Ninja Gaiden has always been known for being a tough series. With the latest entry hitting the original Xbox and then being remade on the PS3 gamers got a chance to suffer through one of the hardest games around. Now for those who lack the "skill" to master that game can happily master the new DS title which is a lot easier but not nearly as good.
Ryu is back and his sexy ninja babe friend gets kidnapped by the Black Widow clan or something really lame. The plot goes on from there involving some dragons and stones and other lame stuff. The plot is just tacked on for the sexy game play...
Oh wait. Never mind... That would require the game play to be sexy and/or fun. The entire title is played with the stylus. An idea not often used because it doesn't work most of the time and here is proof yet again that it can rarely be done.
First you have to hold the DS like a novel. Now the only thing that isn't stylus based is menu opening and blocking. Hit start to open your menu of items and equipment. Use the triggers for blocking.
It's not that the controls aren't easy to master. You move the stylus in the direction you want to go. Slash an enemy to attack or tap one to throw a shurkin or shoot an arrow. Magic has you hitting the symbol on top of the screen and then draw the outline that is shown and then move the magic around if need be. It's all easy.
The problem is that it doesn't always know what you want. I have place my stylus down to move and Ryu will suddenly start shooting the bow or attack the air. It just seems random at times and the aiming seems off or I'm blind as I aim to hit a blinking blue light and it misses by like an inch.
The puzzles tend to be easy but are somewhat timed based on flashing lights. Otherwise you solve puzzles using magic. See that spiderweb? Burn it. See that lit torch? Blow it out with wind. See that rock? Blow it up with thunder? What, doesn't make sense? Doesn't matter because it's mystical Japan, nothing needs to make sense.
Sadly the game feels linear with branching paths only leading to puzzles to open your main path. You often find yourself backtracking in previous locations to advance the game as well. You do gain more magic as you go along and you can buy upgrades for health and your sword but those upgrades rarely happen and magic is force fed to you.
The game contains 13 or so chapters. I think the shortest was 7 minutes with the longest taking me 16 minutes. Not long at all and to make it feel longer you can't skip the boring cut scenes with no voice work and slow moving text. Yay!
The game does look nice though. Enemies are nicely detailed and the cut scenes and still pictures look crisp. My only complaint is that once you start getting demon stones the locations look too much a like and I grew bored quickly.
I can't recommend this game. The controls feel half assed and the design of the levels and puzzles is rather boring. Like so many games before it, Ninja Gaiden falls to the curse of stylus only control. Even then I don't know if I'd recommend the game. Thankfully my rental store now carries DS titles so I was able to beat this without having to buy it.
Story - 4/10
Graphics - 9/10
Sound - 7/10
Control - 6/10
Game Play - 6/10
Replay Value - 3/10
Final Score - 6/10
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