I tend to review games while being sensitive to what game design was in vogue at the time. Ninja Gaiden is absolutely brutal and holds no punches when it comes to punishing the player.
Ninja Gaiden itself is an adaptation of an arcade title, my general understanding is the arcade original is more beat ‘em up, while the FDS/NES version takes more cues from fast paced side scroller action of Super Mario Bros. and Castlevania - the latter even down to the general level structure and sub weapon systems. Also present is a new cross of Manga and Anime styled cutscenes to spell out a story between stages, the graphics are amazing for the NES and create a new dimension to a standard action platformer.
The downsides is almost definitely the difficulty, enemies spawn if you have not scrolled the screen far enough, and this seemingly occurs over second pitfall. You measure out your jump and take down an opponent just for it to constantly respawn over the pit you anticipate jumping, working backwards respawns the foes behind and the protagonist has a very short invincibility cycle, hence you die quickly from repeated hits or falling into a pit.
Most famously the final boss has three sections. Lose any and you will return to the beginning of the 6-1, expecting the player to replay 6-1, 6-2 and 6-3 before making another attempt at the boss.
I also found at times the controls were less responsive to moving left and right immediately after a jump to strike a foe.
But, hey it’s the standard level of Nintendo Hard the diehards live by. I’d recommend anyone play The Messenger which is a fantastic homage with much more responsive controls.
Ninja Gaiden itself is an adaptation of an arcade title, my general understanding is the arcade original is more beat ‘em up, while the FDS/NES version takes more cues from fast paced side scroller action of Super Mario Bros. and Castlevania - the latter even down to the general level structure and sub weapon systems. Also present is a new cross of Manga and Anime styled cutscenes to spell out a story between stages, the graphics are amazing for the NES and create a new dimension to a standard action platformer.
The downsides is almost definitely the difficulty, enemies spawn if you have not scrolled the screen far enough, and this seemingly occurs over second pitfall. You measure out your jump and take down an opponent just for it to constantly respawn over the pit you anticipate jumping, working backwards respawns the foes behind and the protagonist has a very short invincibility cycle, hence you die quickly from repeated hits or falling into a pit.
Most famously the final boss has three sections. Lose any and you will return to the beginning of the 6-1, expecting the player to replay 6-1, 6-2 and 6-3 before making another attempt at the boss.
I also found at times the controls were less responsive to moving left and right immediately after a jump to strike a foe.
But, hey it’s the standard level of Nintendo Hard the diehards live by. I’d recommend anyone play The Messenger which is a fantastic homage with much more responsive controls.