User Rating: 9.2 | Ninja Gaiden XBOX
Ninja Gaiden is a love/hate experience with a broken record of reviews repeating the same things over and over. I don’t really like pure action games, and have grown comfortable with games I can beat without too much effort. So I guess I should hate this game, but I don’t, and for once I actually like the fact that I have to simply learn to play better. Since everyone knows some of Ninja Gaiden’s flaws by now, I must say that I agree to the fact that they could have been better, but they don’t ruin the game, and sure didn’t stop me from advancing any further. Gamers who frustrate easily will be quick to write a low-scoring review to express how they feel, but this does not reflect the quality of the game. I can guarantee that if you feel that certain parts of the game are unfair and too hard, there is someone who could show you how to surpass it with ease. The best parts are the ones that seem impossible at first, and then later seem easy when you’ve figured out how to be more efficient. A lot of passion and talent went into the creation of Ninja Gaiden and it shows. In a rare occurrence with video games, Ninja Gaiden manages to surpass the games from which it draws inspiration from, and sets itself as a benchmark that other games in the genre will be measured to. The combat is done so well, with a large assortment of attacks and unpredictable enemy A.I., that every battle is intense. I believe this to be what sets Ninja Gaiden apart from most other action games. Great graphics are always a plus, but they always wear off, and it’s the underlying game that counts. In this case, Ninja Gaiden manages to pull off a perfect blend of both, easily making it a definitive game for the Xbox console. If you grew up playing challenging games like The Legend of Kage (NES) and well as the original Ninja Gaiden games, you’ll probably have a lot of respect for what Team Ninja did with NG. If you grew up in easy mode, pausing and saving after killing one enemy at a time, this game will probably be a turn off. Every Xbox owner owes it to themselves to at least give this game a try. When I turn off the Xbox after playing NG, I realize that this is one of a handful of games over the years that have truly impressed me, and it reminds me why I still play video games into my adulthood.
