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Ninja Gaiden (NES video game)

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Ninja Gaiden
US cover art
Developer(s)Tecmo
Publisher(s)Tecmo
Designer(s)Sakurazaki
Platform(s)NES, MS-DOS, PC Engine, SNES, Xbox, Mobile phones
ReleaseJapan December 9, 1988
United States March, 1989
Europe August 15, 1991
Genre(s)Platformer / Beat 'em up
Mode(s)Single player

Ninja Gaiden (忍者龍剣伝 Ninja Ryūkenden, lit. Legend of the Ninja Dragon Sword in Japanese, also known 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 as well as for its high level of difficulty.[1] The game's success spawned two sequels and several ports to other video game systems.

Story

Template:Spoilers

After receiving a letter from his father, Ken Hayabusa, shortly after dying during a fight with a mysterious assailant, Ryu Hayabusa leaves his clan in Japan and heads for the United States and meet up with a one Dr. Walter Smith for reasons undesclosed as instructed in the letter. Ryu, realizing the dangers ahead, also takes the legendary Dragon Sword passed down by generation to generation in order to protect himself from the new environment. Soon after his arrival in America, Ryu is ambushed by a mysterious gang of thugs, led by Barbarian, a large, lumbering warrior, and member of a group known as the Malice Four. Ryu quickly dispatches the thugs, and continues his quest. While searching for information, Ryu is approached by Irene Lew, an agent with the CIA and is shot with a tranquilizer gun. Ryu later wakes up and finds himself inside of a prison. Irene, feeling guilty for what she had done, talks to Ryu and eventually breaks Ryu out from the prison and also gives Ryu a statue, of which Ryu doesn't know of its power.

After escaping from his prison, Ryu resumes his mission to find Walter Smith. On his way out, he finds himself in combat with another member of the Malice Four; a blade-tossing warrior by the name of Bomberhead. After dispatching Bomberhead, Ryu finally gets a meeting with Smith in his cabin in Colorado. Ryu finds out that his father was trying to protect two statues, the Demon statues of Light and Shadow, with the Shadow statue the one in Ryu's possession. Ryu's father was trying to protect the Light statue during the fight in the beginning of the game, but lost and the statue was eventually stolen. Smith, who was friends with Ryu's father, had the Shadow statue in his possession and was protecting it. However, shortly during the conversation, a ninja burgularized Smith's cabin and steals the Shadow statue. Ryu manages to corner the ninja in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. The ninja, Basaquer of the Malice Four, engages Ryu in battle. Ryu manages to defeat Basaquer and grab the statue, but by the time Ryu gets back from his trek, he is shocked to discover that Walter Smith was mortally wounded during the time Ryu was away. With his dying breath, Walter tells Ryu to try to protect both statues and then dies. During this time, CIA agents enter the house, and believing that Ryu was the one that killed Smith, arrest Ryu and Ryu is then taken in for questioning.

Ryu is then taken into a dark room and is questioned by the director of the CIA, a man named Foster. Foster explains that the CIA have been monitoring the activity of one Guardia De Meiux, who is better known as The Jaquio (the title is a derivative of the Japanese word "jakiou", meaning "evil demon king"). Foster then explains that The Jaquio wishes to gain both statues for the purpose of world domination and then, after getting the evidence about Ryu, blackmails Ryu into doing a suicide mission in Brazil to infiltrate The Jaquio's hideout and make sure the Jaquio does not retrieve both statues. Ryu reluctantly agrees knowing that he must protect both statues or suffer the possibility of The Jaquio destroying the world as we know it with the power of both statues. Ryu manages to infiltrate the Jaquio's stronghold, and upon meeting the man, he finds out that The Jaquio has kidnapped Irene. Ryu tries to bargain with the Jaquio: Irene for the statues in Ryu's possession. Ryu gives up the statue, but the Jaquio doesn't hold up his end of the bargain, and sends Ryu plummeting into the temple dungeons below.

Ryu infiltrates the compound and meets the leader of the Malice Four, and Jaquio's strongest warrior; a man by the name of Bloody Malth, who reveals himself to have been the man who Ken Hayabusa fought. After fatally wounding Bloody Malth in battle, Malth reveals that Ken Hayabusa is still alive.

Going further into the compound, Ryu eventually finds his father, however, he has been brainwashed and has become a servant of the Jaquio by the name of the Masked Devil. Ryu suddenly has no choice but to fight his father. Ryu eventually makes his father snap out of his trance, but their reunion is short lived as The Jaquio shoots and wounds Ken Hayabusa. Jaquio then harnesses the power of both statues along with the lifesources of both Ken and Irene, and unleashes the Demon; a god of pure destruction sealed by Ryu's ancestor centuries ago. Ryu, having been destined to defeat such a formidable opponent with the Dragon Sword of the Hayabusa, fights and destroys the Demon as well as the Jaquio. Sadly, Ken's wounds would prove to be fatal, as Ken tells Ryu to escape with Irene. Ryu and Irene eventually escape the compound and watch it crumble into dust from a nearby mountain. Ryu later learns that Foster intended for Ryu to have been killed in the mission and was only used as a tool for the CIA to gather both statues and that Irene was sent to Brazil on the purpose of killing Ryu had he succeeded, but Irene refuses the order.

Ryu's Enemies

The Malice Four are the Jaquio's lieutenants in Ninja Gaiden. Personally chosen by the Jaquio himself, these four villans 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. Orginally 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. 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. While chasing after the ninja that stole the Dark Demon Statue, Ryu runs into him inside Yomi's Cave.

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." When he was younger, he mastered Japanese martial arts and studied Eastern Philosophy. He is by far (to some players) the second-hardest boss in Ninja Gaiden. Once Malth is defeated, he tells Ryu some shocking news before he dies: "Your father is alive." Malth awaits Ryu at Place of Red Execution.

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. It is worth noting that the Masked Devil is the only boss character with his own, unique theme music not heard anywhere else in the game (save the cinema that precedes him).
  • Guardia de Meux, 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 - 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.

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.[2] 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.[3][4]

The title's extreme difficulty is often a source of both praise and contempt. Of particular note was the Ninja Gaiden's final set of levels, where a death forced the player several stages back to replay the hardest area in the game.[1][5]

Ninja Gaiden also received strong publicity in Nintendo Power during 1989. It was featured on the cover of the magazine's fifth issue[6] and was satirized in the following issue in a Howard and Nester comic strip.[7][8] 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.[9]

The title is still revered today was 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.[10] 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.[11] 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.[12]

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 and Renegade. The arcade game's controls were sloppy and slow by comparison. 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.[13]

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, 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.[14]

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".[15]

The Trilogy version of the game also appeared as an unlockable bonus feature on the Xbox game that relaunched the series in 2004.[16] The same year, Tecmo also began releasing episodic chapters of Ninja Gaiden for mobile phones in low-priced installments for small groups of levels.[17] 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.[18] The complete game is planned for mobile release in four installments.[19]

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 katana held in Ryu's front hand being airbrushed out, leaving him prodding an empty fist.[20]

A soundtrack CD, Ninja Ryukenden: Tecmo GSM-1, was released by Pony Canyon in February 1989.[21] 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.

References

  1. ^ a b Parish, Jeremy (May 9, 2004). "Ninja Gaiden NES Review". 1up.com. Retrieved 2006-08-10. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ Kohler, Chris (January 30, 2006). "Retro Rip-Offs: Some of the Most Egregious Plagiarisms in Classic Gaming". 1up.com. Retrieved 2006-08-10.
  3. ^ Turner, Benjmain and Nutt, Christian (July 15, 2003). "Nintendo Famicom: 20 Years of Fun". GameSpy. Retrieved 2006-08-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Waugh, Eric-Jon Rossel (June 27, 2006). "The Ten Greatest Years in Gaming". Next Generation. Retrieved 2006-08-10.
  5. ^ Kalata, Kurt. "Ninja Gaiden review". Classic Review Archive. Retrieved 2006-08-25.
  6. ^ Nintendo Power. March/April 1989.
  7. ^ The Howard & Nester Comics Archive.
  8. ^ Nintendo Power. May/June 1989.
  9. ^ Nintendo Power, issues 6-9. May-December 1989.
  10. ^ Snow, Blake (June 18, 2006). "Readers vote on top 10 NES games". Joystiq. Retrieved 2006-08-10.
  11. ^ EGM Staff. (February 28, 2006) "The Top 25 Games EGM 25 Dissed!". EGM.
  12. ^ Nintendo Power, Vol. 198, p. 74. December 2005.
  13. ^ Sharkey, Scott (March 2004). "Ninja Gaiden - Arcade vs. NES". 1up.com.
  14. ^ Nussbaum, Jeff. Ninja Ryukenden for PC Engine review. The Ninja Gaiden Homepage. Accessed on 2006-08-23.
  15. ^ Ninja Gaiden Trilogy review, reprinted at 1up.com. Electronic Gaming Monthly #73. August 1995.
  16. ^ Brightman, James (February 10, 2004). "Ninja Gaiden Extras Confirmed...Again". GameDaily. Retrieved 2006-08-23.
  17. ^ Buchanan, Levy (July 16, 2004). "Ninja Gaiden Episode I: Destiny - Tecmo's classic ninja roars into action on handsets". IGN. Retrieved 2006-08-10.
  18. ^ Tecmo 100% Games - Mobile. Accessed on 2006-08-10.
  19. ^ Score, Avery (Sept. 28, 2004). "Ninja Gaiden Preview, Episodes II-IV". GameSpot. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ Struck, Shawn and Sharkey, Scott (August 3, 2006). "8-Bit Lit: Inside the NES' Worlds of Power Series". 1up.com. Retrieved 2006-08-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ Nussbaum, Jeff. Miscellaneous. The Ninja Gaiden Homepage. Accessed on 2006-08-10.
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