Ninja Gaiden. What can I say about Ninja Gaiden on the NES? The original NG in the arcades (also available on the Virtual Console) was a beat-em-up in the same vein as Final Fight, in which you played as Ryu Hayabusa, a ninja with an arsenal of three different moves and who could only use his sword for a limited time after grabbing a power-up. Awesome, right?

Tecmo didn't seem to think so either. And so when it came time to bring the game to the NES, which had no hope of ever running a decent post, Tecmo decided to instead make a completely new original game, an action platformer instead of a brawler. The game has a strange resemblance to Castlevania: close range weapon, sub-weapons activated by holding up when attacking, having to hit candles or lanterns to find these weapons and ammunition... even the HUD bears a resemblance. But Ninja Gaiden is a much faster-paced game, and its hero is much more agile: he can run, change direction mid-jump, grab on walls and, if you are dexterous enough, climb them.

The game has a reputation for being balls-hard. The "problem" here is that as agile as Ryu is, the enemies are not limited to close-range weapons and some of them, such as birds and bats, are even faster than the hero. Plus, they respawn immediately should you backtrack even a millimeter when you kill them. But victory is nonetheless possible, if only by memorizing the levels as you get pushed into the omnipresent bottomless pits over and over again.

Oh, I almost forgot: the story in this old NES game is actually worth talking about. Ryu is not on a quest to save a princess from some villain, but is trying to elucidate the mystery surrounding his father's death. This story was told through cutscenes which were simply amazing at the time. They were detailed, well directed, and full of intrigue. Negative Worlders, you may just play through this game for the story.

Then again, you probably won't.


Why not add Ninja Gaiden (NES) or perhaps even Ninja Gaiden: Arcade to your collection, and indicate you are currently playing it?


List of Awesome:
X‑pert74 (beat the game overnight!)
ludist210 (beat the game also overnight? What's going on!?)
TriforceBun
Jargon
Guillaume
anon_mastermind
Paleo_Orca
Rebonack
CPA Wei

URL to share (right click and copy)

@Mr_Mustache You don't have a Wii!?

@Zero

I think he doesnt want to buy a game he already has on NES.

@Paleo_Orca A third dog? I can't say I recall that ever happening to me I don't know what to suggest!

@Jargon Great job!

@kriswright Yeah, that does take away from the experience. It's probably a part you wouldn't mind being taken away though At least you'll be able to experience that near the end

I made it to the second boss of Act 6, and after dying called it quits for the night. I enjoyed mastering act 6, there are a few tricky jumps and tricky bird spots but now I know exactly what to do to progress. I'm gonna beat this game tomorrow, for sure!

Oh man, what a frustrating night.

Yeah, I finally cleared the jump in 6-2, but I think there's a part in 6-3 that I hate even more, with the axe-throwing guy and the two jumpers? Know the spot? I only ever manage to clear it by chance.

I got to the boss, beat the first form easily, since a bit earlier, I discovered how to wall-climb properly. Maybe I'm the last retard on the planet to figure it out, but goddamn it, I wish someone had told me you simply HOLD THE DAMN JUMP BUTTON AND WIGGLE THE D-PAD, YOU DON'T HAVE TO PRESS JUMP WITH THE EXACT TIMING. Gawd.

The second form took me forever. Eventually, I managed to get there with 99 power and the Art of the Fire Wheel, or whatever it's called, and it went down easily.

Now I've attempted to beat the last form half a dozen times, and I spit at the people who say it's easier. Dammit, those things are hard to avoid and give 2 pts of damage.

Now it's late and I better go to bed, before I defenestrate my Wii.

Mr_Mustache said:

I really hope the Retro Game Club is still around when my NES gets hooked up again..

Well, as long as there are willing participants. If people stop participating, I'll probably keep playing some new NES game regularly anyway, and pretend you guys are actually my friends...

@Guillaume
...Woooowwww, I've played Ninja Gaiden on and off for like 20 years, beaten it twice, and this is the first I've heard about that wall-climbing technique. Crazy! Thanks for informing me on that, hah.

Weird that you're having more trouble with the third form though. Art of the Fire Wheel tears up those shrimp things but good.

Guillaume said:

Now it's late and I better go to bed

Sorry for this bold-faced lie, but you saw it coming, right? Coming this close to beating this damn game and then... going to bed? lol

So yeah. I tore him to shred, and the cutscene was predictably impressive. Marred by one little typo (recieved).

...yeah. I don't know what to say. Was it worth all the pain and suffering? I need to think about this.

edit - And I'm sorry I said I was spitting on you, triforcebun and whoever else said the third form was easier than the second. It was. It's just that violent games, it is well-known, make people angry and violent.

I'm in level 5-3 getting some extra lives for level 6.

Guillaume said:

Maybe I'm the last retard on the planet to figure it out, but goddamn it, I wish someone had told me you simply HOLD THE DAMN JUMP BUTTON AND WIGGLE THE D-PAD, YOU DON'T HAVE TO PRESS JUMP WITH THE EXACT TIMING. Gawd.

Dude... I had no idea you could do that! I've been pressing the jump button with each wall jump this whole time, and I've beaten the game twice! I just tried that in the first stage, and what do you know; it works! That'll make my life so much easier, whenever it is I decide to play this game again

By the way, congrats on beating the game! The first time I beat it, I beat the third boss in one try, but this time around it took me a bunch of tries to finally defeat him. I don't know why I did so well my first time in particular.

Well I caved and picked up Ninja Gaiden for the VC. At least when I get discouraged I can just save state and go later.

@chrisbg99

Wait, what were you playing on before, the NES?

@Guillaume

That part in 6-3 is actually simple if you jump between the guy and the axe he throws then jump over the guy

Guess it doesn't matter now since you beat it. Congrats!

I don't see how not having to press jump when wall climbing makes things easier?

@anon_mastermind

Climbing when you've got a single wall? It makes it so much easier, man.

But hey, even if you wall jump between two walls, it's slightly more fluid.

Ah yeah, single wall climbing. I could see that being easier.

So I can't be the only one to whom this has happened: falling into a pit and coming back from the top of the screen on the playing field. It saved my life occasionally. And at first I thought it only happened if I aligned myself with an enemy at the top of the screen. I thought that somehow, when falling into the pit, you'd hit the enemy at the top of the screen, get hurt and fall back into the game, but no, that has nothing to do with it, since it's happened to me without hitting anything.

Once, I even "cycled" through the screen a couple of times: fell into the pit, came back at the top of the screen, fell directly into the pit at the same spot, came back at the top again. So weird.

Another I found is in 6-2, the spot where you're coming from below using a ladder, and on the left you have a tall wall to go over, and on the right is where you've got the platforms to climb that allow you to do just that. Well, if you use the wall-scaling trick, you can climb that wall without using the platforms... except that you won't be able to go anywhere. The screen won't scroll left, no matter how much you try to run in that direction. You've got to go jump on the platforms on the right, then jump back on the wall on the left, and suddenly the screen will scroll.

Weird. I hadn't encountered any of those glitches (although I have gotten knocked to the top of a ladder, resulting in a screen shift and my death).

Well... I've made it to 6-2. I've been playing the game off and on during my study sessions before I go take my Bio 2 final today.

I'll probably try beating the game if I can when I get back home. Any advice?

@Guillaume

Yeah. And then ninjas with rocket packs killed my drive. I got to 6-3 last night on the VC and now I can pick it up from there.

[ref=id=5326&pagenumber=6#139797]X-pert74 said:[/ref][quote][ref=id=5326&pagenumber=6#139761]Guillaume said:[/ref][quote]Maybe I'm the last retard on the planet to figure it out, but goddamn it, I wish someone had told me you simply HOLD THE DAMN JUMP BUTTON AND WIGGLE THE D-PAD, YOU DON'T HAVE TO PRESS JUMP WITH THE EXACT TIMING. Gawd.[/quote]
Dude... I had no idea you could do that![/quote]Same. Looks like Guillame is the new Ninja Gaiden superpro of the boards!

[ref=id=5326&pagenumber=6#139886]Guillaume said:[/ref][quote]So I can't be the only one to whom this has happened: falling into a pit and coming back from the top of the screen on the playing field.[/quote]I think I vaguely remember that happening. I think it would have been more memorable if the rest of the game wasn't full of weird little technical hitches...

[ref=id=5326&pagenumber=6#139909]TriforceBun said:[/ref][quote]Weird. I hadn't encountered any of those glitches (although I have gotten knocked to the top of a ladder, resulting in a screen shift and my death).[/quote]THIS, however, I definitely remember happening a few times. Excpet I didn't get hit to the top of the ladder: I just climbed up to the next screen and instantly died.