Ninja Gaiden - An Appreciation
I stopped by my local Gamestop tonight to take advantage of their ‘Buy 2 Get 1 Free Offer’ which crops up once in a while and among the titles* I snagged was a used copy of Ninja Gaiden Black, the classic Xbox beat-em-up which was recently released as an Xbox Live download. While the virtual version goes for something in the neighborhood of $15, the copy I found at Gamestop was a solid $25. Of course, I didn’t hesitate for a second to pick it up. Why?
‘Cause it’s that damn good.
Seriously, Ninja Gaiden Black is one of the best melee / action games of all time. I say that without fear of hyperbole, and anyone who’s played it knows what I’m talking about. While the classic Ninja Gaiden games portrayed lead character Ryu Hayabusa as every bit the badass he is, the updated version leaves no doubt - Ryu Hayabusa is one bad motherfucker.
The controls are spotless, allowing you to leap off walls, perform somersaults, parry attacks from a half-dozen skilled opponents, all without thinking about what you’re hands are doing. After fifteen minutes with the controller, the controls become instinctive, and intuitive. Surely the sign of a good control scheme is one you don’t think about, and in this, Ninja Gaiden Black excels.
Graphically speaking, Ninja Gaiden Black still holds its own - even against current gen high-def 360 titles. That’s saying something for a four-year old-game.
Of course, no discussion of Ninja Gaiden can be complete without mentioning its’ absolute punishing level of difficulty. With all the talk of ‘casual gaming’, it’s nice to reflect upon a time when games were almost prohibitively hard. That might sound counter-productive, but true gamers like nothing more than to be challenged, and Ninja Gaiden Black is squarely, resolutely - joyfully - a hard core game. Novices need not apply. (The game even saddles underperformers with a pink armband should they wimp out and go for Easy mode, which isn’t even available unless you die five times in the opening level).
Twenty-five bucks for a game that’s pushing the half-decade mark? Worth every penny.
So - why all this drooling over a used game I picked up on my way home from work? Because Ninja Gaiden II hits store shelves on June 3rd. I just hope I can find time to plow through Ninja Gaiden Black before it hits.
*The other two titles I picked up? Blue Dragon and Medal of Honor: Airborne.
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