Ninja Gaiden (X-Box)
Developed by: Team Ninja
Published by: Tecmo

The original Ninja Gaiden 1, 2 and 3 must surely be ranked among the bestgames for the original NES, featuring cool weapons, fast-paced actionand acrobatic ninja moves. They were also among the first of theirkind to utilize cinematic cut-scenes to tell a story.But the times they are a-changin’ and now a new age is upon us –one that sees Ninja Gaiden resurrected exclusively on Microsoft’s game console.

No doubt the Ninja Gaiden name alone has sold more than a few X-Box systems out there… I know it is one of the factors that eventually sold me on it. Unfortunately it was one of many highly anticipated game thatsuffered delays last year, which only fueled people’s appetite and raised the bar forexpectations even further. Does the final product live up to these monstrousexpectations? The general consensus seems to be a resounding yes, and althoughthe game is definitely an amazing achievement I have to say that I am not with the general consensuson this one.

Ninja Gaiden may be selling like hotcakes but I have to wonder how many people actually knew what they were getting when they bought it. I can only speculate that if most people had taken the time to sit down with the game beforehand (ie. demo or rental), they might be a little less eager to run out and dump the contents of their wallets into Microsoft’s hands. You see, the problem with Ninja Gaiden, at least as far as my own experience goes, is that it’s one of those games that looks great, but in actual practice will probably wind up sitting on your shelf collecting dust.

Let me get one thing straight. I’m not saying it’s not an impressive game. Tecmo have exploited the power of the X-Box to the Nth degree and this is easily one of the best-looking console games I have ever seen. The character models, environments and cinematics are insane. It also runs extremely smooth with no noticeable slowdown, which is even more sweet when you witness the blazing speed at which this game moves.

The freedom of movement, speed and variety of attack maneuvers in Ninja Gaiden are awesome. You feel every bit a ninja in this game; walking on walls, tumbling and somersaulting around your enemies, carving them up with your sword. When combined with projectile weapons like shuriken and bow and arrow, “Ninpo” magic arts, and the “ultimate techniques”, there is a heck of a lot of depth to the fighting. The game is also gory as hell, with pools of blood spraying everywhere. If you unleash a power attack on someone you just might see their head rolling in the dirt. Gore doesn’t make a game good, but when the fighting is this stylish, fast-paced and dynamic, it can make for a really exciting game.

So how in the hell can Ninja Gaiden fall short of the mark after doing so many things right?

One complaint some people have made about the game is that the camera controls are awkward. In any 3rd person 3d game, this can be an issue. But when a game moves as fast as Ninja Gaiden does, it’s damn near impossible to keep the camera centred behind you. I think Team Ninja did the best they could with this aspect though, and I didn’t necessarily find it to be more than a minor annoyance in the grand scheme of things.

What I did find to be an absolute major pain in the ass is the difficulty level of this game! There’s no doubt Ninja Gaiden was created with hardcore gamers in mind, but if you ask me there’s no excuse in this day and age to limit your audience by making a game that is this frustrating and downright brutal. You might say it is a fitting tribute to the original NES games which were also known for being hard as hell. While I’m sure there are gamers out there who live for this kind of challenge, what about the rest of us? This is precisely why they invented a little thing called a “difficulty setting” so many years ago. Unfortunately, Ninja Gaiden only features a single difficulty level: Hard As Shit, and I’m willing to bet there are a lot of people who (like me) have barely been able to delve past the first couple of levels as a result.

I’m not sure exactly what makes the game so hard. The game’s speed is one possibility, as your reflexes have to be razor sharp to successfully dodge attacks and then connect on the offensive. More than that though, the enemies are just plain tough. The bosses don’t move in recognizable patterns that you can eventually learn through repetition, and the outcome of the battles feel almost random because of that. Even your run-of-the-mill ninja thugs are a force to be reckoned with in this game, to the point where every single fight could very well be your last. Unless I feel myself improving along the way I am not drawn back to a challenging game, and Ninja Gaiden all too often felt out of my reach.

Why would you want to make a game so hard that most people will never get through it? To me, that’s like writing a brilliant book in some ancient language that only a few people can actually understand. Games that are too easy may feel like a waste of money, but I’d rather actually get to experience the entire game instead of only seeing the first couple chapters.

The other thing to mention is that Ninja Gaiden feels like a brawler dressed up as an action/adventure game. In a way this makes sense, considering Tecmo developed the Dead Or Alive series (in which Ryu Hayabusa happens to be a playable character). Hit combos are a big part of the game play, and there are numerous special moves that you need to discover on your own in order to unlock Ryu’s full potential in battle. The actual story is pretty thin and the “puzzle solving” areas of the game aren’t really puzzles at all. It’s all about the action, and I can’t stand the fact that most of the fighting comes down to button mashing. Yawn.

I really wanted to love Ninja Gaiden and though I was excited about it at first, that excitement quickly wore off after I found myself on the verge of smashing the controller on the floor. I can appreciate the game, and I can see why hardcore gamers would love it, but I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not really my kind of game. I’m sure I’ll revisit it from time to time and maybe I’ll have a change of heart, but right now there’s a ton of other games I’d rather be playing instead. — Sean

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