Virtual Console Review: Ninja Gaiden 3.

Ryu’s been framed with the murder of his friend/lover Irene, and now it is up to him to avenge his friend, uncover the truth, and really piss you off. Run, jump, slash, use ninja skills, and slash some more in this action platformer for the virtual console.

While Ninja Gaiden 3 is only the 3rd game in the series, by now, I was already more than bored with them. Whereas Ninja Gaiden 2 took the first game further by fixing everything that I didn’t like about it, this game is just more of the same. I honestly don’t think I would be as bored with it if it wasn’t so hard. Now wait a minute, I’ve reviewed some pretty hard games before, and not once did I complain about too hard; and I even docked points from Fire Emblem Sword of Seals for not being hard enough! So why am I bellyaching about Ninja Gaiden 3 then?

You see, with a game like Contra 4, there is no time limit to rush me, but that isn’t so in Ninja Gaiden 3. So not only do you have to stay alive, but you must also play like you’re a speed runner. You can play through it patiently and not die, but you’ll probably run out of time and die anyway. You must memorize everything down, and execute it perfectly to stand a chance. I’ve had some pretty good runs through some of the stages, but because I dawdled, I had to fight the boss at suicide speed. I either I disregard my safety and go all out — and die because I didn’t learn the pattern — or a take too long and die. Even if you know the stage well, and have everything memorized, one tiny screw up could prove disastrous in the long run.

Another beef I have with the game is that you still can’t attack with your sword when you’re climbing up a wall or hanging from ledges. You have to use your ninja skills. This wouldn’t be an issue if it weren’t for the fact that the skills have limited uses. I always conserve my ninja skills unless I was climbing up a wall. Trust me, I’ve encountered situations where I had no more ninja skills left rendering me completely defenseless during my climb. It’s not like you can carry that many points of ninja skills or afford to collect them all when the timer’s breathing down your neck. This is just plain annoying.

The final problem is the jumping — or more specifically, jumping in the right direction. Let say you’re facing the right, but want to jump left. Unless Ryu’s facing the left, his jump distance would suffer. This wouldn’t be such a big issue if it wasn’t a platformer with a time limit. Every time things get hairy, and you want to jump, you have to double check to make sure you’re facing the right direction, or you might not make it. This might sound realistic, but when I’m a Ninja shooting fireballs at mutants from another dimension, I think that’s when I stop caring about realism.

The graphics are good, but the music didn’t sound as inspired as its predecessors. They did add a “hiya” sound whenever Ryu slashes with his sword. Even that doesn’t sound as clear as it should compared to how clear “Cowabunga” sounded in TMNT3. All this topped off with a better than average plot for an action platformer.

Now, if you find this review to be overly negative, you might be right. I could talk about what’s good, but it really can be summed up in one single sentence: This is a solid platformer with good controls and lots of action. That’s really it. I had to dissect the bad in detailed since they stand out more. It does everything the previous two games did, but they just didn’t put enough to make it fresh — or at the very least fix some lingering problems with the game. It all depends on your tolerance for pain. It wasn’t really the difficulty that got to me, but rather how annoyed I felt towards the game.

Graphics: 78%
Pros: Good graphics with well done cinematic stills.
Cons: Looks pretty much like the previous two games.

Gameplay: 60%
Pros: Solid action platforming game. I would even call it Castlevania with Ninjas and more acrobatics.
Cons: It’s hard, but more like annoyingly hard.

Sound: 69%
Pros: It’s not bad…
Cons: …but not as catchy as the first game.

Controls: 75%
Pros: Solid controls with just one flaw…
Cons: You must face the direction you want to jump for maximum distance. You really don’t have the time to look when you’re in a rush, and surrounded by enemies on all sides.

Story: 76%
Pros: Better than your average action game. Some good unexpected plot twists towards the end.
Cons: Umm… the what from the what dimension?

Recommendation: Ninja Gaiden fans should still love this. People looking for a very challenging game might also want to give it a look. Definitely NOT for inexperienced players!

Overall: 66%