Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox ... No Wait, the DS?
By Connect Mason Reporter Daniel Sims
Even though Tecmo transferred "Ninja Gaiden" to the Nintendo DS, a console with a different control interface and audience, the core of what made the best action adventure game on the market remains intact.
Since its first edition came out four years ago, the new Ninja Gaiden has been largely considered the king of the action adventure genre, besting games like God of War and Devil May Cry with superior enemies that challenged players to learn strategic combat. Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword retains that standard and does it under a completely new control interface.
Similar to The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass, Dragon Sword has players control super ninja Ryu Hayabusa with only the touch screen, moving him by touching his destination and jumping by quickly drawing upward lines over him. Players draw horizontal or vertical lines over enemies to attack them and tap enemies to shoot projectiles at them. Every button on the DS makes Ryu block.
The system is responsive and intuitive. Although these new controls don’t really allow any focus on combos like in the console games, the same sense of pacing and strategy remains. Dragon Sword however doesn’t initially push players as hard as the console Ninja Gaiden’s do. The game’s normal mode is far more forgiving than that of the previous games. This probably makes Dragon Sword the better game for newcomers, but Ninja Gaiden veterans probably won’t find any truly satisfying challenge in this game until they unlock hard mode.
Despite the initial absence of the console games’ difficulty, Dragon Sword’s controls still solidify it as a proper Ninja Gaiden title. Dragon Sword recycles enemies, environments and sound design to the extent that it may lead some to believe that this is just minuscule version of the Xbox Ninja Gaiden (after Black and Sigma). The fact that Tecmo was even able to produce this game on the DS is a feat in itself.
Dragon Sword’s only real differences, other than the new interface, lie in its tone and plot. Dragon Sword isn’t quite as grim as the Xbox Ninja Gaiden. It features more light-hearted character designs and a new, somewhat smaller storyline. The level of violence that was in the previous Ninja Gaiden and is rumored to be increased exponentially in Ninja Gaiden II is also diminished in Dragon Sword.
Bottom Line
With Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword, Tecmo has successfully taken one of the best action games out there and transplanted it to the DS, producing a unique hardcore experience on the system that makes smart use of its hardware.
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