Ninja Gaiden (TurboGrafx-16) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
829A playthrough of Hudson's 1992 action-platformer for the NEC PC Engine, Ninja Ryukenden.
Tecmo's 1988 Ninja Gaiden (also known as Ninja Ryukenden in Japan/Shadow Warriors in PAL territories) was one of the NES's seminal classics, and it's a game that's still remembered fondly... and sometimes with a barely-contained sense of rage... by most anyone that played it when it was still fresh.
It marked a huge departure from the 1988 arcade release of the same name, and it ended up a much better game because of it. Instead of playing itself off as an uber-violent Double Dragon clone, the NES version of Ninja Gaiden was a fluid, fast-paced 2D platformer with a multitude of special weapons, brilliantly realized story cutscenes, and a level of difficulty that would make the best players fling controllers across the room. It was everything you could want from a big budget action game of the era, and beating it really became a point of pride for players, much like Batman and Battletoads became later on in the NES's life.
While the US did see a release of a "remake" with the lackluster 1995 release Ninja Gaiden Trilogy, a lot of westerners don't seem to be aware that the trilogy version of NG1 was actually the *second* 16-bit remake to be made.
This 1992 Hudson release was a Japanese-exclusive release for the PC Engine, and while it does take some liberties, it does little to mess with the gameplay that made the original so good. It also is perfect for anyone that likes import games but doesn't read Japanese. I'm sure that you've already noticed that video shows the game in English: the game contains a code that allows you to change all of the in-game text to English (or Chinese, if you prefer). The English translation is different from that in the NES game, but it compares surprisingly well in its quality.
If you'd like to play it (especially since it'll be included with the TurboGrafx Mini!), here's the code: when the title screen appears, hold down buttons I and II and then hit SELECT to cycle through the language options. The logo will change to reflect the current setting.
The gameplay is pretty much the same as on the NES. The controls are slightly looser, but it all still feels sharp and responsive. The original game's ridiculous enemy respawn rate has been trimmed back slightly, but the spinning ninja jump move has been nerfed (making it far harder to cheese through bosses).
Whether or not you see the updated graphics as an improvement is going to be a matter of taste - there is much more detail and color, and everything was redrawn, but there will inevitably be those that prefer the look of the original.(Huge bonus: the jungle background in stage 4-1 no longer looks like pixel vomit!) The only real negative is the game's occasional attempt at parallax scrolling, which is slow, choppy, and a bit distracting until you get used to it.
The same goes for the audio. The NES soundtrack is fantastic, but outside of a few fanfares and the ending theme, you won't hear the NES music here. For whatever reason, the TG16 version features a brand new selection of tunes. They're very well written and match the game well, but they don't quite live up to the 8-bit originals. That having been said, I personally loved the new soundtrack. At the very least, it sounds far better than Ninja Gaiden Trilogy's lackluster attempt at updating the original music.
This is a really cool title for anyone that loved Ninja Gaiden, and it still holds up well as one of the better console Ninja Gaiden titles to be made. It's worth a look if you still have the chops for the action!
You can my videos of the other versions of the game here:
NES original: https://youtu.be/fPeiWyIz4qA
SNES remake: https://youtu.be/A5IgEvXEp9k
*This is a brand new, higher quality recording to replace my original playthrough of the game. In addition to being displayed in its intended aspect ratio at 60fps, I played *much* better this time.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (http://www.nintendocomplete.com/) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!
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