Ninja Gaiden (posted on Amazon Uk)

The original Ninja Gaiden was released in 1988 by Tecmo and is commonly associated with the most prominent yet challenging platforming titles the Nintendo Entertainment System had to offer.

The game included several innovations for the time, most notably the inclusion of anime inspired cutscenes in-between each stage and is one of the first narrative devices to be seen on the Nintendo console itself.

The cutscenes depict a simple tale of revenge and follows Ryu Hayabusa’s journey to exact vengeance for his father’s death. His journey to find his father’s murderer leads him to a man called Jaquio who plans to release an ancient demon with the aid of two rare demonic statues; a plan which Ryu must prevent. The plot is synonymous with the low-budget ninja movies of the 1980s, however maintains a level of charm in its simplicity.

What gives the game the most substance however is the solid gameplay. On the surface the game looks like your average platformer, however quickly stands out from the others, by its frantic gameplay, unique wall jumping mechanics, as well as a selection of ninja tools and weapons at your disposal. All of these aspects give a decent 8-bit approximation of what playing a movie inspired ninja would feel like.

The tools available to Ryu come in the form of throwing stars, windmill throwing stars that work in a similar fashion to boomerangs and fire wheels that give you invincibility for a few seconds. You can also obtain lamps that replenish your spiritual power, hourglasses that freezes time and on rare occasions potions that heal Ryu’s life bar.

The main core mechanic of the game however is the wall jump. This is an essential trick to learn and is imperative to master in order to overcome some difficult obstacles, access particular pathways, as well as passing through a set of difficult angled jumps to mount awkwardly placed platforms.

NES aficionados will not be a stranger to the unforgiving difficulty presented by the early 8-bit systems, and Ninja Gaiden is no exception. The Ninja Gaiden series is arguably the hardest trilogy for the system.

One of the biggest elements that that makes the game so difficult is if Ryu gets hit, the damage pushes him backwards, meaning any holes behind him while in this stunned state causes him to fall and die.

In addition to this, specific enemies in the game respawn in set places, which can be hard to pass. They can also obstruct platforms, fire a barrage of projectiles with little space to manoeuvre, or move in erratic patterns that makes avoiding them very problematic. Memorisation unfortunately is the only viable method to overcome these uncompromising scenarios, as well as learning hitbox exploitation, how to outrun enemies, and the provocations that causes such enemies to spawn.

While the game has a very steep learning curve, Ninja Gaiden maintains the entertainment factor to enthrall players to press on, despite offering little in the means of recourse from even the smallest of mistakes.

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