3RRGG Ninja Gaiden

Ready for some ninja fun on the small screen? Ninja Gaiden from
Tecmo (but I think published by Sega on game gear) was once a pretty
big title. It spawned a few sequels and portable versions. It's finally
getting a revival on x-box. How does ninja man Ryu fare on the game
gear? Pretty good. That is if it wasn't over in 20 minutes.

This story sees Ryu being ambushed in a forest. Here he learns some
bad guys are after his magical Dragon sword. His quest will lead him
into bigger dangers and mythological shenanigans. In Hong Kong of
course. But don't fret. The ninja will be in unfamiliar lands near the end
of the game. (And for those that don't know, yes this is the same Ryu
who appears in the Dead or alive fighting series. But remember he had
this series long before the bouncy women). In other ones there was an
important female character, but she's nowhere in this game.

The gameplay is fun, but very easy to master. Ryu attacks with the 1
button, and jumps with the 2 button. He slices his enemy not just with
his sword though. By picking up power ups Ryu can hold down and 1 to
release different weapons like ninja stars, halos, and a 3 way blast. He
can also find potions to heal him, items to help his score and extra
men in the form of hearts. You have a set amount of time to make it to
the end of the levels. There you will fight a boss and then watch a cut
scene and the story unfolds. There are I think 5 (or 6 maybe) levels. So
this thing is over very quickly which is a shame. The 4th level is also
extremely small. But the boss battle is harder then the ones before it.

The cut scenes are pretty good by game gear standards. Mixed with in
game and art, they happen at the end of levels, and sometimes
continue over to the beginning of others. Some pictures are way over
used. Like the close up of Ryu's eyes, but hey what we have is good.

There are two things though that you will need to know. One, if you die
anywhere in the level, including the boss room, you will start back at
the beginning of the level. Stages aren't too long so it shouldn't be too
much of an annoyance but for the last level I was kinda peeved. And
number two, when Ryu gets hurt he will not go "invincible for a few
seconds". This is in a lot of games where after you get hurt you flash,
and in that time you can't get hurt again. Well Ryu looks like he flashes
for a split second and then bang. This sucks when fighting the second
boss. He pops out of holes. Stand in front of the wrong hole and I'm
sure you probably will die unless you jump out of the way. Reminded
me very much of "Athena" an SNK game on the nes (from the
Japanese arcades). And no that's not a good thing. (I love Athena as a
character just her game sucked).

Simple 2d describes the graphics pretty well. Levels are varied, with
forests, temples, harbors, and buildings (hey sounds kinda like
Shenmue..,) Ryu looks cool in his blue ninja suit, and the bad guys are
varied enough. Ninjas in the forest, gun wielding maniacs at the harbor
(with angry scuba divers) and so forth. Animals join the fray later in the
game. Backgrounds look nice. I really liked all the buildings in the
harbor's background. Bosses all have their own little rooms, and they
have unique attack patterns. The bosses are usually bigger then the
drones. Once you get to level 3 bosses start to have more than one
form you have to fight. Enemies use the environments very well. Some
ninja jump out of trees, scuba divers jump out of water, so nice touch.
Ryu himself can also climb walls if he jumps towards them.

Sound is up beat. Ryu's sword makes a little slashy noise when used.
Nice jingles when Ryu gets an item (which he finds in orange spheres
scattered about the place). Guns sound like guns, falling objects sound
like falling objects, and the jumps all make whoosh noises. While there
is nothing to complain about, there's nothing really special. But it does
the game gear justice. Bosses all share the same boss music. Some of
the worst in the game sadly. The title screen has got a nice tune to it
though.

Replay is small. If you skip cut scenes, and you mastered the two
annoyances, then you should be able to beat the game in just under 20
minutes or so. Maybe with more levels and a pass word feature this
would have been ok. I don't think there are any unlockables. Like I said
the game is hard at first, but play it a little and you'll be a ninja master
in no time. The game is fun to play though, so if you're a fan of the
series, or like this kind of game, I'll think you'll return for seconds.

So is this ninja worth it? Despite its shortness and ease, I still will say
yeah. Overall despite those two factors the game is good. Nice
graphics, ok music, and fun gameplay. It sure beat the pants off
anything game boy was putting out at the time. (Looking at this game's
graphics and music makes me really wonder why the game gear had to
leave us so soon. Most excuses lead me to battery life. Fools should
get an adaptor.) I enjoyed the cinematic nature of the game, and it has
inclined me to seek out other versions of ninja gaiden. Maybe it would
be fun to play this game gear version before that x-box version hits
shelves. You know, 47 just to refresh you blade again. If the game had
a few more levels, then the score would be much higher.

(You know despite Ryu being a ninja he reminds me a lot of Ryo from
Shenmue. The scenery with a few levels being similar, magic items,
and both are good with a sword. Although if it in a fight (both using
their blades) my money's on Ryu. If their games fought each other Ryo
would win.)

Review by: Orochi Sonic