STORYLINE 5/5

 

You are the ninja dragon, Ryu Hayabusa, who has just heard about the death of his father, Ken Hayabusa. You are told in his last letter that you must leave for America to find his friend and colleague, Walter Smith. Little does Ryu know that he will be caught in a most dangerous adventure involving the safety of Earth itself! Ryu must entrust his power upon his father's Dragon Sword and defeat the evil that he encounters.

 

 

GRAPHICS 5/5

 

 

AUDIO 5/5

 

All the tunes match each level almost too well. The temple level has a nice mysterious tone to it, the cabin/forest level has a rushing mood, which fits because you are chasing a ninja who just stole the demon statue. My favorite track has to be when you face your father after just learning that he is the Masked Devil. In the cut scene, Ryu wonders what is controlling his father and he gets a glimpse of this demon-power supply thing. Anyways, as soon as Ryu sees it, it fades to the battle and you have this cool song that was played earlier when Dr. Walter Smith was killed. Brilliant.

 

As for the sound effects, they rock -- for simple stuff like Ryu jumping, a shuriken being tossed, or Ryu getting hurt. They're all appropriate and none too out of place.

 

 

GAMEPLAY 5/5

 

You travel through stages with sub-levels in them (like Super Mario Bros.) and after each stage you fight a boss. In between stage completion, there are cut-scenes which build the plot in the game, sort of like a movie would (making the game kind of ahead of its time, huh?). If you notice the layout of Ryu's life, it has similarities to Castlevania games: 16 life blocks, a boss life bar, score, timer, magic meter...I'm wondering if Konami noticed this?

 

SHURIKEN:  

The most basic of ninja weapons, it is thrown straight forward and attacks only one enemy. Although it is the weakest of all the weapons Ryu has available to him, it is indispensable in some areas.

 

WINDMILL SHURIKEN:  

A more powerful version of the shuriken, imbued with the spirit energy of the thrower. After being thrown, it returns to its owner like a boomerang, and hones in until caught. If Ryu dodges the star on its return flight, it can do severe damage to enemies behind him as well. This is probably the second best weapon in the game, except that it is not very effective against bosses.

 

ART OF THE FIRE WHEEL:  

Perhaps the most versatile of the ninja arts, the Art of the Fire Wheel sends a series of fireballs upwards, diagonally, to damage enemies in the air. This one is the best all-around weapon to have in most areas and is usually the weapon of choice against bosses.

 

JUMP AND SLASH:  

The most powerful ninja ability Ryu has ever possessed. As Ryu jumps into the air, he spins with his sword, doing massive damage to anything he comes into contact with. A well-timed application of this art can sometimes kill bosses with a single attack!

 

INVINCIBLE FIRE WHEEL:  

When Ryu calls upon this art, he is encased in a ring of fire, which burns any enemies who come too close. It only lasts for a few seconds at a time, but when properly timed, it can make a difficult passage much easier to complete.

 Note: It only appears at set times and you can't use it after a use.

 

BLUE POWER-UP:  

Probably the most common item seen, it increases Ryu's ninja power (for using weapons) by five points.

 

RED POWER-UP:  

This increases Ryu's ninja power to 10.

 

BLUE BONUS:  

This item, while not immediately useful, give Ryu 1000 bonus points. It's helpful since he gets an extra life for every 100,000 points he scores.

 

RED BONUS:  

Similar to the Blue Bonus, but it gives 2000 points, so it's even more helpful.

 

MEDICINE:  

A rare and very precious item, this medicine will restore six units of life energy when Ryu drinks it.

 

1-UP:  

This rare item will immediately give Ryu an extra life when he obtains it. Never pass these up.

 

 

CONTROL 4/5

 

Ryu controls almost perfectly; he does "flip" jumps like a Contra-guy would with A pressed, slashes with B, Select doesn't do crap, and Start pauses the game. Oh yeah, to use your weapon, hold Up + B (kind of like in Akumajou Dracula). Also, Ryu can cling to walls and you can scale your way up a wall. You have to continually jump your way up!

 

 

FUN FACTOR 5/5

 

What's not fun about doing ninja flips and throwing shurikens at enemies? Not only that, but you are treated to cut-scenes, which makes the game even cooler. I like the ninja action a lot, but there are times in the game when there is too much action. You got the game practically throwing enemies at you at times. Thankfully, there are unlimited continues and even if you get a "Game Over" you begin at whatever level you were at, instead of the beginning of the act. Of course, this works until you get to stage 6-1. Then if you die you end up back to 6-1 regardless of how far you've gotten! I guess this was a neat trick thrown in by Tecmo to add some "magic" to it.

 

 

FRUSTRATION 5/5

 

At times this game can get you really pissed! With all these enemies getting tossed at you, hitting you, making the "duuuu" sound -- and then if you get knocked back far, enemies will return! I remember getting knocked off of cliffs by those darn eagles... who doesn't remember that! Oh, and I bet you can remember dying really far in the game and getting sent right back to stage 6-1. Also, it's annoying when you have to continually jump up a wall instead up moving up it like in Ninja Gaiden 2, especially when there are birds whipping around the screen!

 

 

OVERALL 5/5

 

Truly a classic! Despite how darn frustrating it can make you, it does give you hours of enjoyment, and if you had this when you were small, hours of nostalgic memories as well.

 

In 2003, or was it 2004, a Ninja Gaiden game was put on the Xbox (or the Shitbox as I like to call it). I mean, Tecmo selling out is an understatement, with their video game porno (Dead or Alive). Naming their new game after a NES classic is just wrong. The new Gaiden has nothing to do with its Famicom counterpart, nor does its history, although it does feature all three Ninja Gaiden games from the trilogy -- another insult to hardcore Famicom and NES fans. Just imagine playing Ninja Gaiden on the Shitbox with that huge controller. It's wrong, I tell ya. Sorry to end this review with the bad stuff, but it kind of slipped in!

 

Regardless, the real Ninja Ryukenden is classic and, despite its flaws in difficulty, it will always be remembered dearly.

 

 

SCREENSHOTS