Ninja Gaiden

Written by Tim Stevens  on March 08, 2004

Review: More fun than a Shuriken to the back... most of the time.

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It's shaping up to be an absolutely banner year for the Xbox. With a slew of eagerly anticipated games on the release charts, it's a great time to not be an MS hater. The first of those big games to hit this year is Tecmo's update to their classic series Ninja Gaiden. This is the game that would-be retro gamers have been saving their pennies for, and, after more than a few delays, it's out. And it's good, no mistaking that, but it's far from flawless, and for many gamers the flaws will kill what can be an amazing gaming experience.

In Ninja Gaiden you control Ryu Hayabusa, the star of the original Ninja Gaiden games but known by modern gamers more for his appearances in the various Dead or Alive iterations. Ryu's town is attacked and the mysterious and incredibly powerful Dark Dragon Blade has been stolen. Of course, it's up to you and Ryu to go get it back. Ryu is a master ninja, and so is skilled with a variety of weapons. You start off with just his trademark Dragon Sword, which can be upgraded through the game, but you will also find other weapons like nunchuckau, hammers, and more swords. Ryu can also use throwing knives of various types, and has a handy bow he can fire from a first-person perspective. On top of that, he can learn a number of mystical elemental attacks called Ninpo. When these techniques are learned and equipped, Ryu will be able to throw fireballs, freeze opponents, and even zap them with electricity. Yes, he's a talented one that Ryu.

Controlling Ryu is, for the most part, a simple task. The analog stick moves him in relation to the camera, similar to movement in games like Devil May Cry (which this game has very definitely been influenced by), and the four main buttons on the controller perform quick attacks, strong attacks, ranged attacks, and jumps. It's through combinations of these that you can perform a number of brutal combo attacks. Many require long sequences of button-presses, but there are enough simple ones that button-mashers will be able to make Ryu do some cool looking stuff. But, despite the seeming simplicity of the controls, things can get very complicated. To be successful in combat, you must not only have strong attacks, but also be skilled at blocking, counter attacks, and jumping off of walls to perform aerial attacks. Once you grasp Ryu's full abilities and get the hang of effectively dealing with four or five opponents simultaneously, the game begins to get fun. But really getting a solid grip on combat takes a long, long time, and while you're learning you'll be getting your ninja ass handed to you repeatedly by fairly mild opponents. When you figure it all out you'll be jumping around rooms and pulling off amazing maneuvers effortlessly, but for most getting to this point requires a huge amount of patience and resilience, much more than your average gamer has in stock.

Unfortunately, the game's very limited tutorial teaches you nothing about combat, and there's no practice mode to work on your moves. So the only way to learn is to slog through the game and practice along the way, restarting dozens of times as you die again and again. Further raising the already astronomically high frustration factor is a camera system that will drive even the most ardent Gaiden fans crazy. In many boss battles you'll be facing enemies that move quickly around large areas, and unfortunately the camera almost always has you looking the wrong way. Either the boss is off-screen and you've got a lovely view of Ryu, or Ryu himself will often be completely out of sight, leaving you to guess just whether you'll be able to clear the boss' next attack. Rarely are you given a perfect view of things. Yes, you can re-center the camera with a quick tug on the R trigger, but since you're generally never facing the same direction for more than a second or two while in battle, this doesn't do much good, as the camera stays stuck in whatever direction you pointed it. What's needed is either a much smarter automatic camera that actually tracks opponents, or solid manual controls ala Splinter cell.

Get around the camera frustration, and many of the boss battles can be quite fun. They're reminiscent of the massive bosses of the old-school side-scrolling brawler games, but without the glaringly obvious patterns and weak-spots. Actually, do well enough in this game and you'll get to unlock the SNES remakes of the original 3 NES Ninja Gaiden games. But, unfortunately, unlocking all three will be impossible for most gamers out there, and unlocking even the first will take a good long while. When you can get the camera pointed in the right direction what you'll see will probably look amazing. This is about the best looking action/adventure game we've ever seen (and yes, there is plenty of puzzle solving and item fetching to make this a bonafide adventure title). Character models are amazingly detailed and textured, and things look even better in the numerous CG cut-scenes, which feature some of the most impressive fabric textures we've seen in a video game. But, if there's a flaw here, it's that things look TOO good. All the people appear to be made out of plastic, and all the environments have a sort of clean and bright look to them. Stunning graphics yes, but not exactly realistic.