Ninja Gaiden. Yeah, here it is

There was a time when simple, yet polished gameplay equaled a good game (and don't get me wrong, it still does). There was a time before Devil May Cry showed us it's fun killing monsters and demons and look badass doing it. There was a time before CG babes began dominating the videogame screens with more than just their well endowed charms. And most certainly there was a time when Tecmo first showed us one of the great action/platform games of all time.

That game was Ninja Gaiden.

Ninja Gaiden has spawn many a child in various versions since it became such a hit, but the one that stands out it's the NES version, which thanks to the recomendation of a good contact, I shall tackle today.

You might wanna have a drink and something to eat. It might take a while.

Tecmo was ahead of its time when it came to making games. With nice graphics and cool, well done cinematics, they gave us a new feel for videogames and it made us feel as though we were taking part of a movie. That's right, before Hideo Kojima really took this to the next level, Tecmo gave us the foundation that elevated games into a new dimension that we experience today. I mean, how else did games came to be just the way they are in the present? Can you imagine if we couldn't enjoy them the same way we do now without cinemas? As gamers, we have come a long way.

The story is top-notch. We are treated with a classic duel to the death between two ninjas to start this game and we see that the gray ninja is defeated by the red one and Ryu Hayabusa wondered why his father had the duel and die. He then finds a letter from his father, which tells him that should he not return, Ryu must take the Dragon Sword and travel to America to visit an old friend, a Dr. Smith (No, it's not the guy from Lost in Space). Ryu is miffed about his father's death and decides to add vengeance on his to-do list and so it begins.

The gameplay is something that still wows the gamers with a simple, yet fuild flow with a fast and furious rush that comes when you move to kill enemies. You run by using the D-pad, you slash your foes with the B button and jump with A button. So far, so good. And since you're moving at a constant pace when moving forward, jumping from one platform to the next, killing enemies one after another and climbing ladders, the controls respond quickly and acurately as you progress.

The music is well done, for the most part. With each track giving a unique mood on each stage you go across, it gives you the right amount of juice to keep you going. Some of my favorites are when you through stone platforms with a mountain backdrop on stage 2-2, the one where you pursue an enemy ninja when you begin stage 3-1, the mine passage to Jaquio's temple on stage 4-2 and the track on 4-3 that gives you such a mood that you don't know when an enemy will pounce at you at the turn of a corner...

I found that the graphics were very good. There is no chopiness on neither the sprites nor the backgrounds and they look quite detailed too, as you go from the streets of a big city to a large plain in front of a lagoon, the interior of a temple and finally climbing through the parapets of the ruins. I give props to Tecmo because their cinematics are the cream of the crop and we see all the characters exactly as they are, giving us a box seat of what seems to be a very good movie and it also enhances the story, giving a unique flavor that stood out in the old days when Nintendo began to reign supreme in the industry, thanks in no small part to Tecmo by delivery a great game like Ninja Gaiden. The bosses look intimidating too and you will have to steel yourself in order to kick ass and take names unless you want a quick trip to the morgue, so some quick reflexes, fast moves and a sharp sword are your keys to insure victory.

Ryu looks ready to kick some ass and it shows when he gets down to business. Besides using the Dragon Sword and his ninja skills, he gets to find various ninja arts that aid him in his quest. At his disposal are the normal shurikens, which shoot straight and the deadly windmill shurikens, which come back and forth like boomerangs, enabling you to bust some deadly moves when you time your jumps right as it moves. You can also shoot the Fire Flames which go upward by an angle and finally the Sommersault Slash, which lets Ryu do the Sonic on the bad guys and slice 'em up as he jumps, making him impervious to many attacks (Unless you're stupid enough to fall to your doom in a pit). You also use a sandclock to stop time for a short while and the Invincible Fire Wheel, which as the name suggests, makes you invulnerable for a few seconds while blasting through the enemies. Regrettably, the Sommersault Slash is absent in the next two Ninja Gaiden games, so you might want to enjoy it while you can.

Oh, and there is also medicine which restores Ryu's energy and 1-UPs. You should grab those too.

The bad thing is that at later stages of the game, the soundtrack gets kinda repetitive as you advance and you feel that they should have added another track to avoid this. Then there is a factor in the challenge in which whenever you die, you lose a weapon which you had obtained and your Ninja magic gets cut by half. This happens until your power is depleted at your last life, so you have to make every move count, do not make mistakes and do not get distracted as you progress through each stage. This goes true when you need to be in tip-top condition to take on each boss and it sounds so true when you get to the final battles. I won't spoil it for you, so be brave and finish the job by yourself. ;P

A classic game that never dissapoints even the most hardcore gamers, to be sure. Ninja Gaiden gets a 9/10 from me. If you got the Wii, download it, and get down to beat the bad guys the only way ninja know how.

You might be saying right now 'This guy is giving a lot of 9s in his reviews. What's up with that?' Patience, grasshoppers, for I shall risk my sanity by reviewing bad games as well so that you won't have to play them after I'm done disecting them. Be warned, some of the material will have some potty-mouth langague rated R. :P

Enjoy your gaming!