In 1989, Tecmo released the seminal Ninja Gaiden, a side-scrolling platform game featuring the suave and stylish Ryu Hayabusa who sought revenge for his father's death. The game featured some great gameplay that had never been seen in a game on the NES before. The game's success spawned two sequels and even garnered a full blown strategy guide from Nintendo Power. After the NES faded away, so did our friend Ryu. Rumors swirled about a Ninja Gaiden title for the SNES and in 1995 we got the Ninja Gaiden Trilogy, which was a 
collection of the three NES games with little or no improvements in graphical quality. It seemed at this point the Ninja Gaiden franchise had its swan song. Ryu was only a memory until the release of Dead or Alive in 1998 where Ryu made his next-gen debut. Gamers knew Ryu was due for a comeback. After a couple of years in development, Team Ninja has brought us Ninja Gaiden; which is coined as a retelling of the original story – if it were in an alternate universe.
You are once again Ryu Hayabusa, a Ninja hailing from the Hayabusa village somewhere in Asia . Out of nowhere, his village is attacked and the Dark Dragon blade, a sword of unspeakable evil, is taken from the village and all of its guards are slain. Ryu sets out to the Vigoor empire to find the thief who took the blade and destroyed his village.
The setting of the game is far from the “Ninja in New York ” setting of the original games. This new world is a mixture of fantasy and reality where airships fly through the sky and warriors hunt mutated beings known as fiends. Along the way Ryu will fight commandoes, zombies, and other mutated beings which isn't too far from the outlandish boxers and birds from the original games.
One thing that has to be mentioned is that the controls in the game are great. Ryu responds quickly to every 
command that's given, and with style to top it off. Ryu is capable of running along walls while jumping to gain more height and has a host of triangle jumps off of walls into seemingly unreachable areas.
As you go through the game, you'll pick up “essence” from slain enemies. Yellow essence counts as money to buy healing potions or weapon upgraded. Blue essence restores health, and red essence powers up Ryu's Ninpo, or the Ninja Magic that old school fans of the series know so well.
Of course, fancy acrobatics aren't the only thing Ryu has at his disposal. Ryu is a master of combat as well. In addition to some basic three and four hit combos, Ryu can learn new combos and techniques as he gains new weapons, finds technique scrolls, or upgrades his weaponry. Ryu seems to have an attack for any situation like running slashes, jumping attacks that launch enemies into the air and allow them to be juggled, and in a nostalgic touch, Ryu even has the over-the-head-flip slam move from the original arcade beat-em-up. Each attack sheds tons of blood and that satisfying anime “sword slashing flesh” sound. The aforementioned Ninpo allows Ryu to be surrounded by a wall of flames or shoot ice blasts. He also has a steady supply of shurikens including the old windmill shuriken form the original NES games. Ryu can also unleash ultimate techniques with the essence he picks up from fallen enemies. Needless to say, Ryu is nothing more then a walking one-man army.
The enemies in the game are nothing to scoff at, though. You won't find any one-hit kills here, aside from the bats you encounter, which seem to be nothing but floating essence containers. You'll definitely have to be on your guard through every battle and use a combination of blocking, regular combos, along with special and ultimate techniques as you'll have to fight combinations of enemies with melee weapons as well as ranged. The environments in the game can also be pretty unforgiving. Staying with the old school formula, you can only save
a certain points in the game's expansive levels. You'll often find yourself playing through portions of a level time and time again to get to the next check point. In other words, prepare to die often and go through that half hour of gameplay again.
One bad thing about Ninja Gaiden's gameplay is the camera. You'll commonly find yourself trying to make some hard jumps while fighting the game's camera. You might also want to be prepared to make some blind jumps and ambushes, as the camera tends to swing around to your front from the platform or hallway you're trying to run or jump into. You can't really see what's coming up ahead without having to stop and adjust the camera. Get ready for a lesson in frustration.
Speaking of environments, Ryu will be going through a large variety of them. He'll find himself in his burning village, Asian-styled buildings, an airship, and some underground caverns just to name a few. Each environment shows of stunning detail worthy of a game that's been in development this long. You'll also be treated to some great CG sequences 
in between levels. The in game engine looks just about as good as far as detail goes and allows a lot of action to go on at once at a steady frame rate. The icing on the cake are the boss battles. You'll find yourself fighting huge and creative looking bosses through the game including giant blobs with tentacles and a dinosaur skeleton that takes up an entire underground cavern. The game really takes advantage of the powerful Xbox hardware it's been given.
There's nothing but good to say about the sound as well. You'll be met with the satisfying slashes from Ryu's weapon as well as his enemies. The voices in the game are also well done, though you'll also have very limited sayings from enemy guards and the like. The game's music isn't obtrusive at all and really sets the mood.
Who said that remakes are a bad idea? Furthermore, who said games are getting too easy this day in age? You'll
be pleased to find that Ninja Gaiden breaks the mold on both counts. It's definitely a game that depends on skill, which has become something of a rarity this day in age. Ninja Gaiden is a satisfying experience for fans of the series and newcomers alike. The game oozes a visual style, game world, and cinematic feel that other games can only wish to have. Add to this the three unlockable NES games, and you've got something for everyone.
Final Word
It was an autumn day in 1989. I was ten years old and on the last level of Ninja Gaiden for the NES. I was on my 50 th try on some impossible jump, and I had met failure again. I threw down my controller and tears poured from my eyes. I had been playing this game for hours to get to this point and all that's between me and Jaquio is this one impossible jump. I started screaming curses at the game, because once it was off, I had to start all over again. Fast forward to a Spring day in 2004. My 50 th attempt to cross a small platform with swinging maces was met with failure. I threw down the controller cursing the game. Then tears started streaming from my eyes. Ok, I made that last part up. Regardless, Ninja Gaiden was the only game that ever made me cry out of frustration. Needless to say, it was quite nostalgic meeting that cruel old mistress again. I can honestly say that Team Ninja gave the remake the same old feeling as the original game and with the challenge to boot. The unlockable NES games only add to the experience. Here's to another great remake and let's hope Capcom can take a lesson from this and bring us a 3D version of Stider!
- Brad Hicks (aka Dr. Swank), SwankWorld Media
