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Ninja Gaiden has gotten better!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 26 / 27
Date: November 22, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Team Ninja has made what has been one of the best games on the XBox even better. As impossible as that sounds, it's true. But, if you've never played Ninja Gaiden before, this may not be the game for you. It CAN be frustrating. I just beat Ninja Gaiden Black on the Hard level and let me tell you, it was aggravating but oh so sweet to have beat it on hard.

If you've played the original Ninja Gaiden for XBox, this includes the Hurricane Packs plus a new mission mode that is tough as nails! However, gone are the three NES games. They have been replaced with the original arcade version of Ninja Gaiden, so if you want to keep playing the 3 NES games, you'd better hold onto your original copy of Ninja Gaiden. Still, for the reduced price NJB comes at, it's worth having both!

Ninja Gaiden is NOT a game for everyone. If you are easily frustrated by games that dump loads of enemies on you that are tough to defeat, I suggest you look elsewhere. But, if you enjoy challenges with some of the most awesome boss characters ever to grace your TV screen, fast and furious action, and an arsenal of weapons that would make any ninja shed a tear of joy, then it's time to get your ninja skills in check and play NJB.

First off, the graphics - 5/5
The animation is top notch. I have never seen characters move so fluidly like they do in Ninja Gaiden. Ryu and the enemies move almost so realistically, it's scary. Ryu's ninja suite even has fabric that sways as you walk and moves with the wind. This hasn't changed since the previous version but it's STILL excellent. There is not a single frame rate studder in here, and when you see the huge dino-skeleton boss, you won't believe that they were able to pull this off with no frame rate slow down.

Sound - 5/5
Breathtaking! The music, the sound FX, everything just sets the mood in this game. What else can be said? You HAVE to have a 5.1 system which pumps out the bass with this game. My wife has told me to turn it down a notch or two sometimes.

Storyline - 5/5
Pretty intriguing. The FMVs are awesome. Team Ninja (like in DoA) has done an excellent job with the FMVs on this one as well. They blend in well with the gameplay and really add to the story. Team Ninja has also added new cut scenes that help flesh out the story even more and now you know who kept throwing those information stars at you throughout the game! For the original game, I rated this a 4 out 5. Due to the new cut scenes, I've upped it to 5 out of 5!

Gameplay - 5/5
For me, the gameplay is excellent. For others, it's going to be a sticking point. Believe me, this game is HARD! Not hard, but HARD as in SICK!!! And that's on the normal level! But, to let you know, this is not a button masher. I think that's where the problem resides for some people. People expect to just mash buttons and eventually win. No, you have to learn all the different moves that can be applied to a particular weapon and when to use those moves. The nunchucks are awesome, but the flail weapon (nunchucks with blades) is nasty, especially when you can get a 25+ hit combo going with it. I've even gotten up to 100 hits with it against an arsenal of demons. Again, it's learning each of the weapons strengths and weaknesses and when to use them that will help you progress in this game. The addition of the Hurricane Packs that were previously downloadable for the original NG, gives you one of the most ultimate weapons - the Lunar Staff. This thing is sick. The combos it can release are fast and far reaching. Get the Hurricane move going and Ryu is invincibile! Also added are Smoke Bombs. Drop one of these in the midst of a bunch of enemies and blind them temporarily so you can unleash a nasty combo attack and watch the body parts fly!

When an enemy is defeated, it will give off one of three "essence" globes:

- yellow for experience and money (you use these to upgrade weapons and purchase items)

- blue for healing

- red for ninpo (magic)

But, instead of just picking these up immediately, hold down on your massive attack button to absorb the essence floating around and watch the blade fly as Ryu goes into overdrive and hacks and slashes for you. Depending on the amount of essence you've picked up, it can result in some major damage to the enemy and then it releases even BIGGER amounts of essence, resulting in more "money". This allows you to buy things to such as weapons, healing potions, and items to expand your life bar as well as your ninpo magic levels. Underneath all of this is an RPG-type system. But, rather than increasing stats such as strength, charisma, etc, you increase your health and ninpo bar (HP and Magic points for you role playing hounds), and upgrade the strength of your weapons, which unlocks more combos and special moves. It's a wonderful twist on the RPG model that makes for an awesome game and upgrade system that doesn't seemed "forced" or old.

Enemies are abundant in supply and each chapter brings in a new set of enemies, much harder than the ones before. Demons, soldiers, mummies, bats, it's got it all in this game. But, that's not all. Many of the boss characters have been beefed up with harder skills to defeat as well as minions to help out. You thought Alma was tough in the first round? You haven't seen anything yet!

Other Extras - 5/5
Well, Tema Ninja has outdone themselves once again. This time around, you can unlock the original Ninja Gaiden arcade game. Also, costumes for Ryu can be unlocked and now there are 50 new missions to battle through along with the story-line mode.

After completing the game, you can upload your Karma scores to compare with other players from around the world. Think your NG skills don't stink? Upload them and make sure!

If you have a completed game from the previous version of NG, you will automatically unlock the Hard mode so you don't have to play through the Normal mode. But, I must warn you. I've played this level and it was unreal at times, especially Alma. I hate to think what Ultimate Ninja mode is like, if I ever get to that point! OUCH!

If you die enough times, you can unlock the Ninja Dog level. But, do you really want to be classified as a wimp? Ayane will really dig into you, basically stating she over estimated your skills, and if you really need it, she'll hold your hand for you. Plus, you'll have to walk around with a pink ribbon on your arm. Are you sure you want to do that?

On Ninja Dog mode, the enemey's skill don't decrease, but they will not have as much health as on normal mode, and you will find more health items lying around to help you. It's your choice - Ninja Dog or Master Ninja. Choose your destiny!

This is THE premiere fighting/adventure/ninja game out there. If you want to show off how well an Xbox game can still look and sound in the pre-dawn era of the next-gen consoles, this is the game to do it with.

One of the greatest action games got greater

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 24 / 31
Date: September 24, 2005
Author: Amazon User

If you played the original and beat it a number of times like me. Then as soon as you pop this in from the jump off you gon' tell the difference. First off; everything is almost the same for the most part. The controls are better but the graphics and voice acting is the same. Now the controls, remember when you went for the flying head slice and sometimes you would neck throw the enemy? Well that's gone. you can slice there heads off at will and toss them at will, just by pressing one extra button. Now the overall difference between the games. Normal mode is pretty much the same, except the enemies seemed more aggressive and faster(to me).
Also a couple of weapons has been added. The lunar; which happens to be a stick that can be upgraded just as the sword, and damn what a great addition because it is fun to use, plus you get it in the beginning of the game which is really cool because a weapon that fun should'nt have to be unlocked at the end. Also a smoke bomb has been added to disorient the enemies, if used at the right time. Doku's weapon which you acquire later by beating Doku, no longer drains your health when being used, plus that also can be upgraded.
Now for the brand new additions. The new missions mode which you unlock by beating the game is hard as hell. Your put in stages with a set amount of health and weapons, and just have to live through it. I can't tell you all the details because I haven't beat it yet. I also didn't unlock the original ninja gaiden for the arcade yet either, so I can't give you a heads up on that. But I can tell you about the hard mode for sure. If you looked up hard in the dictionary, I'm certain this game and mode will pop up. No exaggeration, I am a ninja gaiden vet, and I get f***** up in the first stage. All the enemies from the normal mode have been removed and replaced by the killing machines you see later in the game. There has also been new enemies with different abilities added to each stage. Just when you thought it could'nt get worst,it does. Tecmo was also kind enough, to add a coming attraction mode, for Dead or Alive 4, which has me salivating already, and movie mode. I saw where someone mentioned, there was an easy mode. I could'nt tell you about that, because I never play games on easy.
I'll close this review with this, I am as accurate as possible with this game. It is a very good game, if you like hard games. But if your the type that slams your control on the floor, or kicks your TV from dying a lot, this game is not for you. Diehard fans and those who are looking for a good challenge, are the ones who will enjoy this.

NG:B is not for the petty!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: October 17, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Is this the exact same game as the last Ninja Gaiden Game? No it is not.

Yes it's the same story, to where people like to use this as an excuse NOT to get the game due to its extreme difficulty that was so argued about on the original Ninja Gaiden. And for those that was put off on the difficulty of the game, then I have new news for you. Itagaki and Team Ninja has put in a "Ninja Dog" mode (Very Easy mode), for those that can't put up a good fight. I played through Ninja Dog for kicks, and I must say, it is really, really easy. If you can't beat Ninja Dog, then maybe you shouldn't be playing video games entirely.

Just to give people an overview, Ninja Gaiden: Black consists of many unlockables in the game. Mission Mode, Costumes, Difficutly Levels, Old-School Arcade Game, and much much more. I can say that the ONLY drawback I found in the game was that I had to play the Normal difficulty ALL OVER AGAIN just to unlock the anticipated Mission Mode. I can say it wasn't a complete waste of time, because it did prove useful to get myself refamiliarized with the controls and the bosses. Something that is much needed to be taken into consideration when you do the mission mode.

Graphics are still top-notch, the game play is still top-notch, and the camera has been fixed a bit. Sometimes it may come to be a pain, but it least it's not NEARLY as bad as it was before.

Is this game more difficult than the last Ninja Gaiden? Yes.

I have just beaten Very Hard and my adrenaline is rushing through excitement. Once you take a chance at the Hard difficulty you'll see brand new enemies you didn't see in the last Ninja Gaiden. In fact, for those of you that played the HP. Hard difficulty is a harder version of HP. Very Hard introduces more, and more more aggressive, enemies. And honestly, I'm afraid to see what "Master Ninja" mode is like. "Master Ninja" mode is the difficulty that is nearly impossible to beat and is said only 1 developer within Team Ninja beat this difficulty.

In closing, that's my review. I wanted to write something short, but it ended up to be long. Yes, NG:B is more difficult than NG, but in return, there is an easy Ninja Dog difficulty for anyone remotely familiar with video games can beat with a little time and patience. Take it from someone that has beaten all the difficulties of Ninja Gaiden and almost all difficulties of Ninja Gaiden: Black. This game is great, has a lot of replayability, and Team Ninja has definetly put in a LOT of time and patience to give us something worthwhile.

:0)

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 12
Date: June 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I had a great experience playing this game never got bored or felt like i wanted to quit...it kept me wanting to play more so overall i like it great for a collection....

The Experience...........

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: September 24, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Ever since Team Ninja's mercurial Tomonobu Ithagaki stated that Ninja Gaiden would be the greatest and most challenging action game ever, his remarks were often scoffed as a desperate attempt to garner a few pages of publicity. However, once Ninja Gaiden was unleashed on the unsuspecting public, only one question keeps popping up - "Just how in God's name has Tecmo come up with this blinder ? Seriously, I wanna know !"

The answer lies somewhere in between. Team Ninja boasts frightening talent and has created fanatically popular action titles. They've had some pretty average stuff like DOA:Beach Volleyball so speculation was expected. But Ninja Gaiden was not some average franchise.If ever the classic 2D game was to be revitalised, it had to be done so in all its 3D visual glory, coupled with never before seen action. At the helm of this impossible hope was Ithagaki. In the course of developing the game, he had only one command. 'Quality'.

And quality it certainly was. Ninja Gaiden, simply put, is the most visceral, frenetic and challenging action game made to date. Coupled with spectacular graphics and an eclectic soundtrack, gamers around the world just couldn't get enough of Ryu Hayabusa. But Tecmo didn't create a game that was accessible to all. Hell no. If you are a casual gamer, you'll get roasted. The AI of your adversaries is spectacular, to say the least. Even at Normal mode, Ninja Gaiden makes sure that you put in your best effort to earn those well deserved rewards. Nothing is easy. Team Ninja took great risk in making the game overtly challenging. Despite the high production values that force most studios to play safe, they held to their principle of forcing the player to fight every inch of the way. And the risk paid off as Gaiden garnered critical acclaim and spawned an entire community of fanatical gaming freaks. And don't let me start about the full motion videos that get unlocked as you progress. They are of unmatched, unrivalled quality. Ninja Gaiden truly is an amazing accomplishment.

And after a year of gasping breath, Tecmo has unleashed its greatest game edition called Ninja Gaiden Black. And for a price of 29.99$, the more pertinent question to be asked is, "Is it worth it?". The answer, is an absolute YES!.

Black has the same content of the original and much more. Apart from the identical story progression, Black has four extra unique standouts - Ninja Dog difficulty, Costume unlocks, Hurricane Packs and the Mission mode. Ninja Gaiden was criticed as being too tough for casual players, even on Normal mode. Ninja Dog mode bridges that problem but it isn't accessible directly. After a set number of successive deaths in Normal mode, the game asks you if you'd want to play on a lesser difficulty. If accepted, you'd have to face the igonimy of wearing a pink armband as a sign of submission to Ayane(another character from the DOA and NG universe). This is an amusing insult to your ego but at least you'll find the game much easier to complete. Completing the game in Normal or Dog mode will unlock higher difficulty modes that, safe to say, are just that....tough!. So refine those rusty moves of yours!.

As I mentioned above, costumes also get unlocked and there are around five of them, and all look great while the standout (Ashtar) is immensely cool. The ubiquitous Hurricane Packs, that originally could be downloaded through XBox Live, is now available directly from the menu. The unique Lunar staff is now freely available at the beginning of the game and the ultra cool Kitetsu is upgradeable and it doesn't drain your life either. The famous Intercept technique, that was introduced in the HPs, is now toned down to challenge the gamer a lot more. So that makes HPs, Hard and Very Hard difficulty much harder than the original. But hold on. If you thought that HP2 was tough, you haven't played Master Ninja mode. It seems that only one developer in Tecmo could complete it, albeit after many deaths, screams and a few broken controllers. And I can see why. The first section itself taught me humility. It is the toughest setting of this generation and even hardcore players (myself included) will be brought to their knees. I am in no mental or physical (read button-mashing) shape to play this difficulty, yet. But I will. It's my holy grail to perfection.

However, the highlight of the entire package is the Mission mode, which gets unlocked after the Very Hard mode (I believe). This is the real killer App in the game, wherein you get to face hordes of fiends displaced over 50 different scenarios. Each mission puts you in a unique locale with limited potions and weapons. Some either have just dozens of fiends feasting on you while others force you to complete the level with a particular weapon(s) only. The various locals from the original story form the setting for these missions so you'd naturally feel familiar with the environment if you played the game. But I wont say the same for the adversaries who are brutal, tough and fast. The levels progressively get harder and some have over 3 bosses (with minions) at the same time!. Talk about mercilessness by Tecmo. But that's what brings such fantastic replayability to Ninja Gaiden. You always improve. And just like in the HPs, you can upload your scores and get to boast at you less skilled brethren. Amen.

Along with the above mentioned additions, you are also treated to some more of the sensational minimatics that Tecmo is so good at. There is some story progression in these vids, but I wouldn't say much. It's glorious eye-candy, for sure. And coming to the graphics, do we really need to get to the specifics ?. Ninja Gaiden, being a year old, is still one of the best looking console games. Black simply refines the visuals by adding more polygons and sharpening the animation and body texture. The environments have been lovingly rendered and you'll always find subtle touches to each level that amplify their beauty. Level design is as always, brilliant. Next gen titles surely would look to the Gaiden franchise for inspiration. Gameplay is just as amazingly fluid and I find very little slow down even in the most intense battles. The combat also boasts the tightest response from your controller and it is real joy. The camera that got fixed in the HPs is the same here and w.r.t the blazingly fast combat, it does just fine. No complaints. The soundtrack is just as eclectic and it works really well as you progress deeper into the Gaiden universe. Overall, this is one complete game.

I can go on indefinitely, but you really must savour what this edition has brought forth yourself. Astonishingly, Ninja Gaiden Black seems to improve over the original in almost every way. Tecmo did not sit on their laurels and instead, gave us a game that will raise them to the pantheons of perfection. Ninja Gaiden Black IS perfect, in every conceivable way, right down to its price. No gamer worth his salt should forgo this experience. It is a game that is hard to replicate and even harder to master. But Tecmo has proven it can do both and the ultimate winner here is you and I. If you were overwhelmed by the original, turn around and buy this one. You will finally understand what makes Ninja Gaiden so special. I will sign off by saying that if there is any game that has redefined perfection, it is Ninja Gaiden Black. Enjoy and have a nice day.

Unlabored Flawlessness.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: October 09, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Often called the "greatest action game ever," and not without reason, "Ninja Gaiden" on XBOX took all the classic action/platform standards of the 3rd-person 3D hack-and-slash and raised them to the nth level of perfection - and then raised the difficulty to near-ridiculous. The result was an incredibly beautiful game for the elite...lol. Unless you either had skills or were prepared to earn them, you were likely to get no further than the infamous Level 5 Incendiary Shuriken-hurling Black Ninjas.

Well guess what - now "Ninja Gaiden Black" is here, the last-minute XBOX remix that includes all the stuff that the developers weren't able to work in for the original release date, which was subsequently issued in "Hurricane Packs" on XBOX Live. Foremost among the immediately noticable improvements is the ability to toggle your right-thumbstick cam between the (basically stupid and useless) 1st-person frozen mode of the original game, and the more typical and much more handy 3rd-person free-rotating cam that lets you look all around Ryu as you move. When you're negotiating timed light-pathways with giant swinging pendulums flying at you, or lining up a series of tricky jumps in a cave, it's nice to be able to see where you're going. Another change from the original within the main game is the fact that you now get the Lunar in Hyabusa Villiage the first time around, which is pretty decent considering that the next comparable weapon you'd normally get would be the Dabilahro many Scarabs later.

But what will make a lot of people happy is that there are now 5 levels of difficulty, so if you get killed enough times to demonstrate that you can't handle yourself, you'll have the degrading option of playing as "Ninja Dog," which is easier but still by no means a cake-walk. On the other hand, if you're totally nuts or some kind of video game idiot savant, you can play as Master Ninja, and if you beat the game on that setting Tecmo should really have to pay for your carpal tunnel surgery and/or electro-shock. Personally I beat the game on the default setting and I feel like I deserve a damn cookie.

If you're willing to stick it out, it's more than worth it. I'll play a hard game if it's challenging as opposed to merely irritating (nothing is worse than when they try to stretch a short game by making it unforgivably difficult). "Ninja Gaiden" is a hard game, but it truly rewards acquired skill. Ryu's basic attacks with the Dragon Sword can be fairly devastating, but the combos with all the other kinds of weapons, not to mention the "NinPo" (Magic) attacks, all of which are upgradable, allow for a great deal of subtlety in the hands of a sophisticated video game dork, and you'll need to figure at least some of them out just to proceed. The upshot is that once you do, you'll feel like a real badass.

Not only that, but you've never seen a game that looks quite this consistently incredible. Every texture in every level is as perfect as the XBOX can deliver. It's so smooth and seamless that I almost feel like I'm previewing an early 360 game. The level design rehashes a lot of cliches, including "Fire" and "Ice" Caves, Tomb Raider-style sham-Egyptian temples, and the inevitable colossal Gothic Church with stained glass window - but when they do it better than it's ever been done, I'm not mad at 'em. As for enemies, the people who complain about the Ninjas might as well quit there, because the non-humans that follow aren't as nice, from the flesh-eating zombie giants to the floating spinal cord-scorpions with sickles to the dragons and worms and giant beetles and worst of all, those freaking parasitic flying ghost fish. The designs are original and well-executed, particularly the bosses (by the way, there are often 3 or 4 bosses in a level). If you're going to get killed a dozen times in a row, it might as well be at the hands of an awe-inspiring enemy in a jaw-dropping environment.

"Black" also includes 50 "all-new Missions," which are basically supplementary battles that take place in unique mini-levels. There are also various other unlockables including outfits and an emulation of the original arcade "Ninja Gaiden."

If you already have "Ninja Gaiden" and you've downloaded the Hurricane Packs etc, there's probably not much reason to buy "Black" even though it's got such a low sticker price, unless you're a truly avid fan. But this game has a lot of avid fans, myself included, so I went ahead and picked it up. If you don't have either yet, this is obviously the one to get, even this close to the advent of 360.

Frustrating as Hell!!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 9 / 16
Date: October 17, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I forgot my password so I'm using this for now. I bought this game because I heard how difficult it was and because of the somewhat fair price. Now, I finished the original version on hard difficulty and just finished NG Black (Story mode) on hard as well. Yes! someone who beat this game! I spent way too many hours doing this though, and would not want to repeat it again. New to the game are the mission modes with new bosses/Ninja Gaiden arcade and easy-extreme difficulty settings . Other reviewers are not kidding, missions are insanely hard! You are given a set number of items and must survive an onslaught of minions or fight 2 boss characters at the same time!! I have only 2 missions left and don't think I'll beat them. There should be a difficulty setting for missions right off instead of forcing you to play on ultra hard to start off. The problem is every boss has an attack that if it hits you will kill you almost instantly, if not drain half your health. This sucks the fun factor right out if it's this unfair. Also new in this game are the pain in the a** powerful minions that are now around every corner and fighting alongside every boss character making you target them instead a lot of the time! One good thing is that now save points are closer to these boss fights. Another addition to the game are several encounters with a clone version of yourself that will use cheap juggles/Ninpo to kill you in one combo!! Just wait until you fight 2 of these at the same time in mission mode! Damn near impossible!! So several costumes as well as the Dark Dragon sword and Lunar staff are available/unlocked but I wish you could have played as some of the other characters in the game also. So unless you are a glutton for punishment or a ninja master you may want to think twice about getting this one!

UNBelively gay

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 17
Date: April 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I give this game 5 stars because when it makes me mad and i whip it against the wall it does not break. IT IS FREAKIN INDESTRUCTABLE.

Difficult in a fair way

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: September 23, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Those of you who have been gaming since the Atari/NES era, think back to what games were like back then. Generally speaking, the side scrollers were difficult affairs...requiring you to practice for weeks and weeks on end, chipping away and learning each level and enemy movement pattern. It took some work, but finally clearing a seemingly impossible level just felt so gratifying.

Enter Ninja Gaiden Black for the Xbox. Despite being in 3D with the usual next-gen eye candy, Team Ninja has somehow made this game play like the old 8 and 16 bit action classics of yesteryear. That said, they make no apologies as to the game's difficulty. It's hard, yes, but never really in a cheap way. Observe and experiment and you'll no doubt see that a solution is always at hand to clear any given situation. In essence, Ryu is the ultimate defensive master so use the block command often.

Ninja Gaiden Black is a worthwhile addition to anyone's Xbox collection. Those who own or have played the first NG installment may have some of the extras unlocked from the get go. Those new to the series are in for a battle as just the main game is available to them at first with other stuff (like the new mission modes and arcade version of NG) being unlocked when certain conditions are met. Either way, there's lots here to keep you playing for weeks if not months and the price is more than reasonable. Give it a shot.

This is the game which will MAKE YOU CRY!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: June 01, 2006
Author: Amazon User

You know those games there are which have so little content that the designers have to make everything really hard? Well this isn't one of them. This game is so frustrating when you die!!

I'll start with the bad points first:

1. The camera doesnt always follow you.
2. There aren't enough save points
3. Enemies almost always respawn upon re-entry [...]

The good points:

1. Awesome graphics
2. About a million combos and moves
3. Cool weapons
4. Easy to pick up for beginners
5. A lot of content and reason to play more than once
6. IT'S FREAKING IMPOSSIBLE!
7. One of the funnest games ever
8. Did I mention the graphics?

So as you can see, this game is great and has an unlimited playing time!

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