This week I have decided to challenge myself and review Ninja Gaiden. This game has made me feel like I've truly proven myself as a gamer. This game is hard, well not just hard, ridiculously hard. But for some reason I'm a sucker for punishment and this game definitely deals it out. The nice thing is you will definitely feel rewarded when you get through parts of the game.
When you first start the game you will be treated to an awesome in game movie/cinematic. This movie is one of the most amazing things I remember seeing in a NES game. You see 2 ninjas facing off in a field at night time, the one is defeated and you are introduced to his son Ryu Hayabusa. Ryu has no idea what his father Ken was doing when he was killed, but he discovers a note his dad left behind telling him to go to America to meet up with Dr. Smith who is an archaelogist. He learns of two statues that his father and the doctor had hidden as they have the power to end the world as they know it. So when Jacquio the leader of a cult steals the one statue it's up to Ryu to carry on the Hayabusa name and protect the world.
GRAPHICS 9.5/10 The graphics in the game are some of the best on the NES. According to G4 (when it was a thing :p ) it is also the first game to have cinematic cutscenes, which really gives it a movie like feel. The story is suspenseful and leaves you wanting to know more of what happens to Ryu and what his father was up to before. There is a huge variety of different enemies that will attack you ranging from other ninjas, huge guys, nuns and animals too which unfortunately includes the evil birds. I think they are easily some of the most evil enemies ever. Along with a variety of animals, there is a variety of levels too. You start off in a city, then move to a mountain like stage with platforms and pits, by a lake, in a jungle and even on a building.
SOUND 9/10 The soundtrack in this game is simply awesome. I enjoy the soundtrack so much I have it on my MP3 player so I can listen to it whenever I want. Each stage has it's own music, and all the movie cinematic scenes have the same song tying it all in together to make it all feel interconnected. The sound effects are pretty crisp and it's really cool to be able to hear the ninjas running through the field before their battle in the beginning.
GAMEPLAY 7.5/10 The controls are tight and responsive but there are a few things I really dislike. I hate how if Ryu gets hit by an enemy he flies backwards. This is especially frustrating on a little ledge and you get hit by a bird you will fly backwards and into a hole. I also hate how you kill an enemy and it will continue to respawn until you get past it. It may be worth your while if you find this game too difficult to pick up the Famicom version if you can as it is easier than the version that was released on the North American NES. There's a huge variety of Ninpo attacks you can collect and use, but you have to be sure to keep collecting the power ups as you will run out fast if you keep using the attacks. It will take a lot of trial and error to figure out what ninpo works best for each situation, but it's cool you have something to supplement your sword attack. A lot of your success in the game will rely on your ability to memorize what will come next, so this means you will die...a lot. Once you memorize what exactly what will happen, where the enemies are etc. you will know how to avoid the hazards. I just wish the North American version had a choice of difficulty or at least a password system so you can continue where you left off.
REPLAY 8/10 I found myself constantly coming back to this game just so I could beat it, though once I did since it was such a hard and draining experience I haven't gone back to it. Though I have played the Famicom version of the game since it was a bit easier, and I can definitely see me going back to that version before I would the NES one, particularily because of the feature in the Japanese version to continue with a password.
......BOTTOM LINE 8.5/10
The way that this story is told it makes you wanting more. At any point in the game you only know as much as Ryu does as everything is revealed to you as he finds out. With the beautiful looking cutscenes, you will keep coming back just to see if you can learn a little more of the story. I guarantee you it will be a very frustrating game, but the sense of accomplishment you get when you complete an area you couldn't get through before is huge. Though make sure you are willing to leave your Nintendo on over a few nights as there is no save or password feature so if you wanna continue where you left off you will have to leave it on. It took many attempts over 2 years to finally complete it, but once I did I finally feel like I've proven my worth as a gamer as it is definitely one of the most difficult and frustrating moments of my life, though frustrating in a good way...
Though I will warn you if you are the type to throw your controllers when you get frustrated this may not be the game for you, but if you want a game that will challenge your skill as a gamer this is definitely for you. Anyone who can get through this has definitely earned bragging rights! If you are lucky enough to find this game on the Ninja Gaiden Collection for the SNES they do have a saving feature, or if you can get it onto your SNES Classic you can use the save state feature so you won't have to worry about starting over constantly!
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