Ninja Gaiden

Often times video game developers scramble to be the first to translate a hot arcade property, however, in the case of Ninja Gaiden nobody is interested in the arcade version. And that's strange, too, all things being equal, the mock 3D game is slightly more appealing, and if done correctly could easily blow the 2D version away.

But perhaps I am getting ahead of myself. You see, Ninja Gaiden originally appeared in the arcades as a one player "Final Fight" style ninja game. The arcade joystick incorporated a strange control schematic, that could be troublesome for two button controls (but considering how well they did with Street Fighter II), but featured a much deeper sense of fighting. When the game was released on the Nintendo Entertainment System by Tecmo it was met with critical success. Tecmo had done away with much of the arcade game, incorporated a story, and made it a fast paced action game. The N.E.S. version of the game featured two sequels in the following years (none of which resembled the arcade game).

Well, here we are reviewing Ninja Gaiden for the Turbo Duo, actually, it's called Ninja Ryukenden, as it wasn't officially released in the states. But the game still features the 2D N.E.S. game and little more, even though it's a 16 bit system. To make matters worse, while there was a slight graphics overhaul, it doesn't seem to play as swiftly as the N.E.S. version. And the moving backgrounds are among the worst I have ever seen.

The game is still a blast to play, and I must admit that it brought back a ton of memories ... but the game just misses the boat on so many levels. An update to the arcade Gaiden would have been fly, but it seems like no matter how great the technology gets, we just won't see that. So I am forced to somehow review a game that is good, and extremely enjoyable to play, but lacks what it needs to be considered a 16 bit game.