Review 1 - Ninja Gaiden (NES)

Difficulty- ****
Controls- ***1/2
Graphics- ****
Music- *****
Overall- 15 1/2 out of 20

Some say that this gem from '89 is one of the all time hardest games. And many more would agree. Ninja Gaiden (Guy-Den) not (Gay-den) puts you in control of Ruy Hyabussa. Out for revenge after your father Ken was killed in a duel. After receiving his father's letter Ryu heads off to the States for answers.

Mind you (IMO) this is the second hardest Gaiden game in the NES library (top honour goes to the 3rd game as you only get a handful of continues!) The learning curve is rather well done with very few tricky jumps in the early stages. However, difficulty really ramps up by stage 5 as jet pack flying enemies come at you from everywhere. Not only that but the various birds will have you bouncing right off them and into some pit.

(TIP!) - In most cases just move away from the enemy making sure they disappear form the screen. Move ahead and said enemy should be gone!

The controls for the most part are spot on. You have an assortment of sub-weapons too choose from. Activating them Ala Castlevania (up + B). Ranging from shurikens (weak) to a cyclone spin (powerful). The only tricky thing to practice is the wall climbing. And boy should you really master this technique! Its a life saver near the end as you should wall climb to avoid enemies or scale walls as fast as you can to get out of their way!

The Graphics are truly great. The cinematic scenes are wonderfull with big sprites with awesome facial expressions. And you get treated to one after every stage you complete! Wohoo! Nothing like a little plot advancement as a key motivator! The opening scene with Ruy's father and the enemy ninja still excites me to this day. That's over 16 years ago!

With great graphics you would think the music department would suffer, but oh no. Fast past beats will keep your toes a tappin' for days to come. The composer should be praised for such catchy music! Stages 1, 2 and 4 are some of my favorites in particular.

So there you have it. That's Ninja Gaiden in a nutshell. By no means am I an official game critic, but I just wanted to show some love to this classic you already know and love yourself! Now go out there and get back those Demon Statues!