Final Chapter in the First Ninja Gaiden Saga
As much as I liked the current second saga, the first one came first for me I loved it then and still love it now, I'll miss Ninja Gaiden in the classic platform action format but after three volumes in the series it was probably more than enough and honestly I can't see where else this first saga can go.
Well if you played enough of the Ninja Gaiden games then you probably know what to expect, it's pritty much the same gameplay and format. And that part of what makes this sequel great in my book it goes with the old saying, "If it's not broke don't fix it." As usual the difficulty is hard and slightly increased due to the fact that you have limited continues. Though personally I didn't really find this game that hard in fact it was slightly toned down, due to the certain little things.
The fact that there are 1 ups which increase your chances of winning better, so there isn't much need for
unlimited continues. There are of course a couple new powers to keep things fresh, minus one which is the shadow replicants which I'm sad to say is gone but oh well you really don't need it in this game. There is the two way guitine and my personal favorate I like to call the "Strider" sword where you katanas stoping power is increased which is a great tool for offence and defense not to mention you can beat bosses a lot quicker with it so make sure to always get that weapon before the end of every level because things are a little harder without it. There is even a new feature where when you grip onto an overhead bar you can actually jump ontop of it, so that's cool.
Level design is very good as usual. But one of the other things I like about the game was it finally solved that contanuity problem that was common in the past games. Like when you retreat on the screan sometimes an enimy you killed eariler can reapear or when you fall on a safe area your clmbing and you don't see the ground your on eariler you die. They solved this contanutiy error by simply taking these two things away so when you retreat you won't have to worry about enimies sucker punching you, or even being relentless. And when you fall when your climing while around a save zone you'll be okay you won't worry about losing a life.
Thankfully also those damn birds are gone though you have those giant killer mutant aracnid like bees but their not that hard to hit so their a minor problem.
And the bosses are rather easy.
Despite the toned down difficuity all the same it's still hard so it will take some practice to beat one level at a time. In the further final level there a little harder because the checkpoints are moved further. But don't fret like in all hard games the princple is always "It's easy if you know how". I can actually get though most of this game without dieing or at least dieing much because I knew the right moments and times to hit as well as the patern and safe zones in them. And always in the end it's rewarding.
But as usual the strength was in the story line making all three games I've played feel like a movie trilogy I've just watched. Some fans didn't really like the fact that this sequel took a more sci-fi fantasy approach, the storyline in this one feels a little similar toward the manga/anime series "Guyver". But personally I'm glad it took this approach and it's actually a good thing, it was a common creative risk but it worked in my book. This kind of move I feel gives franshise the freedom to expand it's horizons broden the mythology as long as it fits well with the mythology it's derived from. It's a common thing with comic book series the superhero/es don't just fight one breed of supervillian and the plots aren't just in one field. I really liked the story it didn't disapoint me, nothing felt out of place at all, there was intrigue, twists and as usual I care for the characters Ryu and Irene due to the emotion both display.
Now I know what I'm about to say next is contriverical but out of all of the Ninja Gaiden games this game is my favorate in the series. I guess I just have a thing for conclusions and the conclusion in this game doesn't disapoint one of the great things about this franchise is that it always knows how to make an end.
So Ryu Hayaba from the first saga I'm going to miss you but you fought your final battle and won as well as saved the girl.