Ninja Ryû Ken-den

It had me hooked the moment I saw the animated introduction at Sun Coast Videos back in the 80s...

...and it turned out to be a real pain in the butt didn't it? It was a seriously challenging game, but that was the 80s when you could make a game hard and frustrating and that only added to the charm, it only made you want to play it more.

It was challenging enough to be addictive and it looked cool enough to be a little boys fantasy game.

There are some good things to be said here. A few points in the game, you get the "ninja-y" feel flipping back and forth between pillars and walls. There's a sword and throwing stars, as well as a storyline to go with the boss fights.

Frustrations are many though, the first and foremost being the "sticking" to walls working off-and-on according to the player's intent, as well as partial or full platform jumping controls not landing reasonably well. There's an intentional delay for jumping, which can be gotten used to, but seems an unnecessary feature compared to responsiveness. Hit detection isn't great, you've gotta hit that sweet-spot and erratic enemies are just plain annoying at times. Boss fights a bit absurd for normal player requirements. With saves and cheats, it becomes a bit more interesting than grinding through the choke-points.

For a ninja, Ryu doesn't seem to be doing much sneaking and assassinating. There's no hand-to-hand martial arts, just sword slinging and 'magic' spamming. I realize this is a beloved classic, did enjoy the first level or two back in the day, but am glad to be through with it to satisfy what the full gameplay and story is like. I'll be filing it on the shelf and moving on to better games.

All that I feel like saying about this game is that it took me at least six months to beat the final boss...err should I see THREE final bosses in a row that were very difficult to defeat. What was really frustrating is that if you died trying to kill these beasts, you would have to go back and repeat the last three levels of the game you had already gone through. Those levels were also extremely hard and required nearly perfect gameplay with precise jumps, sword-slashing, and more jumps.

I was so happy and relieved when I finally beat that nearly impossible purple demon (which sadly threw me into more fits and bouts of depression then I ever experienced as a child up until that point) and it was so cool when I got to see that temple I was stuck in for months, at last fall to pieces!

The beautiful unfolding cinematic story also kept me riveted as well and I was more emotionally attached to this game than any other game at that time.

Ninja Gaiden is an overall great game but there is very frustrating parts in Ninja Gaiden that make you want to punch a hole through your TV. For some reason you have to hit some enemies just right with your sword or else they'll hit you. This happens especially with those annoying killer birds or whatever they are. Small seemingly non-threatening creatures are your worst enemy in Ninja Gaiden. Power-ups are useful but for some reason you never get the invincibility power-up when you really need it. And Let's face it, the final boss is near impossible. For one thing, the boss has about three forms(I think) and if you lose all your lives on the boss you'll have to restart the entire level! This only happens when your fighting a boss. If you lose all your lives in any other part of a level you'll be sent to the checkpoint in the level. It still doesn't make sense to me why they would do this. So in conclusion, if you can get past these problems Ninja Gaiden is a very enjoyable game. On the plus side the game has fantastic music, enjoyable fast paced action, and a storyline which most NES games don't have much of.

The original Ninja Gaiden was more of a arcade style beat em up. The one I am referring to, is the NES version. Should I play the other version I shall incorporate it into this review seeing as how one really cannot tell to which game people are referring to. They really need to make it so it can be specified for which platform a review is referring to, because back in the old days games released for different platforms were often totally different gaming experiences...unlike today where you basically get the same game released on multiple platforms.

The NES version of the game was a super fast paced game, that is incredibly difficult to play. You have to have quick reflexes and lots of patience as there are places in the game where enemies seem to respawn infinitely. Suffice to say, the game is not perfect, but it is a fun thrill ride of a game and is the first of a trilogy of NES games that are considered one of the hardest trilogies for the NES. It tops Castlevania, especially since Simon's quest was so easy.

The story has you as a ninja out to find out why his father was killed. During his trip of exploration, he stumbles upon a strange plot revolving around a group of people who wish to resurrect some sort of evil demon using statues of light and dark. It is up to Ken to survive the onslaught of enemies and destroy the organization responsible for the evil plan! The controls are simplistic enough as you control Ken's movements using the directional keys and attack with one button and jump with another. He also has the ability to cling to walls which is cool and at the same time a pain in the rear as this only served to make one of the battles at the end a complete and utter pain as I was having enormous difficulty getting the idiot to stop latching onto the wall when I was trying to hit the boss. You have sub weapons, like in Castlevania, and they are activated in about the same way, by pushing up and attack.

So, the NES version of Ninja Gaiden is a blast, but very difficult. The last level is a nightmare to get beyond and if you do...you have not one, not two, but three final bosses to fight. I have played a bit of the beat em up Ninja Gaiden game, but right now I have not played it enough to offer much of an opinion, other than it was difficult too. It was not very fun as I recall, but perhaps I will be able to play it at some point and be able to comment on it more fully. In the meantime, I can say the NES side scrolling, fast paced, challenging and annoying one is a blast...and a big pain!