Designed to kill you. Literally.
Ninja Gaiden is essentially a reboot of the series featured on the NES, disestablishing the prior continuity in favor of a new journey starring series protagonist Ryu Hayabusa, who is perhaps the greatest fictional ninja of all time (take that Naruto fans, BELIEVE IT!). The story takes off after Ryu returns to his village after a training mission, to find his village burned to the ground, and his clan completely slaughtered. He swears an oath of vengeance and upon receiving a lead that the perpetrators of the attack are in league with the empire of Vigoor, Ryu sets out to destroy his enemies and avenge the death of his clan. Most action games are not known for having great stories, but Ryu's tale of vengeance is actually solid, with well directed cutscenes, good dialogue, and serviceable voice acting. It's not fantastic (Some elements are just flat out preposterous, such as a boss fight with a Dinosaur skeleton), but Ryu's motives are always intriguing and you always want to know where the game is going to take you next.
The game is also furthered by its amazing presentation. Ninja Gaiden is a graphical powerhouse. Everything in this game is absolutely gorgeous, from the vast, open stages to the enemy design and even particle effects look absolutely fantastic. The in game engine is the star of the show, delivering realistic character models and environments with graphic novel like action, combined with extremely detailed character animation, which makes the combat look fantastic and awe-inspiring. However despite being unrealistic, the visual style prevents from looking too over the top to the point of being cheesy like other action games such as Devil May Cry. The game could have used this engine for the entire game, but the real breath taker is the amazing CG cutscenes which use a completely different graphical engine. The detail in these sequences is stunning, and the transition is seamless. Ninja Gaiden is without a doubt one of the best looking games of the previous console generation.
Sound wise, the game succeeds as well. There aren't many memorable sound effects, but the background music is fitting and the voice acting is solid. There simply just isn't enough to say about this game as far as the audio is concerned. All of the sound in this game is exceptionally implemented, but don't go in looking for some kind of memorable soundtrack.
At days end though, the true strength in a game is in the gameplay, and that's where Ninja Gaiden delivers. Only one word can be used to describe the sense of control Ninja Gaiden gives the players, and that word is polish. Team Ninja has refined the controls of this game to a level practically unseen or unheard of in any other game. Actions are well mapped to the buttons, and once you learn how to use combos against the enemy, you will really feel like a ninja. Even though this is the best action game I have ever played, there are still a few minor issues that should be addressed, mainly the lack of a manual rotating camera. In most action games the analogue stick not used for movement, is used for full camera control. In Ninja Gaiden however, the camera takes you to a first person camera view, and the camera must be centered with the right trigger. The camera stays tame enough to pull this control style off well, but once you start fighting in close quarters, proper camera control is a must, something that the game lacks. But even this flaw isn't crippling to the game's overall quality. Please be advised though, that Ninja Gaiden is no, questions asked, one of the hardest games in existence. It is by no means for casual gamers. This one is strictly for the hardcore and that level of sheer difficulty is what grabs the spotlight of the entire game. With nearly every game mechanic working with the player for success, the only thing this game demands is skill and patience, and believe me when I say that if you play this game, you will die often. This has got to be one of the most demanding games in existence, but for all of its demand, the sense of satisfaction you get when you actually succeed is one of the most rewarding feelings in gaming.
With all of that said and done, Ninja Gaiden is an absolute must have for die hard action fans. Until God of War was released, this game was the apogee of the action genre of video games. Despite this, Ninja Gaiden is one of the most gracefully aged games of all time. From start to finish, it captivates the players and gives an experience that all gamers should be required to play.