Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword

Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword Review

Review by: Fire Fox
Platform: Nintendo DS
Developer: Team Ninja
Publisher: Tecmo
Rating: ESRB - T
Genre: Action-Adventure

Introduction

The Ninja Gaiden series dates back to as far as the NES era of video games. The Series has a legacy for being extremely challenging and being games that are not for the feint of heart, especially ever since the game got a total make over, plus an M rating. Through out all the Ninja Gaiden games, it has been made clear that they are for the hardcore gamers out there and are mainly aimed at the older audience, but Tecmo and Team Ninja took the biggest chance in video gaming I have ever seen, and that would be moving a game based solely on action, to the Nintendo DS, and implementing complete touch controls. A move that no one probably ever saw coming, surprisingly turned out good, really good.

This game follows the path of master ninja Ryu Hayabusa, and it takes place 6 months after the Dark Dragon Blade event of the Xbox Ninja Gaiden game. After a young Shrine Maiden, and also ninja-in-training gets captured by the Black Spider Clan, Ryu must go out and save her from them. The story unfolds and gets much deeper when the Vigoor empire and legend of the dragons start to tie in, but I'm not here to ruin the story for you, so you will just have to learn about that on your own.

Gameplay

For those of you with the attention span of a rat who weren't paying attention during the introduction, you know who you are, Ninja Gaiden is a hardcore action-adventure video game. The DS has its own little library of action-adventure games, but none can quite measure up to Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword. And unlike in the console game which is all controlled through complex button maneuvers, Dragon Sword is completely controlled by the touch screen, with the exception of blocking. There are still some awesome ninja moves Ryu can use in this game, like the Izuna Drop and the Flying Swallow move, that can all be carried out using the touch screen. As far as levels go, its basically you go through a world, find the boss, and beat the boss. That is the basic formula of this game.

Graphics

People will compare the DS to the PSP and criticize the DS by saying the PSP's graphics are superior to it, and by all means they are right, but that does not mean the DS graphics are low quality, and Ninja Gaiden shoves the fact that the DS does have notable graphic power. The graphics are by far the best graphics on any DS game to date. It does things just like Resident Evil style graphics, by putting 3D character models on pre-rendered backgrounds that just look absolutely stunning on the two DS screens. The sword movements look amazing on the two screens and it really pushes the DS to its limits, and everything flows and looks as it's intended to, and is pulled of in an awe-striking format.

A scene from the cut scenes that play before and after missions.

Sound

As a game that relies on action and almost solely that, not many amazing things were put into the soundtrack of Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword. The music is usually quiet and rarely has much impact, if any at all. Some notable things are the extremely annoying battle cries of Ryu Hayabusa that he lets out every single time you slash your sword. It sounds cool at first, but is ultimately just an annoyance as you progress. Which also brings me to the fact that they all talk in Japanese when they do yell out, or even when characters give you their little greetings as you start a conversation with them. It is more Ninja like that way, but is still annoying in its own little annoying way.

A fight scene between Ryu Hayabusa and some enemy ninjas.

Control

The control is by far the most interesting concept of NG: DS. Unlike its predecessor, which uses articulate button combinations to slay fiends, this game uses stylus moves only to attack the enemies. It sounds crazy, and actually is pretty crazy, but works better then anyone could ever imagine, and is truly the only way I would have it. And since Ninja Gaiden requires a lot of skill to play and is not for the more casual gamers, you can't just randomly slash and expect to hit the enemy and win and fights. It is actually based around timed procedures and slashing when you should, not trying to "be cool" by scribbling around the touch screen and not paying attention to what happens.

Longevity

Though Ninja Gaiden has a great concept and is really fun just to pop out and play, it really doesn't have much to offer. Yes, an awesome combat system, and they even included some Wi-Fi leader boards, so you may have something to work for afterwards as well there too, but what you get out of the story is really just about a 6 to 8 hour game, it isn't much. You do unlock a much harder difficulty, but it can't keep you coming back for too long. Considering how much went into the other aspects, it makes sense as to why they wouldn't have to deep or long of a story.

Final Scores:
Gameplay: 9
Graphics: 10
Sound: 7
Control: 9
Longevity: 6

Total: 41/50

Conclusion:

As far as actions goes, Ninja Gaiden will always be there as one of the key games that really stands and shows to what an action game should be. A DS action game that includes full touch controls was though to be impossible, but NG: DS really showed that it is quite possible to actually do it, and hopefully we'll see a sequel and more of this genre on the DS.