I was a huge fan of the Ninja Gaiden series way back when it was first available on the NES. I loved the idea of a ninja in modern times, and the fact that I was young and ninjas were, as far as I was concerned, made of awesome made the series easily likable.
For the uninitiated, Ninja Gaiden is a series of games about a modern day ninja, Ryu Hayabusa, who is descendant from an ancient dragon. He is usually on a quest of vengeance or a hunt for evil using the legendary Dragon sword, the most powerful sword in the world and only useable by the Hayabusa clan.
Ryu does everything that modern day ninja do everyday, run along walls, block and dodge bullets, move faster then eyes can track, all the while looking like a complete Bad Ass.
Needless to say I was excited when I heard of the next gen release of Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox, and quickly picked it up. Though it was faster paced then I was used to, (and the game insults you by unlocking a piss easy mode if you die 5 times) the game was generally good. So having been vindicated by the Xbox release I didn't temper my excitement when Ninja Gaiden 2 was released.
One of these days I'll learn.
Lets get the good over with first, as this game is by no mean bad. It merely has a few issues that make my eye twitch to such a severity that I could crack a walnut with my eyelids. But ore on that Later.
First of all, the graphics, as should be expected by now, are fluid and crisp. Especially hen it comes to the blood effects. The sheer viciousness you demonstrate as you carve up your enemies like thanksgiving turkeys releases showers of blood that realistically coat the floors, the walls and even your weapons.
The combat is very visceral and extremely fast paced, though it remains simple button mashing. You basically use X and Y to perform your attacks, and which combos you do are merely dependant on how many times you push X or Y, so combat is much simpler then it appears. You have a block button but if you use it too much enemies start performing combos that break your block and give them two or three free attacks against you so you basically have to learn each move to know which can be blocked. Still, despite the rather boring pad stamp that is the fighting system, because it is so visually appealing to watch Ryu do what you are apparently telling him to do takes your mind right off it.
Now the bad news. Apparently team ninja thought they were insulting their players too much with the easy mode last time, so they removed it. Fine. The problem, they don't seem to have any concept of a difficulty curve. They just have 2 concepts. Simple and ball breaking hard. The healing items are both rare and you are limited in your carrying capacity, the enemies do high amounts of damage, and if you aren't paying attention wounded enemies will stab you and explode causing extreme damage if not death. While the enemies have block breakig moves, you do not so you also have to wait until they let you hit them, the nice guys that they are.
The bossess are the most difficult, many having moves that are not only unblockable but restain you so you cannot use healing items. If you are weak enough this will kill you. Most bosses also have patterns that require the accuracy of a surgeon to master. The first boss has 3 moves you cant block and 1 you cant dodge or block, and it takes him only 4 or 5 hits to kill you. The FIRST BOSS! There is one boss in the game that is basically a combination between Godzilla, an armadillo, and Mount St.Helen's. It blows out fire from many orifices, it can coat half of the field with flames, and it rolls up into a ball and charges at you. Okay fine, I've dealt with hard bosses before. However I forgot team ninja made this game. When the boss rolls at you, he stops when he hits a mountain side, but he will randomly about face and run right at you again. and again. and again. Each time he redirects he cuts a closer arc to you and tracks you better. After the second time it is virtually impossible to avoid him. I even checked out online guides and the best advice they give is "run and dodge till you can hit him".
The game feels like the developers are trying their best to pick on the casual gamer like a bully running after a wheezing fat kid on a playground. I considered that that may have been their intention but I recalled that any game designer that targets an elite sect of the gaming industry is stuck so far up his own ass he can lick his throat clean.
Honestly I enjoyed Ninja gaiden, its a fun way to release your inner demented psychopath, and with the difficulty of the game is a great way to bring your inner psychopath out, so the game gets my vote for being team ninjas latest attempt to train its own elite army of frustrated frantic fast fingered fighters.
For the uninitiated, Ninja Gaiden is a series of games about a modern day ninja, Ryu Hayabusa, who is descendant from an ancient dragon. He is usually on a quest of vengeance or a hunt for evil using the legendary Dragon sword, the most powerful sword in the world and only useable by the Hayabusa clan.
Ryu does everything that modern day ninja do everyday, run along walls, block and dodge bullets, move faster then eyes can track, all the while looking like a complete Bad Ass.
Needless to say I was excited when I heard of the next gen release of Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox, and quickly picked it up. Though it was faster paced then I was used to, (and the game insults you by unlocking a piss easy mode if you die 5 times) the game was generally good. So having been vindicated by the Xbox release I didn't temper my excitement when Ninja Gaiden 2 was released.
One of these days I'll learn.
Lets get the good over with first, as this game is by no mean bad. It merely has a few issues that make my eye twitch to such a severity that I could crack a walnut with my eyelids. But ore on that Later.
First of all, the graphics, as should be expected by now, are fluid and crisp. Especially hen it comes to the blood effects. The sheer viciousness you demonstrate as you carve up your enemies like thanksgiving turkeys releases showers of blood that realistically coat the floors, the walls and even your weapons.
The combat is very visceral and extremely fast paced, though it remains simple button mashing. You basically use X and Y to perform your attacks, and which combos you do are merely dependant on how many times you push X or Y, so combat is much simpler then it appears. You have a block button but if you use it too much enemies start performing combos that break your block and give them two or three free attacks against you so you basically have to learn each move to know which can be blocked. Still, despite the rather boring pad stamp that is the fighting system, because it is so visually appealing to watch Ryu do what you are apparently telling him to do takes your mind right off it.
Now the bad news. Apparently team ninja thought they were insulting their players too much with the easy mode last time, so they removed it. Fine. The problem, they don't seem to have any concept of a difficulty curve. They just have 2 concepts. Simple and ball breaking hard. The healing items are both rare and you are limited in your carrying capacity, the enemies do high amounts of damage, and if you aren't paying attention wounded enemies will stab you and explode causing extreme damage if not death. While the enemies have block breakig moves, you do not so you also have to wait until they let you hit them, the nice guys that they are.
The bossess are the most difficult, many having moves that are not only unblockable but restain you so you cannot use healing items. If you are weak enough this will kill you. Most bosses also have patterns that require the accuracy of a surgeon to master. The first boss has 3 moves you cant block and 1 you cant dodge or block, and it takes him only 4 or 5 hits to kill you. The FIRST BOSS! There is one boss in the game that is basically a combination between Godzilla, an armadillo, and Mount St.Helen's. It blows out fire from many orifices, it can coat half of the field with flames, and it rolls up into a ball and charges at you. Okay fine, I've dealt with hard bosses before. However I forgot team ninja made this game. When the boss rolls at you, he stops when he hits a mountain side, but he will randomly about face and run right at you again. and again. and again. Each time he redirects he cuts a closer arc to you and tracks you better. After the second time it is virtually impossible to avoid him. I even checked out online guides and the best advice they give is "run and dodge till you can hit him".
The game feels like the developers are trying their best to pick on the casual gamer like a bully running after a wheezing fat kid on a playground. I considered that that may have been their intention but I recalled that any game designer that targets an elite sect of the gaming industry is stuck so far up his own ass he can lick his throat clean.
Honestly I enjoyed Ninja gaiden, its a fun way to release your inner demented psychopath, and with the difficulty of the game is a great way to bring your inner psychopath out, so the game gets my vote for being team ninjas latest attempt to train its own elite army of frustrated frantic fast fingered fighters.
