I consider myself a patient man, however, having never played Ninja Gaiden prior to my VC download, I feel that my epiphany, for better or worse, will shed some everlasting light and wisdom upon your life. The reason this review is being written now is because I just finished punching a hole through my wall. I have hurled my Wii Remote out my window, and kicked my television over. Welcome to Ninja Gaiden for the NES.
As Ryu Hayabusa, you will traverse the city and other locales in your ninja garbs, and head on to fight evil in this 2D sidescroller full of cheap enemies (Who really do nothing but get in your way to knock you off cliffs) and cheaper level design. However, while you WILL die over and over again, leading to guaranteed anger and mass frustration, it won’t happen of ill will. Ninja Gaiden controls so well for a(n) NES game, also using deep mechanics, despite using two buttons. Item pickups will help you out, but inevitably won’t save you. The first level is deceptive, leading you to believe you are a ninja master, and it really feels like it as you slash and shiruken your enemies left and right. Ryu’s ninja acrobatics and wall clinging makes you really feel like you’re accomplishing something, and you really have to haul ass through a level to get it done before the time runs out, making you feel that much more cool as you tear through the environment and your enemies.
From a graphical standpoint, Ninja Gaiden clearly shows its age, but the cinemas, along with their awesomely hilarious dialogue really stand the test of time. Cool art in the movies and melodrama make for a strangely out of place story that just doesn’t matter because you’re having too much fun killing football player/soldiers with machine guns. Nothing in this game adds up, but it doesn’t matter. It’s an insane amount of fun, and equally as difficult. If anyone ever tells you that video games do not lead to violence, point them in this direction - they’ll be flipping tables in no time, only to turn back around and start playing again.
Rating: 
