, a game they loved back when they were kids. They embraced Ninja Gaiden as a whole new, exciting franchise. Even when they found out of the connection, they just couldn't make it themselves. It's a whole different game. The most important common factor between the original Ninja Gaiden series and "Ninja Gaiden 2004" is that the original three games were regarded as some of the most difficult games ever released during the 8-bit generation, and Ninja Gaiden is regarded as the most difficult game of this generation. I found it very hard to believe that this game would be anywhere near as difficult as the 8-bit games. These days we have checkpoints, elaborate general strategies that are guaranteed to work, and all kinds of other ways to bend the difficulty level of the game to our will. It just so happens that Ninja Gaiden is a game that doesn't have any of these features and properties. It IS a very difficult game... believe me when I say that you will die dead enough! Even after all the blood, sweat and tears, I think it's appropriate to welcome Ninja Gaiden back.

This guy might seem a little frail, being nothing
but bones and all... but actually he's one of the
most evil bosses there ever was.

To me, it's criticism, but to a lot of folks, it's a sales point: being an Xbox exclusive, Ninja Gaiden is pretty much Microsoft's answer to Sony's Devil May Cry. The similarities are uncanny, all the way from the core gameplay to cinematic methods, general visuals including the layout of the main menu, chapter-to-chapter progression, a lead character with a whole variety of the most kick-ass moves ever seen, and of course, the high difficulty. It's criticism 'cause I loved Devil May Cry when I first bought it, but the further I played it, the more I grew to somewhat hate it. After finally finishing the game (with a sore throat from cursing life itself so much), I somewhat made a vow never to attempt it again, and eventually sold the game with not much parting tears involved. In time, I've grown to appreciate it more, and would like to have the game back in my shelf, if that's of any condolence to Dante fans.

When I first started Ninja Gaiden and saw most of the similarities between it and Devil May Cry unfold in under 20 minutes, I was sure I would at least end up being disappointed by it. Hours passed, I died dead enough a lot, the camera drove me to the brink of insanity five times in an equal amount of minutes, and making a long-ass trip from a save point to a boss only to get my ass kicked in two seconds and thrown back to the save point didn't really work wonders in calming my nerves. Still, I would call Ninja Gaiden a fun game. You know why? Because it's exactly what you would dream a descendant of the original 8-bit Ninja Gaiden to be. The first game gave you unlimited chances to learn from your mistakes and keep fighting like a man until you got to the end. This game is basically the same - only there's no trial and error involved, it's not a platformer. This game is the ultimate test of your skill and reflexes as a gamer. The better you get in utilizing all of Ryu's more or less essential abilities, the better shape you will leave conflicts in. Like I said and meant as somewhat of a pun, the original game trained you to be a ninja. I'm very serious this time around: this game DOES train you to be a ninja. It requires you to think and act like one. If you can't grasp the ways, you will never beat this game. Seriously. If you're the kind of player who likes to adopt one single strategy and rely on it throughout a full-length action game, you're playing the wrong game. In Ninja Gaiden, you must use all of your resources to your advantage if you wish to make it through one fourth of this game. Hell, you'd deserve a pat on the back if you made it through the very first chapter... out of 16.

When all else fails, try fire.

As opposed to the trend of making worlds look big and detailed, Ninja Gaiden's general look is relatively reduced. Instead of making it look all-around fancy, Team Ninja opted to make Ryu's smooth movement and kick-ass combat arsenal count. I can definitely cope and live with that. The thing I don't get is why the cutscenes weren't made to stand out like they did in the original 8-bit series. The game is one of the most cinematically generic action titles of the 21st century - which makes it kinda stand out, yes, but not in the most graceful way when it comes to visuals and an authentic Ninja Gaiden atmosphere. Killer cutscenes were what I most expected out of this game as far as the audiovisuals are concerned - there are none to be had.

The soundtrack is a quite consistent mixture of electronica, techno and some simple guitar riffs that the Japanese are fond of. The music is at least on par the whole time, it's not nearly as annoying as Devil May Cry's similar soundtrack was at its worst. And, I think having techno for battle music is a little more tolerable in a game that stars a modern day ninja hacking through an Imperial city's defenses - instead of the spawn of an ancient demon exploring a medieval castle. The voice acting isn't the most high-spirited work around, but at least no one's overdoing their part like the guys and gals in Devil May Cry. I just love comparing these two games, if you still can't tell.

In Ninja Gaiden, your primary goal is vengeance. Now while the game might not be the most dramatic show of emotions there is, Ryu's personality as a combatant makes his thirst for revenge that much more plausible. In addition to being capable of carrying a whole variety of different ninja weapons - swords, shurikens, bows, staves and whatnot - and kicking a whole variety of ass with 'em, Ryu can do somersaults off walls, run along them, and with a little bit of practice, you can use these abilities to your advantage in combat as well. Nothing is more rewarding than bouncing off an enemy's shoulders, leaving him disoriented and running your Dragon Blade up his anus. Before long, this delightful combo becomes extremely hard to perform. Actually, there's less than a minimal amount of enemies for you to practice with. Ninja Gaiden turns extremely hard extremely quick. I've heard of people that have given up after being assraped by the very first boss.

Demons. Again.

The decision to give up easily is not a hard one to make at all. Ninja Gaiden has lengthy levels, yet no checkpoints. It's merciless; you're lucky to have two save points per level. Just one tiny mistake can cost you the game. Making a 45-minute trip just to get your brains mauled by one single enemy who you were not prepared for, and getting your ass thrown back to the save point in the beginning of the level is standard for this game. There's always that small glimmer of hope of you being able to hone your reflexes - something that keeps telling you that you'll be able to beat this game if you try hard enough. It's not a total crock of shit, but at least one checkpoint or well placed essence of health every once in a while would make the attempt feel a little less feeble.

Like most games, Ninja Gaiden has a shop for upgrades and items, which accepts yellow essence - gained from breaking background items and killing enemies - as currency. Everything you actually need costs a fortune, and you'd have to be one damn ace in this game to not need to spend a lot of essence on health items instead of new upgrades, techniques and combos, weapons or Ki spells. The spirit that runs the store also collects Golden Scarabs; by offering him these prominent collectables, you gain access to a whole lot of exclusive stuff from "under the desk", including access to the 16-bit version of the original Ninja Gaiden series, all three games, one at a time. Now that's cool - but it will take a lot of work no casual player fearing this game's unparalleled difficulty level would be willing to do.

Ryu sees the advantages in weird architecture.

The game is packed to the brim with action, it has good controls and a cool story - which is just not presented that well - but there are two major things wrong with it. First off, the camera is very clumsy and awkward. It doesn't matter if you're in or out of battle, the constantly shifting and warping camera will drive you crazy. The game has some of the worst camera-related problems I've ever seen. Secondly, the game is just too "difficult" for its own good. Once again, I'd like to remind each player, as well as each game developer out there, that "challenge" in this century does not stand for having the player bust his balls over and over again through an hour-long series of solving puzzles, overtly difficult combat sequences, maybe a few bosses, just to get his ass handed to him/her in just one random, totally unexpected situation, and being forced to start over from the save point which seriously can be an hour and piles of frustration away. Just rubbing your nose or wiping that sweat off your brow in the middle of a seemingly ordinary duel can fuck your game up, regardless of when you last saved. Games are supposed to be difficult, but not such a waste of precious time. Ninja Gaiden is a very difficult game for a lot of right reasons, but also a hefty amount of wrong ones. When was the last time I saw a basically good game I just simply couldn't play when there was someone else present? I guess there's never been one before Ninja Gaiden.

Despite a lot of nice efforts to drive the player batshit insane, Ninja Gaiden is an addictive game in its very own, unique, perhaps a little sick, way. It makes you sweat like an old school game; it's just too bad that most of that sweat comes from the constant fear of everything you've done in the last hour being all for nothing.

UPS
+ Ryu's moves
+ A cool variety of weapons, skills and spells
+ Unlike most action games released during the decade, Ninja Gaiden is downright impossible to beat in one weekend
+ It's not only challenging, it's also relatively lengthy
+ Cool unlockables, including the 16-bit Ninja Gaiden Trilogy 

DOWNS
- It's a little too much like Devil May Cry; to some, this is a big plus, and I don't blame 'em
- The story's good enough, but the game is not a cinematic breakthrough like the old school games were at their time
- The game is in desperate need of checkpoints
- The camera is horrible, and the sometimes necessary first-person view is just as clumsy
- The puzzles would've needed some more work; most of them are simple fetchquests
- Loading times shift between long and eternal

< 8.5 >

VGTune of the Week : Ryu's Theme

20 years ago. That's all I have to say this time around. :)

Less than a week to go!

In five days, this blog will fall completely silent. Of course, VGTune of the Week will show up on the next Sunday as always, but I have nothing to give to people expecting just a few reviews or perhaps just a few random rants in the coming weeks. As Mass Effect 3 hits the shelves, it's safe to predict at least two weeks of downtime as I'm getting ready to begin work on my biggest and most hyped review yet. This much you already knew. The question remains, what's been cookin', and what's to expect after Mass Effect 3? Usually, I would have no answer. Now I do.

What's been cookin' is a lot of work. I've been really disappointed with my pace lately, but that's totally expected with all the work I've been burdened with. I've made a whole list of games I'm going to buy soon, 'cause my wages this and next month are going to be relatively astronomical - at least they'd better be. Yeah, Skyrim is still on top of that list, and there's another recent game that has seriously caught my attention - Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. I'm usually very hard to please when it comes to whole new franchises, and I usually lie in wait for a sequel before jumping on the bandwagon, but the playable demo on Xbox LIVE, which I downloaded 'cause my friend wanted to see it, proved that this game's the real deal.

Ryu's leaving us for the time being.

The Ninja Gaiden marathon will end with Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox and the remake Ninja Gaiden Sigma for the PlayStation 3. Besides that, I'm done dying dead enough :) I know that "slogan" is somewhat of an enigma; back when I first heard Megadeth's 2004 single "Die Dead Enough" and tried to determine whether it was good or not, I imagined the song playing over a Ninja Gaiden montage, because "dying dead enough" always reminded me of that franchise. That's where it comes from. Anyway, there was really no deep meaning to the Ninja Gaiden marathon - of course the third game in the new series is coming up, but this marathon had nothing to do with the hype surrounding it, it was just coincidence. So no, there will be no reviews of Ninja Gaiden II and Ninja Gaiden III at this time. The reviews of Ninja Gaiden and Sigma will turn up in a couple of days, and they will be followed by a totally unrelated stand-alone review of a whole other game before Friday.

After Mass Effect 3, it is finally time for me to live up to the promise I made in the end of the year and start hacking through my collection. My collection has grown by quite a bit during the last couple of months - by approximately 30 (!) games, to be exact - but my primary concerns lie in the games that were part of last year's collection. The ones that got there first are first in line, so to say. I'm totally stoked about this "marathon", but I'm trying to contain myself as I have a galaxy to save and an Earth to take back. As we're slowly heading for the summer, it's safe to assume that I'm perfectly capable of picking up the pace and delivering a lot of interesting reviews to make up for a good Year 2 summary, which will be published some time in August.

See you in a couple of days, the blackout isn't 'til Friday.

REVIEW - Ninja Gaiden Trilogy (1995)

GENRE(S): Compilation
RELEASED: August 1995
AVAILABLE ON: SNES
DEVELOPER(S): Team Ninja
PUBLISHER(S): Tecmo
PLAYERS: 1

What sells for up to five hundred and fifty bucks on eBay, and its sole purpose on this planet is to make you weep? Ninja Gaiden? Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos? Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom? Or a SNES cartridge that bears the curses of all of the aforementioned games? Welcome to hell. This time, there's a password.

Three times the slaughter

After Tecmo had finished making Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom for the NES and the "spin-off title" Ninja Gaiden Shadow for the Game Boy, Sega grabbed the Ninja Gaiden license from them for a spell. Tecmo had previously given them the license for a Game Gear installment simply known as Ninja Gaiden, and yet another game simply called Ninja Gaiden was released in 1992 on the Sega Master System. A 16-bit Ninja Gaiden for the Sega Genesis, influenced by the original arcade game, went in development around that same time, but it was never finished. In 1995, Tecmo took Ninja Gaiden back, and by the end of the summer, they fixed the error of not having a 16-bit Ninja Gaiden installment by re-releasing the NES trilogy on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

It's as fun as always. Can't stand the xylophone,
though.

The graphics and sound are honestly the only things that have been revamped about these three games, and not always for the better. The graphical facelift of the game is just about the most easy and quick facelift ever seen, the death tune in Ninja Gaiden II is strangely replaced with the death tune from some other game I can't name just now - it's REALLY familiar, it's like from a nightmare... which it most likely is - and the soundtrack is filled with some really awkward remixes of classic tunes. I was expecting some hot molten metal riffs to rip through the 4-2 theme in the first game, but no - it's a freakin' xylophone remix. Xylophone. This isn't a Disney game, this is Ninja Gaiden! Hiyah! Hack, slash, kill! Not bounce, yay, uh-oh!

Gone with the wind.

But, let's think things through, honestly and as unfocused on the audiovisuals of this collection as one possibly can - I mean, which child or young adult of the 8-bit generation wouldn't bash the collection for the audiovisuals? It's all about them, all of it. In terms of gameplay, the games are EXACTLY the same as they were before. Not even the controls have been changed, we're only using A and B. All of the three games suffer from the very same mechanical quirks that always plagued them, there's no raising the bar to Ninja Gaiden III's standards, or a whole new one. But, there are things that make them perhaps even more fun to PLAY - such as a password system, and the chance to pick your game instead of having to (attempt to) clash through all three of them. In Ninja Gaiden III's case, the fun doesn't end there.

Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom
returns better than ever.

The original U.S. version of Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom had an extremely unforgiving life bar, that had 16 health points on display, but only 8 in use. The difficulty level of Ninja Gaiden III in this package has been reverted back to that of the Japanese version, which makes the game a whole lot playable than it was on the NES. Not much easier due to many of the game's greatest challenges lying in the level design, but much more playable, and a better all-around game than the original, by many points. The same can't be said for the other two games. I think nothing can piss on the original game, so it's just as good as it always was despite some problems with the framerate (that recur throughout the trilogy), and the second one is just as lukewarm as it always was. Making just one game strike me as being better than the original is quite an accomplishment, though.

Ninja Gaiden Trilogy is one of the rarest SNES cartridges there is, and the irony of it all is that the collection was never released in Europe, until it was made an unlockable bonus item in the 2004 Ninja Gaiden reboot. I think a European release would've brought some sense into the picture. Why a collection, and not a whole new 16-bit game, I wonder? Whatever - it's good. Today is a good day to die dead enough.

UPS
+ One bonafide classic
+ One decent game
+ One game that soars to new spheres thanks to a seemingly small tweak
+ The simple password system 

DOWNS
- A quicker and more generic series of remakes than I thought, in comparison to other late 16-bit ports and remakes of the time (ie. Super Mario All-Stars)
- An occasionally slow framerate, and other miscellaneous graphical issues
- The soundtrack is botched with horrible remixes

< 8.4 >

REVIEW - Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom (1991)

GENRE(S): Action / Platform
RELEASED: June 1991
AVAILABLE ON: Lynx, NES, Wii Virtual Console
DEVELOPER(S): Tecmo
PUBLISHER(S): Tecmo
PLAYERS: 1

The first Ninja Gaiden series came to a head with 1991's Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom. For the remainder of the 90's, Ryu Hayabusa went on to star in a few stand-alone Ninja Gaiden titles for Sega's systems, as well as a prominent playable character in Tecmo's popular fighting game franchise Dead or Alive - which, of course, is more famous for the measurements of its female characters. Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom never made it to Europe, and the name Ninja Gaiden wasn't really known in Europe before the series was rebooted in 2004. Thus one of the most sought after games for the Nintendo Entertainment System around these parts is somewhat of a return to form after the disappointing Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos... but man. Dude. It will eat your balls for breakfast. It will eat your balls even if you don't own a pair.

Dead enough

Irene Lew gets killed in action, seemingly in Ryu's hands. With no recollection of the incident, Ryu investigates a secret laboratory that has something to do with the case Irene was working on. An encounter with an enigmatic scientist leads Ryu to the trail of an old acquaintance of his, who's building an army of bionoids - superhuman doppelgangers that gain their life energy from the interdimensional rift formed after Jaquio and the demon's defeat.

This is what we're going for. Good luck.

Tecmo gathered up another team of developers to work on Ninja Gaiden III, to draw a clear line between the game and its predecessors, but to retain - or reattain - the qualities that originally created the Ninja Gaiden magic: crazy plot twists, with dramatic visuals to go with it. Also, they kind of wanted to retain the basic plot outline revolving around ancient demons, but spice it up with a heavy dose of science fiction. I think that considering they had just a little over a year to work on a different but familiar Ninja Gaiden, the new team did a good job. In the plot's case, they just eventually made the mistake of blurting out that Ninja Gaiden III was a prequel to Ninja Gaiden II, in which Irene is very much alive. Like we'd ever get to the part in which the revelation is finally made, 'cause Ninja Gaiden III is one difficult game. Like Ghosts 'n Goblins difficult. That's difficult. Ah, hell: hard as fuck.

The larger colour palette comes with more pixels and thick outlines. The game still looks good - actually this is the best that actual gameplay graphics ever looked in the original series, but the cutscenes take another turn for the worse. I seriously think the cutscenes in the first Ninja Gaiden looked better. The level and character design kept getting better 'til the end. The music's altogether improved after the bunch of leftover tracks they stuffed into Ninja Gaiden II, but the sequencing's kind of icky. I honestly think they paid most attention to making the legendary Game Over theme sound the best it ever has. Which would make sense, 'cause Ninja Gaiden III is one difficult game. Like Battletoads difficult. That's diff... never mind.

Believe me, quicksand is the very least of your
troubles in this game.

The secondary weapons are altogether easier to use, and moreover easier to get to work on certain types of enemies, and the wall clinging ability works as perfectly as it possibly can in an 8-bit scheme. You can jump straight onto platforms that are either above you or straight forward, and it's effortless to get Ryu to jump off the wall. All the fancy knick-knacks that made no difference in Ninja Gaiden II - I'm speaking of the "shadow warriors" (no pun intended), of course - have been completely ousted. This is good, old-fashioned Ninja Gaiden, just the way it used to be and was meant to be, even back then. Or is it...?

Let's hack through Act 1. OK, there are enemies coming from everywhere. Not nearly from all eight directions as in Ninja Gaiden II, and not nearly at an equally rapid pace. I'm getting along just fine, here. The controls are great - I can even hang from the bottoms of certain types of platforms and climb forward, what a cool new trick! OK, that was part one of this act, and I'm still doing just fine. Uh oh, now I'm really getting it. I'm dead, that's quite all right, that's expected. I'm forced to start over from the beginning of the act, which causes my brain to freeze - the previous games had checkpoints at the start of each new block. In the next two seconds, while lost in my thoughts of how the hell could they just ravage out checkpoints like that, I'm mauled to death by a couple of robots. In two seconds. Let's try one more time. Nope, can't make it past those robots, what the hell am I doing wrong and why does it happen so fast? Oh, I see. I have 16 ticks of health... of which only 8 mean shit!!! This can't be happening. This is a Ninja Gaiden game. There have always been 16 ticks of health. 16 health points. 16 chances to get through one level, to the ultimate checkpoint. Sure, Ninja Gaiden III has those 16 health points on the screen there - but make no mistake about it, even the slightest bump will decrease your health by two whole points. It's still a Ninja Gaiden game. You know what's going to happen if you have half the chance of survival you had before. Did they make the levels any easier, then? Fuck no! Ninja Gaiden III has got to be one of the most difficult games I've ever played, throughout and back again.

This looks like some place on Planet Zebes.

The most important question there ever was about an installment in this particular franchise is: is it fun? Yes, Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom is fun. Even more fun if you're into pain and torture. Not only are the checkpoints nearly gone - there will be a slight bit of forgiveness in that subject after you make it past the first act - but so are unlimited continues, as well as a password system. I know that you're thinking that Ninja Gaiden never had a password system, but it just so happens that the Japanese version of Ninja Gaiden III had one. The Jap version also had less enemies, unlimited continues and I'm guessing even the fast degradation of Ryu's life bar wasn't a problem. I never thought I'd witness an American localization going further in terms of difficulty than the original Japanese game.

What still it makes it fun and a slightly more interesting game to play than Ninja Gaiden II is the notably improved gameplay, and one focus being on delivering an elaborate and original story instead of just tinkering with some already used ideas, using the same basic outlines. Ninja Gaiden III is more of a real sequel, while Ninja Gaiden II felt like filler. Although I'm definitely not always in the mood of getting killed repeatedly like a regular Kenny before even reaching the third act and I'd rather go back to the first game any day to get my ass whooped, Ninja Gaiden III: Ancient Ship of Doom is a good secondary bringer of torture.

UPS
+ Has more original spirit in it than Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos, despite the different story
+ Notably improved controls and abilities
+ Good and smooth in-game graphics
+ Good music; lacking production, though 

DOWNS
- The cutscenes look good, but they looked better years back
- Whoever figured to reduce maximum health in Ninja Gaiden by a half was insane
- Limited continues, no checkpoints, no passwords; nothing to make you breathe easier

< 8.1 >

REVIEW - Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos (1990)

GENRE(S): Action / Platform
RELEASED: April 1990
AVAILABLE ON: Amiga, NES, PC, Wii Virtual Console
DEVELOPER(S): Tecmo
PUBLISHER(S): Tecmo
PLAYERS: 1

Behind every good game, there's a potential sequel. Sometimes this sequel, even while praised by critics, just gets bulldozed by bad promotion. Take Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos, for example. This sequel to Tecmo's 1988 megahit was released in early 1990 in both Japan and the U.S., but got caught in a limbo for a total of four years, and wasn't released in Europe until the very final days of the Nintendo Entertainment System's lifespan, which means that the game is virtually unknown in this part of the world. So, this review is dedicated to my fellow Europeans. Ladies and gentlemen, Ninja Gaiden II - is it worth the search? Sure, but for more than just to please your curiosity? Depends on how much shit you can handle.

Too damn easy to die dead enough

One year after the defeat of Jaquio at the hands of the Ninja Dragon Ryu Hayabusa, a new evil overlord named Ashtar emerges from the Realm of Darkness with a plan for world domination. A member of the U.S. Army Special Intelligence Unit seeks out Ryu and tells him to travel to the Tower of Lahja, where Ashtar resides and is keeping Irene hostage.

Go back to bother Link.

First of all, I'm finding myself in my least favourite situation: having to correct my own mistakes. That's "having", it's not a choice. My rant on European imports in the previous review got praise from a Swedish reader, who's somewhat of an expert on game imports, but also some corrections, which have already been made to the previous review. I originally said that Ninja Gaiden II was released under its original title in Europe - that's only partly true. In fact, the game was called Shadow Warriors II, to make the connection between the game and its predecessor more clear - BUT that's not the whole truth. In fact, the game was precisely called Shadow Warriors II: Ninja Gaiden II. That puts a whole new spin of stupid into the whole mess. Thanks to A. for pointing out an even more crazy and retarded case of European publishing than I thought it was.

Since I pretty much voiced out my opinion on changing the title and the cover art of the game the last time around, this time I can purely concentrate on the game, and deliver you a relatively short and sweet (?) review on this curiosity item. I was ecstatic about this game, as I had never played it before and I had just (kinda) finished the first Ninja Gaiden, which I consider one of the finest games on the Nintendo Entertainment System. What I had heard was that Ninja Gaiden II was a really great, obviously overlooked game, and considering my factual knowledge on better gameplay mechanics and all-around smoother output, I was expecting a lot out of this game. Yeah, it's good - but if the old magic's truly there, and if the game's higher-than-life difficulty level smacks the player with anything else besides utter frustration almost half the time, I'm missing something.

The cutscenes are a bit different - somewhat more generic, all the way to Ryu's close-up model that's half blacked out by a shadow; altogether it seems like Tecmo attempted to steer players' attention away from fancy cinematics by toning down on dramatic camera and sound effects. In turn, they focused on level and character design. The enemies function a little less like robots, Ryu moves a bit differently, and there are many level-specific stipulations for one to conquer, for example wind. Let me say at this point that if there's any natural element that annoys me in a platformer almost as bad as ice, it's wind. The second level in this game is perhaps the worst case of it I've ever suffered from. The music is all right, I guess, but in comparison to the first game's best tunes, I must say we're taking a trip well below par here.

This might be the first game to have a moving
train for a level. Certainly not the last one.

The controls are better, at the very least on paper. Although it's still quite damn hard to simply get off a wall after clinging on to it, climbing any type of wall is possible, you can use your secondary weapons, and with a little bit of luck involved, you can even jump away from the wall and cling back to it - or make it to the platform directly above you. The secondary weapons are very different, and more efficient - with the exception of a weird item that multiplies Ryu for the duration of a level. Though it might seem cool to have one or two shadows of yourself following you around and repeating your moves, I haven't found a single good use for them. It seems that whatever they manage to kill multiplies by the second - having them along for the ride gives you comfort one tiny fraction of a second at a time.

You see, the worst thing about Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos is that it has such a high difficulty level it's simply not fun in this basic format anymore. The game doesn't give you more than one single level to train the basics - the first act is perhaps too easy, and pretty much a more multi-layered version of the first level in the first game, at that. Even the boss and the cutscenes pay tribute to the first game, as you will see. The second act's latter part and everything there on out is hell on God's pixelated green Earth. There's shit flying towards you from all directions, from balls of flame to those birds that were put into the first game as some sort of a misplaced joke - they're far from funny this time around. Narrow ways filled with things that will hurt you, and the hazard of getting stuck onto a wall as easy prey for everything, as well as the prominent hazard of the level itself, be it constantly flicking lights or wind. Extremely fast movement by bastards on the ground, or a firing rate that makes at least one out of three bullets impossible to dodge. You have to be on the move, constantly, or you won't last much more than ten minutes in the world of Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos.

How do you make the game look less like
Castlevania? Well, certainly not by putting in
a level that's got Castlevania written all over it.

Those types of players that have made it their lifelong mission to conquer every single highly difficult - as in FEARED - 8-bit game there ever was, will probably enjoy Ninja Gaiden II. The first Ninja Gaiden game was difficult, but it was a game with ways you could learn; kind of like the ways of a ninja. The rate at which enemies respawn in this game and level-specific elements make Ninja Gaiden II a very unpredictable game. That sounds better than it plays out, since it also means that luck is way much more of an important factor to your success than it should be. For example, you need not make a worse mistake than one badly timed, small jump in the end of the second act to get swept away by the wind, straight into a chasm, even if you've aced all the hazards brought on by direct attacks from enemies. It's an example of a disheartening moment in this game, the kind of which eventually will make you want to quit playing. There was no "quit" in the first Ninja Gaiden. You kept fighting, like a man, as there was always a small glimpse of hope - perhaps not all of that hope is gone here, but a lot of it. Thankfully Tecmo held on to the unlimited continues, and all of the other lifelines that came with it, such as checkpoints. Without them, Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos might be a game I'd never even try again.

The game's got kind of a hollow, subpar plot in comparison to the first game's elaborate story, the cinematics are not as good and although the gameplay mechanics are admittedly better, the game gives anti-compensation in the form of some really frustrating sequences, even whole acts, from the very beginning. Still, I can't help but to recommend this game to everyone who loves the first Ninja Gaiden as much as I do; if for not much else, it's good for broadening your horizons and general knowledge. 

UPS
+ Improved basic mechanics
+ Improved level and character design
+ Retains the first game's benefits of unlimited continues and relatively fair checkpoints
+ The game's English is even better 

DOWNS
- Downgrading the cinematics is easily comparable to Koji Igarashi deliberately downgrading the quality of the soundtrack in Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance; it eats away on some of the most important magic in the franchise, the magic that originally made it stand out perhaps more than anything else
- Although there are musical moments worthy of hearing, the soundtrack in general is disappointing and stale
- Simply crazy environments for which this improvement in mechanics is not nearly enough
- The game gets ultra-difficult way too fast for its own or the player's good
- Luck > skill, times ten

< 7.6 >

VGTune of the Week : The Best Is Yet to Come

I haven't felt much like playing lately, or doing anything else that would require some brain activity besides my day job, which might explain why I haven't made any progress with the obviously pending/ongoing Ninja Gaiden marathon. I'll try to "get a grip" as soon as I can. At least there's VGTune of the Week to keep the blog on level weekly - and this time, I felt like I should lay down a ballad. It really fits my mood, and it just might be the best original ballad to be spawned by a video game. Rika Muranaka's "The Best Is Yet to Come" debuted in 1998's Metal Gear Solid, and made another key appearance in 2008's Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, in one of the most brilliantly written and executed gameplay sequences ever. It was one of the first truly memorable vocalized tunes to be featured in a video game, and it hasn't lost one slight bit of its edge in the last 14 years, which makes it the first VGTotW to have absolutely no need for a featured remix. Ladies and gentlemen, "The Best Is Yet to Come".