Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ninja Gaiden has gotten better!, November 22, 2005
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
Team Ninja has made what has been one of the best games on the XBox even better. As impossible as that sounds, it's true. But, if you've never played Ninja Gaiden before, this may not be the game for you. It CAN be frustrating. I just beat Ninja Gaiden Black on the Hard level and let me tell you, it was aggravating but oh so sweet to have beat it on hard.
If you've played the original Ninja Gaiden for XBox, this includes the Hurricane Packs plus a new mission mode that is tough as nails! However, gone are the three NES games. They have been replaced with the original arcade version of Ninja Gaiden, so if you want to keep playing the 3 NES games, you'd better hold onto your original copy of Ninja Gaiden. Still, for the reduced price NJB comes at, it's worth having both!
Ninja Gaiden is NOT a game for everyone. If you are easily frustrated by games that dump loads of enemies on you that are tough to defeat, I suggest you look elsewhere. But, if you enjoy challenges with some of the most awesome boss characters ever to grace your TV screen, fast and furious action, and an arsenal of weapons that would make any ninja shed a tear of joy, then it's time to get your ninja skills in check and play NJB.
First off, the graphics - 5/5
The animation is top notch. I have never seen characters move so fluidly like they do in Ninja Gaiden. Ryu and the enemies move almost so realistically, it's scary. Ryu's ninja suite even has fabric that sways as you walk and moves with the wind. This hasn't changed since the previous version but it's STILL excellent. There is not a single frame rate studder in here, and when you see the huge dino-skeleton boss, you won't believe that they were able to pull this off with no frame rate slow down.
Sound - 5/5
Breathtaking! The music, the sound FX, everything just sets the mood in this game. What else can be said? You HAVE to have a 5.1 system which pumps out the bass with this game. My wife has told me to turn it down a notch or two sometimes.
Storyline - 5/5
Pretty intriguing. The FMVs are awesome. Team Ninja (like in DoA) has done an excellent job with the FMVs on this one as well. They blend in well with the gameplay and really add to the story. Team Ninja has also added new cut scenes that help flesh out the story even more and now you know who kept throwing those information stars at you throughout the game! For the original game, I rated this a 4 out 5. Due to the new cut scenes, I've upped it to 5 out of 5!
Gameplay - 5/5
For me, the gameplay is excellent. For others, it's going to be a sticking point. Believe me, this game is HARD! Not hard, but HARD as in SICK!!! And that's on the normal level! But, to let you know, this is not a button masher. I think that's where the problem resides for some people. People expect to just mash buttons and eventually win. No, you have to learn all the different moves that can be applied to a particular weapon and when to use those moves. The nunchucks are awesome, but the flail weapon (nunchucks with blades) is nasty, especially when you can get a 25+ hit combo going with it. I've even gotten up to 100 hits with it against an arsenal of demons. Again, it's learning each of the weapons strengths and weaknesses and when to use them that will help you progress in this game. The addition of the Hurricane Packs that were previously downloadable for the original NG, gives you one of the most ultimate weapons - the Lunar Staff. This thing is sick. The combos it can release are fast and far reaching. Get the Hurricane move going and Ryu is invincibile! Also added are Smoke Bombs. Drop one of these in the midst of a bunch of enemies and blind them temporarily so you can unleash a nasty combo attack and watch the body parts fly!
When an enemy is defeated, it will give off one of three "essence" globes:
- yellow for experience and money (you use these to upgrade weapons and purchase items)
- blue for healing
- red for ninpo (magic)
But, instead of just picking these up immediately, hold down on your massive attack button to absorb the essence floating around and watch the blade fly as Ryu goes into overdrive and hacks and slashes for you. Depending on the amount of essence you've picked up, it can result in some major damage to the enemy and then it releases even BIGGER amounts of essence, resulting in more "money". This allows you to buy things to such as weapons, healing potions, and items to expand your life bar as well as your ninpo magic levels. Underneath all of this is an RPG-type system. But, rather than increasing stats such as strength, charisma, etc, you increase your health and ninpo bar (HP and Magic points for you role playing hounds), and upgrade the strength of your weapons, which unlocks more combos and special moves. It's a wonderful twist on the RPG model that makes for an awesome game and upgrade system that doesn't seemed "forced" or old.
Enemies are abundant in supply and each chapter brings in a new set of enemies, much harder than the ones before. Demons, soldiers, mummies, bats, it's got it all in this game. But, that's not all. Many of the boss characters have been beefed up with harder skills to defeat as well as minions to help out. You thought Alma was tough in the first round? You haven't seen anything yet!
Other Extras - 5/5
Well, Tema Ninja has outdone themselves once again. This time around, you can unlock the original Ninja Gaiden arcade game. Also, costumes for Ryu can be unlocked and now there are 50 new missions to battle through along with the story-line mode.
After completing the game, you can upload your Karma scores to compare with other players from around the world. Think your NG skills don't stink? Upload them and make sure!
If you have a completed game from the previous version of NG, you will automatically unlock the Hard mode so you don't have to play through the Normal mode. But, I must warn you. I've played this level and it was unreal at times, especially Alma. I hate to think what Ultimate Ninja mode is like, if I ever get to that point! OUCH!
If you die enough times, you can unlock the Ninja Dog level. But, do you really want to be classified as a wimp? Ayane will really dig into you, basically stating she over estimated your skills, and if you really need it, she'll hold your hand for you. Plus, you'll have to walk around with a pink ribbon on your arm. Are you sure you want to do that?
On Ninja Dog mode, the enemey's skill don't decrease, but they will not have as much health as on normal mode, and you will find more health items lying around to help you. It's your choice - Ninja Dog or Master Ninja. Choose your destiny!
This is THE premiere fighting/adventure/ninja game out there. If you want to show off how well an Xbox game can still look and sound in the pre-dawn era of the next-gen consoles, this is the game to do it with.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unlabored Flawlessness., October 9, 2005
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
Often called the "greatest action game ever," and not without reason, "Ninja Gaiden" on XBOX took all the classic action/platform standards of the 3rd-person 3D hack-and-slash and raised them to the nth level of perfection - and then raised the difficulty to near-ridiculous. The result was an incredibly beautiful game for the elite...lol. Unless you either had skills or were prepared to earn them, you were likely to get no further than the infamous Level 5 Incendiary Shuriken-hurling Black Ninjas.
Well guess what - now "Ninja Gaiden Black" is here, the last-minute XBOX remix that includes all the stuff that the developers weren't able to work in for the original release date, which was subsequently issued in "Hurricane Packs" on XBOX Live. Foremost among the immediately noticable improvements is the ability to toggle your right-thumbstick cam between the (basically stupid and useless) 1st-person frozen mode of the original game, and the more typical and much more handy 3rd-person free-rotating cam that lets you look all around Ryu as you move. When you're negotiating timed light-pathways with giant swinging pendulums flying at you, or lining up a series of tricky jumps in a cave, it's nice to be able to see where you're going. Another change from the original within the main game is the fact that you now get the Lunar in Hyabusa Villiage the first time around, which is pretty decent considering that the next comparable weapon you'd normally get would be the Dabilahro many Scarabs later.
But what will make a lot of people happy is that there are now 5 levels of difficulty, so if you get killed enough times to demonstrate that you can't handle yourself, you'll have the degrading option of playing as "Ninja Dog," which is easier but still by no means a cake-walk. On the other hand, if you're totally nuts or some kind of video game idiot savant, you can play as Master Ninja, and if you beat the game on that setting Tecmo should really have to pay for your carpal tunnel surgery and/or electro-shock. Personally I beat the game on the default setting and I feel like I deserve a damn cookie.
If you're willing to stick it out, it's more than worth it. I'll play a hard game if it's challenging as opposed to merely irritating (nothing is worse than when they try to stretch a short game by making it unforgivably difficult). "Ninja Gaiden" is a hard game, but it truly rewards acquired skill. Ryu's basic attacks with the Dragon Sword can be fairly devastating, but the combos with all the other kinds of weapons, not to mention the "NinPo" (Magic) attacks, all of which are upgradable, allow for a great deal of subtlety in the hands of a sophisticated video game dork, and you'll need to figure at least some of them out just to proceed. The upshot is that once you do, you'll feel like a real badass.
Not only that, but you've never seen a game that looks quite this consistently incredible. Every texture in every level is as perfect as the XBOX can deliver. It's so smooth and seamless that I almost feel like I'm previewing an early 360 game. The level design rehashes a lot of cliches, including "Fire" and "Ice" Caves, Tomb Raider-style sham-Egyptian temples, and the inevitable colossal Gothic Church with stained glass window - but when they do it better than it's ever been done, I'm not mad at 'em. As for enemies, the people who complain about the Ninjas might as well quit there, because the non-humans that follow aren't as nice, from the flesh-eating zombie giants to the floating spinal cord-scorpions with sickles to the dragons and worms and giant beetles and worst of all, those freaking parasitic flying ghost fish. The designs are original and well-executed, particularly the bosses (by the way, there are often 3 or 4 bosses in a level). If you're going to get killed a dozen times in a row, it might as well be at the hands of an awe-inspiring enemy in a jaw-dropping environment.
"Black" also includes 50 "all-new Missions," which are basically supplementary battles that take place in unique mini-levels. There are also various other unlockables including outfits and an emulation of the original arcade "Ninja Gaiden."
If you already have "Ninja Gaiden" and you've downloaded the Hurricane Packs etc, there's probably not much reason to buy "Black" even though it's got such a low sticker price, unless you're a truly avid fan. But this game has a lot of avid fans, myself included, so I went ahead and picked it up. If you don't have either yet, this is obviously the one to get, even this close to the advent of 360.
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
NG:B is not for the petty!!!, October 17, 2005
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
Is this the exact same game as the last Ninja Gaiden Game? No it is not.
Yes it's the same story, to where people like to use this as an excuse NOT to get the game due to its extreme difficulty that was so argued about on the original Ninja Gaiden. And for those that was put off on the difficulty of the game, then I have new news for you. Itagaki and Team Ninja has put in a "Ninja Dog" mode (Very Easy mode), for those that can't put up a good fight. I played through Ninja Dog for kicks, and I must say, it is really, really easy. If you can't beat Ninja Dog, then maybe you shouldn't be playing video games entirely.
Just to give people an overview, Ninja Gaiden: Black consists of many unlockables in the game. Mission Mode, Costumes, Difficutly Levels, Old-School Arcade Game, and much much more. I can say that the ONLY drawback I found in the game was that I had to play the Normal difficulty ALL OVER AGAIN just to unlock the anticipated Mission Mode. I can say it wasn't a complete waste of time, because it did prove useful to get myself refamiliarized with the controls and the bosses. Something that is much needed to be taken into consideration when you do the mission mode.
Graphics are still top-notch, the game play is still top-notch, and the camera has been fixed a bit. Sometimes it may come to be a pain, but it least it's not NEARLY as bad as it was before.
Is this game more difficult than the last Ninja Gaiden? Yes.
I have just beaten Very Hard and my adrenaline is rushing through excitement. Once you take a chance at the Hard difficulty you'll see brand new enemies you didn't see in the last Ninja Gaiden. In fact, for those of you that played the HP. Hard difficulty is a harder version of HP. Very Hard introduces more, and more more aggressive, enemies. And honestly, I'm afraid to see what "Master Ninja" mode is like. "Master Ninja" mode is the difficulty that is nearly impossible to beat and is said only 1 developer within Team Ninja beat this difficulty.
In closing, that's my review. I wanted to write something short, but it ended up to be long. Yes, NG:B is more difficult than NG, but in return, there is an easy Ninja Dog difficulty for anyone remotely familiar with video games can beat with a little time and patience. Take it from someone that has beaten all the difficulties of Ninja Gaiden and almost all difficulties of Ninja Gaiden: Black. This game is great, has a lot of replayability, and Team Ninja has definetly put in a LOT of time and patience to give us something worthwhile.
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