Hello everyone, hope you're all doing well and welcome to my Retro Review of Ninja Gaiden for the NES! Anyone who grew up in the late eighties, early nineties, probably has fond memories of playing the Nintendo Entertainment System. There were so many classic titles to choose from, but some of those were also notoriously difficult. I remember playing Ninja Gaiden with my brother when we were kids and we could never actually finish the game. When you get towards the end the levels become much tougher and we just couldn't do it. But we still had a great time playing and it was one of my favorite games on the system regardless. How does it hold up now all these years later? Let's begin and I'll tell you all about it.
Ninja Gaiden, or Shadow Warriors if you're in the PAL region, is a side-scrolling action-platforming game developed by Tecmo, released in 1989 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. You play as a ninja named Ryu Hayabusa partaking in a journey to save the world from evil. The story plays out in cut scenes between each level and opens with Ryu's father being cut down and killed in a sword duel. Ryu finds a letter telling him to go to America to find an archaeologist named Walter Smith. Before Ryu can locate him he is shot and captured by a mysterious woman who gives him a demonic statue, then let's him go.
When Ryu finally finds Walter he learns that this statue is very special and that his father actually died trying to protect it. There are two identical statues like this that represent Light and Shadow. If these two statues are brought back together they can summon the demon Jashin who will bring about the end of the world. Ryu's quest to avenge his father ends up turning into something far greater and now he sets out on a mission to try and track down the people who have the other statue. A lot more happens throughout the course of the game, but I won't spoil how it all works out.
The game is broken down into six "Acts", with a total of twenty separate levels. The goal is to make it through each level, taking out enemies as you go, without losing all of your life meter. If your life meter is depleted, you fall into a pit, or your timer runs out you lose a life. If you lose all your lives you will have to continue, which will start you over from the beginning of that level. The nice thing about Ninja Gaiden is that you get infinite continues, so you will never have to start over from the very beginning of the game. At the end of each Act you will not only have to get through the level, but you'll also have to try and take down a boss, making those areas extra challenging.
Playing as Ryu your main weapon is your ninja sword. It only has one main slash attack and very short range, so you'll have to get up close to your enemy. As a ninja you can somersault jump over enemy projectiles and up on various platforms, but you can also stick to vertical walls. This allows you to jump back and forth between vertical surfaces to reach much higher areas. You can also find a good amount of sub-weapons to help give you an edge in battle. Things like throwing stars, boomerang throwing stars, an hourglass that pauses time and a wheel of fire that spins around you protecting you from attacks. Sub-weapons can make all the difference sometimes in tricky situations.
The gameplay mechanics are fairly simple, just like most games from this period of time, but everything is executed so well and the controls are incredibly tight and responsive. This is the kind of game that sucks you in right from the start. It's very satisfying to play and at first it's not that difficult. Once you get going though and you beat a few bosses, suddenly the levels start to get chaotic. There are some really tough platforming sections and the enemies become overwhelming. It doesn't help that enemies respawn over and over again, making things even trickier to get through. With some practice it is possible to beat the game, but man does it get hard near the end.
There were a couple more things I wanted to touch on quickly. For one, this game came out in the age of amazing box art and I have always loved the ninja against the backdrop of a burning city on the cover of Ninja Gaiden. I wish games still had awesome box art like this, but I digress. The other thing I wanted to mention is the incredible soundtrack this game has. Each level has some of the best music tracks of any Nintendo game. This and Castlevania are two of my all time favorites for the console. Ninja Gaiden and Castlevania actually have a lot of similarities from the great music, the gameplay and even the HUDs are pretty much the same.
Ninja Gaiden was an important part of my gaming history. It introduced me to the more challenging side of things and really tested my skills. You could say it's almost the same way I feel about modern games like Dark Souls. Sometimes the most difficult titles end up being the most memorable and the most rewarding. There are some areas in this that are just a pain in the ass though, with respawning enemies, near impossible jumps and some bosses that can drive you crazy. But the controls are so tight and it just has this charm that makes you want to keep playing. The infinite continues and the incredible soundtrack certainly helps as well. This is a classic retro game that I would highly recommend to anyone who likes a challenge and I'm going to give Ninja Gaiden for the NES a grade of.................
B +
Thank you for reading my Retro Review of Ninja Gaiden, I hope you enjoyed it!
