Ninja Gaiden (video game)

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Ninja Gaiden

North American boxart, NES version
Developer(s) Tecmo
Publisher(s) Tecmo
Designer(s) Shuichi Sakurazaki
Platform(s) NES, PC-Engine, SNES, Virtual Console, Mobile phones
Release date JPN December 9, 1988
NA March, 1989
EUR August 15, 1991
Genre(s) Platformer / Beat 'em up
Mode(s) Single player
Media Cartridge
Input methods Control pad

Ninja Gaiden (忍者外伝? lit. "Ninja Story"), known in Japan as Ninja Ryūkenden (忍者龍剣伝? lit. "Legend of the Ninja Dragon Sword") and as Shadow Warriors in Europe, is a platform game for the NES developed by Tecmo. Originally released in Japan towards the end of 1988, it was the first in a popular trilogy of Ninja Gaiden titles for the NES featuring the adventures of Ryu Hayabusa.

The game is renowned for its innovative use of cinematic cutscenes. It represents one of the first NES games to feature a full, movie-like story. The game's success spawned two sequels and several ports to other video game systems.

Contents

[edit] Gameplay

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[edit] Story

Ryu Hayabusa of the Dragon Ninja Clan receives a letter from his father, saying that he was leaving for a duel with an unknown warrior. Should he not return, Ryu was to go to America and seek a man named Walter Smith. Ryu honors his father's last request, and travels to America. While there, he is kidnapped by a CIA agent and given a statue of a hideous beast.

Eventually, Ryu finds Walter Smith, an archaeologist, who tells Ryu of the Demon Statues that he and Ryu’s father had found, and how they had to protect them. Ryu shows Walter the statue he has. Ryu's father had the other statue with him. During the conversation, a masked figure suddenly breaks into the cabin and steals the statue. Ryu gives chase and retrieves the statue. When he returns, he finds that Walter has been killed, and a moment later, Ryu is captured by three armed men.

Ryu is taken to an interrogation room, where he is addressed by a man named Foster, the director of the CIA. He explains to Ryu that they have been monitoring the activity of someone named The Jaquio. Jaquio wishes to gain the statues so that he can release the Demon trapped in them, bringing out the end of the world. He orders Ryu to eliminate Jaquio.

Ryu parachutes into the jungle of Brazil, and makes his way up the mountains to the temple, where he finds Jaquio. Jaquio is killed during the ensuing fight, but the Demon has already been awakened. Ryu is able to defeat the Demon after an epic battle.

[edit] Ryu's Enemies

[edit] The Malice Four

Jaquio's lieutenants in Ninja Gaiden. Personally chosen by the Jaquio himself, these four villains will do anything and everything to stop Ryu Hayabusa from completing his mission. The Malice Four are as follows:

  • The Barbarian: Known as the Executioner of South America, and feared by the natives, the Barbarian uses the Amazon rainforests of Brazil as his hideout. Although his weapon, according to the instruction manual, claims to be a huge ax, it looks more like a scimitar instead. The easiest of the bosses. Ryu encounters him inside Jay's Bar.
  • Bomberhead: Second-in-command of the Malice Four. A street punk originally from the Bronx, he was abandoned at a young age and quickly fell into a life of crime. Aside from being a member of the Malice Four, he also controls the streets of New York as the Lord of Evil. His main weapon is a sickle attached to a chain. He is found lurking inside Amura's Altar.
  • Basaquer: A master of various Chinese martial arts. Was a member of a Chinese killers' organization called the "Five Ranges of Doom," but was thrown out because of his sadistic methods. However, instead of a liability, the Jaquio sees him as a perfect candidate for the Malice Four. He steals the Shadow Demon Statue from Walter Smith, forcing Ryu to chase after him. Ryu corners him inside Yomi's Cave while in pursuit to recover the stolen statue.
  • Bloody Malth: The boss of the Malice Four, and the only person who bested Ryu's father, Ken Hayabusa, in combat. He is the cursed man of Northern European legend, since he bears the "Iron Mask of Blood" and the "Shield of Death." In the duel against Ryu's father, it is revealed that Malth himself, was once a ninja. Once Malth is defeated, he tells Ryu some shocking news before he dies: "Your father is alive." Malth awaits Ryu at the cliff of the Place of Red Execution.

[edit] Jaquio and his Servants

  • Kelbeross - Once Jaquio's pet dog, Kelbeross was given up as a sacrifice to the evil spirits the Jaquio had pledged his life to. As a result, the soul of Kelbeross returns and takes the form of a pair of creatures, continuing to be a loyal servant, protecting Jaquio.
  • The Masked Devil - Ryu's father, under Jaquio's mind control. The Masked Devil was being controlled via a crystal on the wall of the throne room, which Ryu promptly shattered, freeing his father from the grip of the Jaquio.
  • Guardia de Mieux, a.k.a. The Jaquio - The self-proclaimed "evil demon king", he is the almighty evil, determined to take over the world by utilizing the power of a long-sealed God. He believes in the legends that surround the evil temple ruins deep in the Amazon. He has taken over the temple to build an empire of evil, and utilize its spiritual powers. However, there may be more to his plans than meets the eye...
  • The Demon (Jashin) - The ancient God of Destruction sealed away centuries ago by Shinobi, an ancestor of the Dragon Clan. Shinobi managed to seal it in two statues of Light and Shadow, before separating the statues so that the beast could never return. Jaquio, however, plans to free this monster, and gain tremendous power from the energy that will be released when it comes to life.

[edit] Development

 Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (February 2008)

[edit] Reception

Upon its release, Ninja Gaiden was met with high sales, directly spawning the 1990 sequel, Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos. However, some critics have bemoaned Ninja Gaiden's gameplay as being too similar to another successful NES platformer, Castlevania, despite the fact that Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden have completely different control schemes and several actions possible in Ninja Gaiden would be impossible in Castlevania.[1] In recent times, the game has been considered "groundbreaking" for its pioneering use of stylized cutscenes, as well as its high quality music and dark atmosphere.[2][3]

Of particular note was Ninja Gaiden's final set of levels, where a death forced the player several stages back to replay the hardest area in the game.[4]

Ninja Gaiden also received strong publicity in Nintendo Power during 1989. It was featured on the cover of the magazine's fifth issue[5] and was referenced in the following issue in a Howard and Nester comic strip.[6][7] Speaking to the game's difficulty, Ninja Gaiden also appeared in several issues that year in the magazine's Counselor's Corner and Classified Information help sections.[8]

The title is still revered today as one of the most popular games for the Nintendo Entertainment System. In a 2006 Joystiq reader poll including over 12,000 votes, Ninja Gaiden ranked #10 in a vote on top games for the system.[9] In a followup feature to an Electronic Gaming Monthly article, "The 200 Greatest Videogames of Their Time", readers wrote in to discuss games they felt were ignored in the list; Ninja Gaiden placed 19th in the top 25 games discussed.[10] During the end of 2005, Nintendo Power ran a serial feature, the Top 200 Nintendo Games Ever, spanning games for all Nintendo systems where Ninja Gaiden was ranked #89.[11]

[edit] Origin and ports

Although the NES game, Ninja Gaiden, was the second title to bear the name, there were few similarities to the original arcade game. Ninja Gaiden in the arcade was a two-player co-op beat 'em up, reminiscent of other street fighting games such as Double Dragon. Besides the opening cinematic of a ninja duel and the similar opening urban stages, the NES and arcade games had different gameplay, graphics, and storylines.[12]

Many video games were released bearing the Ninja Gaiden name between 1989 and 1992, including games for the PC, Atari Lynx, Sega Master System, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, and Game Gear. However, the only version that was a direct port of the NES title was the 1992 Japan-only release for the PC Engine. It featured an alternate English translation and more colorful graphics, as well as various difficulty and gameplay tweaks from the original.[13]

Along with the two other Ninja Gaiden games for the NES, this title appeared in the enhanced remake for the SNES, Ninja Gaiden Trilogy. Some reviewers appreciated the redrawn graphics and music in this version, but others found it an inadequate effort. Electronic Gaming Monthly reviewers compared it unfavorably to another updated NES remake, Mega Man: The Wily Wars, and called Trilogy "an exact port-over with no noticeable enhancements in graphics, sound and play control".[14]

The arcade version of the game also appeared as an unlockable bonus feature on the Xbox game that relaunched the series in 2004.[15] The same year, Tecmo also began releasing episodic chapters of Ninja Gaiden for mobile phones in low-priced installments for small groups of levels.[16] It is currently only available for purchase in Japan, although the official English Tecmo Games mobile website has begun advertising it for a future release along with a mobile version of Tecmo Bowl.[17] The complete game is planned for mobile release in four installments.[18]

Ninja Gaiden has been released on Wii's Virtual Console on May 14 2007 and September 21 2007 in Europe. This game is currently available for download for 500 Wii Points on the Wii's Virtual Console in North America. For Europe, Australia and New Zealand the game costs 600 Wii Points as part of its 'Hanabi Festival', where people can buy games not released in Europe for a higher price, despite the fact that Ninja Gaiden was released in Europe on the NES.

[edit] Other appearances

A novelization of this game under the Worlds of Power line of NES game adaptations was published in July 1990 by Scholastic Press. It was written by Peter Lerangis under the pseudonym "A.L. Singer", though the book is also often credited to "F.X. Nine", a pen name for the main Worlds of Power writer, Seth Godin. As with all of the Worlds of Power books, the amount of violence present in the video game was severely toned down for the novel, due to concerns of appropriateness for the young target audience. Similarly, it did not strictly adhere to the storyline of the game, changing the ending so that Ryu's father survived at the conclusion. The book's cover, which was a replication of the North American box art, was infamous for the kunai held in Ryu's front hand being airbrushed out, leaving him prodding an empty fist.[19]

A soundtrack CD, Ninja Ryukenden: Tecmo GSM-1, was released by Pony Canyon in February 1989.[20] It features an arranged medley of various music from the game, as well as slightly enhanced versions of the original game's tracks. The CD also included music from the original arcade version of Ninja Gaiden.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kohler, Chris (2006-01-30). Retro Rip-Offs: Some of the Most Egregious Plagiarisms in Classic Gaming. 1UP.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-10.
  2. ^ Turner, Benjmain and Nutt, Christian (2003-07-15). Nintendo Famicom: 20 Years of Fun. GameSpy. Retrieved on 2006-08-10.
  3. ^ Waugh, Eric-Jon Rossel (2006-06-27). The Ten Greatest Years in Gaming. Next Generation. Retrieved on 2006-08-10.
  4. ^ Kalata, Kurt. Ninja Gaiden review. Classic Review Archive. Retrieved on 2006-08-25.
  5. ^ Nintendo Power. March/April 1989.
  6. ^ The Howard & Nester Comics Archive.
  7. ^ Nintendo Power. May/June 1989.
  8. ^ Nintendo Power, issues 6-9. May-December 1989.
  9. ^ Snow, Blake (June 18, 2006). Readers vote on top 10 NES games. Joystiq. Retrieved on 2006-08-10.
  10. ^ EGM Staff. (February 28, 2006) "The Top 25 Games EGM 25 Dissed!". EGM.
  11. ^ Nintendo Power, Vol. 198, p. 74. December 2005.
  12. ^ Sharkey, Scott (March 2004). Ninja Gaiden - Arcade vs. NES. 1up.com.
  13. ^ Nussbaum, Jeff. Ninja Ryukenden for PC Engine review. The Ninja Gaiden Homepage. Accessed on 2006-08-23.
  14. ^ Ninja Gaiden Trilogy review, reprinted at 1up.com. Electronic Gaming Monthly #73. August 1995.
  15. ^ Brightman, James (February 10, 2004). Ninja Gaiden Extras Confirmed...Again. GameDaily. Retrieved on 2006-08-23.
  16. ^ Buchanan, Levy (2004-07-16). Ninja Gaiden Episode I: Destiny - Tecmo's classic ninja roars into action on handsets. IGN. Retrieved on 2006-08-10.
  17. ^ Tecmo 100% Games - Mobile. Accessed on 2006-08-10.
  18. ^ Score, Avery (Sept. 28, 2004). Ninja Gaiden Preview, Episodes II-IV. GameSpot.
  19. ^ Struck, Shawn and Sharkey, Scott (August 3, 2006). 8-Bit Lit: Inside the NES' Worlds of Power Series. 1up.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-10.
  20. ^ Nussbaum, Jeff. Miscellaneous. The Ninja Gaiden Homepage. Accessed on 2006-08-10.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Ninja Gaiden video games
First series
Stand-alone games
Second series
Characters
Related games
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