There was a day a couple months ago when I knew something different was going on the world of Xbox. I knew this because when I got up in the morning I could smell the stink of thousands of Halo fanboy’s crapping in their pants. Why this day? Why were they all so scared? And then it hit me. Ninja Gaiden had just come out and totally blown all their fanboy minds. The Xbox Community asked for a Halo killer and Team Ninja Delivered.


Graphics: NVIDIA/ATI who? That is the question you will be asking after seeing the amazing graphics in this game. Simply put these are the best textures and pixels to ever grace a console. They rival the top of the line graphics we are seeing in games like Far Cry and Painkiller. The best part about Ninja Gaiden is that not every level blows you away. Simple city streets are kept that way, simple. But when a 3 story Demon rises up out of the gound to take your head off you will be in awe of just how awesome it looks. And just wait till the last level when you get to the Tower of XXXX. You will be amazed by the eyeball room and the what I can only call, the fetus room. The graphics are simply off the hook. And that is not even considering the CGI movies, which are better than anything I have seen on the big screen when it comes to CGI.

Verdict: 10/10

Controls/Game play: When I played the Demo I was really worried about the way the camera interfaced with Ryu, but once I sat down and played the game I was completely at ease. The camera is very easy to pan about and also adjust itself great. There was probably only 3 times in 20 hours plus of game time that I had any problems with the camera.
The buttons are nicely laid out. All your jumps and attacks are really at your fingertips.
To go along with this, this game is really all about combos and stringing together multiple hits to really annihilate your enemies. But don’t think for a second this is a simple button masher. If you can’t pull off some of the advanced moves like XXXX, and XXXXX, you really aren’t going to make it very far. I should of talked about this in the Graphics part, but the spells that you pull off in this game are amazing looking, and quite easy to do. My favorite is the XXXX. This is where bolts of electricity fill Ryu and then burst out of him destroying his enemies.
The only downside of game play is some of the levels are highly frustrating, they either have swarms of enemies heading your way or on the last level a lame timed escape from
a cavern or you will plummet to your doom. Another gripe I had towards the end of the game was the “ghost fish” that swarm 10 at time and suck the life out of you. However there are easy ways around them. I have heard some people complain that the bosses are too hard. Well that is true but that is what makes them awesome. Don’t you remember the classic boss battles from Contra, Castlevania and MegaMan. Today’s video games have bosses that are too easy. So Team Ninja went old school and brought back the classic boss battles from the late 80’s and early 90’s. And I for one am glad they did!

Verdict: 9/10


The Story

Well I will be honest with you. I wasn’t quite sure what was going on the whole time. The gist of what I got was that Ryu was part of a Ninja Clan that had kept and defended the Dark Dragon Blade for 1,000 of years and then one day it was stolen by the Demon Doku, who wanted to bring to the Vigooran Emperor. The whole subplot involving the Demon Slayer and her sister were a little confusing to me. And what exactly is a Fiend and what exactly is there role in the Ninja Gaiden story? Other things that confused me is did Ryu die after act one? If so, who resurrected him? Also what time period did this take place in? Sometimes the only weapons would be from feudal Japan and other you would see full loaded shock-troopers with nigh vision goggles? Oh wait it’s just a videogame I think I am asking too many questions. However I did appreciate the surprise ending. Play the game and let me know if you saw that one coming or not….

Verdict :: 8/10

Overall Verdict:: 9/10

Overall I would say that Prince of Persia was my Game of the Year for 2003 and so far Ninja Gaiden is my Game of the Year for 2004. A absolute blast to play and return to old school boss battles makes this a winner for me. Last of all let me say that I am not a Ninja Gaiden fanboy. Just because I like to go around telling people that the correct pronunciation of Ryu is Ree-U not the American pronunciation of Riii-u that doesn’t make me a fanboy I swear! Anyway….go out and pick this game up today if you haven’t already………and try no to flame me too much

I agree totally, Gaiden is one of the best games ive ever played, well up there with Goldeneye, MOH frontline and the syphon filter games.
The cutscenes are astonishing (especially the Alma mark 2 confrontation)
Graphics, sound etc cannot be bettered. People gripe about the camera but i didnt find it a problem at all.. after you have played the resi evil games you kind of get used to bad angles.
The main reason why this game is great is cos its Hard and the boss battles are hard, pure old school like the contra, Ghouls and Ghosts genres.

Easily the best game ive played on xbox, on chapter 15 now and cant wait to unlock the secret nes ninja gaidens.

you could just emulate the games On your xbox

yeh suppose i could emulate the games, still ive completed the game last night, i need to find 10 scarabs ive missed.
Keep forgetting about emulation, used to have em all on my pc.

Whats the best NES emulator for the xbox.

I'd have to agree about the quality of this game. It's the best game I've played on my xbox. It's the only game on that machine I've picked up and played immediately after finishing it the first time. Since buying it, nothing else has really been able to hold my interest. It's kinda ruined my gaming, because nothing else compares to it.

Definatley not a Halo killer bud. Yep one of the greatest games, but not really going to offer half the reply value of Halo.

Yeh a deffo Halo killer!

There hasnt been a really good FPS game since halflife in my opinion.
Still im the kinda gamer that likes the total control you get with keyboard and mouse via pc. FPS on gamepads whether it be PS2, xbox etc are crap and dont feel right. Only Goldeneye managed to pull it off.

You can run on the walls and slice up your enemies.. It is definately designed with only real gamers in mind, but anyone can enjoy it. I usually sit and watch far better players than myself. One thing I still can't believe is that the 1st boss was actually a friend engaging in a friendly sparring match..

i thought it was a kickass fighting game with all of those kickass moves
but i thought it was on the really hard side especially the bosses

Mr.Blonde eh, sounds like a guy I played halo with on xlink, there was Mr.Blonde Mr.Blue Mr.Brown and all that shit, i 4got wut name they played on, is that by chance you? Or just Some impersonator



King

No idea m8. As far as I know I am the only Mr Blonde in my circles.

mr blonde/blue/pink/brown, etc... its all from "resevoir dogs"... a tarantino movie... nothing unique.

anyways, i'll agree on the gameplay, but the camera sits at a 4/10. who makes a 3rd person game these days and doesnt let you control the camera?

also, sometimes, depending on the level i am playing, it takes FOREVER to load up... sometimes going thru the storyline notes 1.5 times thru. usually this is before a large boss.

btw- do you really think contra is that hard? ive beaten it without dying a single time.

sounds pretty good may hav to get it from somewhere

Ive only had Ninja Gaiden a few days but i love it already!, Halo never really did appeal to me atall so im probably in the minority there but this game is awesome and the graphics, especially the cuts scenes are great.

Yea the storyline is a little confusing, especially when Ryu dies, then hes stood in the Dojo thenext minute.

Nice game

A totally sweet game. The graphics in this game blew me away, the first time I saw the high-detailed bosses, I was frothing from the mouth. And finally some developer has made the bosses in a game difficult, brings back the old days when 16-bit games were enjoyably difficult.

i like ninja gaiden a lot because although being hard, theres never a time in the game where i feel that it is impossible to beat, It is definately following old school tradition at being extremely hard at times.

i havent played ninja gaiden on xbox yet but does it relate to the others on sega at all?

Incredible game. Stunning to look at, fantastic fighting system and a feeling that I am really "earning" my way through it.

Right now the 3rd boss is kicking my ass though.

This game is absolutley awesome!! Everything about it is wicked... The only down point is the loading time.... Its the longest in any game I have seen.... Still its worth the wait HEHEHE!!!

10 out of 10!

They know me as McGriddle

I waited and waited for this day to come for years and years. As child i was a huge ninja gaiden fan on the nes. Huge fan prolly my best nes memories. If you wernt i dont think you can appreciate this in the same way as i do. This is 10 out of 10 for me guys donte hate. I loved everything about this game besides the new costume. They should have stuck with the original. I hope u enjoy it as much as I did.

i have this game and it is truly awesome. Im not exactly a graphics person.example i think the graphics on the original mario are good you no the one for gameboy so when i got this i was truly blown away.

i think ninja gaidens overall feel is pretty good... the game is a pretty good game although definately not easy... as i consider this game definately on the harder bunch of games to beat.