Ninja Gaiden Black

Overview

Ninja Gaiden Black is an enhanced remake of the action / adventure game Ninja Gaiden which was originally released on the Xbox in 2004. It is known for its incredibly fluid animations, deep fighting system, and intense difficulty as players guide protagonist Ryu Hayabusa through sixteen chapters worth of brutal combat, environmental exploration, and puzzle solving. In addition to including all of the content and improvements from the free downloadable "Hurricane Packs" released for its predecessor (Except for the Intercept, as it made the game too easy), Black also enjoyed some engine enhancements for improved textures, new in-engine cutscenes to fill out parts of the story, more unlockable costumes, and two additional difficulty levels.

The game is on the Xbox 360's backwards compatibility list and has been released for download through the system's Xbox Originals program.

Gameplay

Played from a third-person perspective, Ninja Gaiden specializes in fast, visceral 3D combat against multiple opponents including black ninjas wielding explosive throwing stars, armored soldiers with submachine guns and electrified blades, huge dinosaur-like demons which can breathe fire, and many more. These foes are highly aggressive -- unlike many similar games, they will not hesitate to coordinate their attacks to strike from multiple directions at once, executing continuous combos or devastating grapple moves to exploit any opening in the player's defenses. Every enemy in the game is fast, strong, and capable of dealing out lethal amounts of damage to send the player back to the previous save point.

Fortunately, the player-controlled Ryu Hayabusa has a variety of upgradeable weapons at his disposal, superhuman agility which allows him roll safely away from enemy attacks and run several steps straight up most vertical surfaces, and the ability to cast a few different "ninpo" spells which can inflict heavy damage on one or more nearby foes. Fallen enemies also give off yellow essence which can be exchanged at shops for healing items, blue essence to heal up Ryu's wounds, and red essence to recharge his ninpo, and in the thick of battle, nearby essence can be absorbed to unleash immensely powerful "Ultimate Techniques" capable of slaying multiple enemies at a time.

Combat can take place at virtually any point in the game, but between battles, players explore each level to find hidden items and solve puzzles to proceed to the next area. There are many variations on the theme of finding a key to pass through a particular locked door, as well as environmental puzzles where Ryu must use his wall-running ability or ledge-shimmying skills to avoid damage and gain access to a hard-to-reach place. In addition to free hidden healing items, most levels also include Golden Scarab jewels which can be exchanged at shops for unique items which cannot be obtained any other way.

Weapons in the game include the Dragon Sword, a single katana considered the most balanced weapon in the game, nunchucks which sacrifice range for a greater attack speed, a quarterstaff which can easily hit multiple surrounding enemies with every swing, and a couple super-heavy weapons, like the Dabilahro great sword, which are ideal for dishing out heavy damage against some of the slower, more heavily armored opponents. Each weapon can be improved at shops in the game to unlock new and more powerful combos.

Black features several subtle gameplay changes from the original release including the relocation of certain keys, new enemies, and a few brief in-engine cutscenes designed to bridge some of the gaps in the narrative. Players who frequently die will be offered the opportunity to "Abandon the Way of the Ninja", and those who accept will be transfered to Black's new " Ninja Dog" difficulty level which is easier than the normal mode, but brands Ryu with a bright pink ribbon.

Finally, Black also adds a Mission Mode which can be unlocked by completing the game. These fifty levels focus exclusively on the combat, often restricting the player's available weapons and healing items to enhance the difficulty and give veteran players a series of progressively tougher challenges.

Style

Some of the locales in the game include a traditional Japanese village, a futuristic airship, a modern military base, and ancient catacombs stretching deep beneath the evil Vigoor capital, evoking an anachronistic world similar to developer Team Ninja's Dead or Alive fighting game franchise. Enemy types vary in each level, and most chapters end with a particularly challenging boss encounter appropriate to the setting.

Full List of Additions to Black

Ninja Gaiden Black changed many things from the original Ninja Gaiden.

• A Higher Difficulty Setting, Master Ninja, and a Lower Difficulty Setting, Ninja Dog
• Mission Mode, containing 50 Missions, with Eternal Legend being from the Hurricane Pack
• Extra Cutscenes
• The Lunar was added, previously seen in the Hurricane packs.
• The new Plasma Sabre Mark II is included in some Missions, being simply a clone of the True Dragon Sword.
• Text boxes were removed, replaced with simple text on the screen.
• Smoke Bombs were added
• Improved Camera
• The Original Arcade Ninja Gaiden replaces the three NES games included in the previous release.
• Essence no longer required for charging Ultimate Techniques
• Successive Play was removed.
• Extra Costumes were added
• A new boss, and modifications to others.
• A trailer for DOA 4.

Story

Ryu Hyabusa visits Murai, the leader of the " Shadow Clan" of Ninjas, and Ryu's Uncle. The visit is cut short when Ayane brings news that the Hyabusa village has been attacked. Ryu rushes to save his village, and the Dark Dragon Blade kept within it, but is struck down by a mysterious and powerful figure, who steals the cursed Dark Dragon Blade. Murai informs Ryu that the samurai that attacked the village was Doku, a Greater fiend from the Holy Vigoor Empire, and Ryu sets out on a quest for vengeance.

To enter Tairon, the capital of Vigoor, Ryu stows away on an airship, and starts his search for Doku. In Tairon, Ryu travels to Hans Bar, to find out information, and meets Rachel. Rachel is a "fiend hunter" and the two converse. This is all being watched by Gamov and the Dark Disciple, whose identity is unknown, however as the story progresses, it is made clear that these two have been arranging events from behind the scenes.

Ryu reaches a monastery, and after an exploration into the hidden underground, fights with Alma, a Greater Fiend and Rachel's Sister. Ryu is victorious in the battle, but Rachel cannot bring herself to strike the final blow, as she sees a small spark of humanity in Alma. This weakness results in Doku capturing Rachel. The battle in the monastery results in the military being alerted to the situation, and Ryu diverts to disrupt the armies communications, by destroying their tower.

After destroying the communications tower, Ryu proceeds to the palace of Zarkahn, via the aqueduct, and eventually meets with Doku, who has Rachel as a prisoner. Ryu defeats Doku, and Rachel is freed, but no questions are answered and the Dark Dragon is with the Holy Vigoor Emperor. Doku vows he shall not be so easily defeated, and will bring about the Fiendish Awakening. Rachel seems to understand, and leaves before Ryu can stop her.

Muramasa asks to see Ryu, and explains to him that the Dragon Sword has not reached its full potential, and needs a jewel to reach it. As Ryu travels on, through the caverns, and back to the center of Tairon, he realizes he has collected 3 stones that open up a pathway of portals that are activated on stone circles. This allows Ryu to find this jewel, and continue his fight for vengeance.

The spirit of Doku has taken Rachel prisoner again, and uses her in a ritual to increase Almas power. Ryu defeats the Awakened Alma, and rescues Rachel, and leaves to deal with Doku, who has succeeded in bringing about the awakening. Ryu follows Doku to a labyrinth, and succeeds on killing his spirit, but as he dies, Doku passes on a blood curse to Ryu, turning him into a fiend. The sole way to relieve him of the curse and to retrieve the Dark Dragon is to kill the Emperor.

Ryu infiltrates the palace of Zarkahn, and kills Marbus, the third greater fiend, to gain entry to the Emperors realm. Ryu eventually succeeds in killing the Emperor, but the caverns are falling down around him, and he quickly rushes to the Dark Dragon Blade, and is Rescued by Rachel. As they leave, the Dark Dragon Blade falls into the hands of the Dark Disciple, who has been watching all along. The Dark Disciple Murders his assistant, Gamov, and reveals himself to be Murai. Harnessing the evil of the Dark Dragon Blade, Murai is turned into the Devil Incarnate, and fights with Ryu. Ryu is victorious, and destroys the blade with his True Dragon Sword, shattering it. Despite Rachel wanting to stay with him, Ryu transforms into a Falcon and flies back to the Hyabusa Village, victorious.

In a brief Epilogue, Ryu lays the jewel back on Kureha's tombstone that it was found upon, in his village.

Bosses

There are only two chapters in the game that do not contain a boss and some that contain more than one. Below is a list of every boss and where they appear in the game along with a description. (some images are from Ninja Gaiden Sigma but the appearance remains the same)

	Murai – The first boss encounter in the game, he was made significantly easier than in the original Ninja Gaiden. His throw damage and instant counters have been reduced and he was made much more vulnerable to ET/UT attacks. On hard he will have 4 sets of white ninjas, on very hard 4 sets of Vigoorian ninjas and on master ninja he has 4 sets of flame ninjas.
	Masakado – An extremely tough samurai horseman. He is the boss for chapter 2 and is always accompanied by mages. On the higher difficulties, he will have to be dismounted from his horse and then fought like a samurai enemy to fully kill him. On lower modes, his default life bar only has to be drained for the kill. He is significantly more powerful when fighting on the ground than a regular samurai.
	Dynamo – The head of the military assault team that boards the airship in chapter 3 in order to find Ryu. He was made harder for Black, the flying swallow technique is no longer as useful as it was in the original Ninja Gaiden. Instead the player must now accurately dodge his attacks and time theirs to damage him. He is the only boss that smoke bombs have an effect on. Dropping a smoke bomb will enable the player to land a successful ultimate technique which will deal massive damage. He is accompanied by white soldiers on hard, a mixture of white and black on very hard, and exclusively black soldiers on master ninja.
	Hydracubus – The first of the great fiends encountered in the game and the final boss in chapter 5. In order to deal damage to it the tentacles must first be removed, the flying swallow is best for this. Once these are gone the player can use any means to damage the main body, however the window of opportunity is limited before the tentacles grow back and must be removed again. On hard it is accompanied by brown imps, pink imps on very hard and crab imps on master ninja.
	Bone Dragon – The boss of chapter 6, this enemy is resurrected once the chalice is returned to its rightful place. This boss can only be damaged by attacking its feet that are holding it in place. A certain amount of health is assigned to each one, the back feet hold roughly 60% of the overall health where the front two feet hold less. The bone dragon will always attack before displaying another foot and the back feet have the most dangerous attacks assigned to them. This is due to them making the boss more vulnerable. This boss has an increasing number of wasp fiends on higher modes.
	Alma – The boss of chapter 7 and first of the great fiends encountered in the game and considered by most as one of the toughest bosses in the game. This is another boss that was made slightly easier for Black due to the recovery frames of the flying swallow being reduced. The minions are the same as Hydracubus.
	Tanks/Helicopter – These are the primary bosses for chapter 9. The tanks come one at a time and the helicopter is fought upon a bridge. The newly acquired strongbow is used to defeat them, explosive arrows are the best for the tanks as they kill the gunner as well as doing damage to the tank and the APFSDS cores are the best for the helicopter. However, these arrows must be used for the tanks if the player is going for karma.
	Lightning Worm – The first of 3 bosses in chapter 10. This is one of the easier bosses in the game, due to it not having minions on higher modes and very predictable attacks. However, due to this its attacks deal a lot of damage to Ryu and have a wide area of effect.
	Double Lightning Worm – The second boss in chapter 10, again with no minions but it is made much harder by the extra worm. A lot of knowledge of this boss’ patterns is required to handle this efficiently as the double boss can deal massive damage.
	Paz Zuu – The final boss of chapter 10 with the same minion structure as Alma/Hydracubus, the only difference being that one set for this boss is 3 enemies rather than the traditional two. It has very wide attack ranges and does high damage. The player must attack the legs in order to stun the boss, giving the opportunity for massive damage to be dealt.
	Doku – Lord of the great fiends and the boss in chapter 11. He is a very pattern based enemy and attacking him successfully will require perfect timing. He is most vulnerable after his lunge attack and ultimate combo. He is accompanied by increasingly stronger ninjas on higher modes.
	Fire Worm – The first boss of chapter 12. Very similar to the lightning worm in appearance and attacks. The biggest difference is the ring attack which requires the player to jump straight up in order to avoid it. Other than that it is virtually the same fight.
	Yotunfrau – The second boss of chapter 12 with the same minion structure as Alma/Hydracubus. A very slow enemy with large windows for attacking, but like most bosses with this system, his attacks deal huge damage to the player.
	Smaugan – The final boss of chapter 12, he is accompanied by zombie arches on higher modes. His primary attack is a wave of fire which can avoided with a well timed roll. If the player gets close, he will try to bite him, which deals massive damage. If the player can escape this attack, a wall attack can be done at the end to set up for more damage. He can also shoot fireballs at the player which have a wider damage area than they appear to have.
	Awakened Alma – The true from of Alma after defeating her and the boss of chapter 13 with the same minion structure as before. She is a completely different enemy this time, with far more dangerous attacks and she is harder to stun. Level 2 inazuma ninpo will always knock her down and is the only truly reliable way to stun her. The flying swallow is better though due to the shorter recovery frames and the position the player will be in afterwards.
	Spirit Doku – Doku’s form after defeating him and the boss of chapter 14. Inferno ninpo was devastating against him in the original Ninja Gaiden and was toned down for this one. More emphasis is put on evading his attacks (much like the first encounter) and timing yours perfectly. He is accompanied by increasing numbers of ghost fish.
	Nicchae – Only found in very hard and master ninja during the Marbus marathon in chapter 15. It is the exact same boss as Alma with two main differences. The first being far higher damage and the second is she is much more close quarters orientated than Alma who relies more on projectiles. She is accompanied by crab imps on master ninja.
	Ishtaros - Only found in very hard and master ninja during the Marbus marathon in chapter 15. She is a very close quarters based enemy and is vulnerable after nearly all her attacks. However, the claw-spin kick attack leaves her more open to attack than any other. She will occasionally use her whip to attack to the chains in the arena where you fight her, during this time an ultimate technique can be charged to damage her as she jumps down to attack you.
	Marbus – The personal guard to the vigour emperor and found in chapter 15. He is an air based enemy in the same manner as Alma and can summon minions throughout the fight, topping out 111 enemies. His main weakness is his dive bomb attack, if successfully avoided, he is open to huge damage from the player.
	Vigoor Emperor 1 form – The first encounter of the emperor in chapter 15. Ryu is standing on a floating rock when fighting this boss, inferno ninpo is the most effective way of defeating this boss. However, ultimate techniques with the True Dragon Sword are very effective also. Doing these requires a good knowledge of here attacks in order to dodge them for time to charge.
	Vigoor Emperor 2 form – Fought immediately after the first form. This boss consists of a mass of skulls topped by a larger skull and walks on four hands. He will walk around the outside of the platforms present at the time and will send barrages of skulls at the player. These can be killed to deal damage and when the big skull comes for the player ninpo can be used to deal huge damage. This attack is the most dangerous the boss has.
	Fiend Murai – The final boss of the game and found in chapter16. Flying swallow’ effectiveness was significantly reduced in this game. Instead the focus shifted to timing your attacks after his most vulnerable stages. Inferno ninpo is useful and the True Dragon Sword is the most balanced weapon to use.

Fiend Challenges

Throughout the game there are large scale encounters placed in previously conquered areas that will yield a significant item reward for completing them, usually a live of the thousand gods or spirit of the devil. These are commonly dubbed “fiend challenges” due to the high enemy counts present in them. These scale per difficulty, increasing the number of enemies and types of enemies contained within them.

Below is a guide to all challenges and what chapter they should be completed in. This is due to the kills being allocated to that particular chapter (see Karma section).

Chapter 6 : Archive challenge – Becomes available once the underground is entered and will cease after chapter 7 has been completed

Chapter 7 : Ritual Room challenge – Becomes available indefinitely after completing chapter 6.

Chapter 10 : Peristyle Passage and Bug challenge: The latter of these two is simply an encounter found in the room near the entrance to the peristyle passage. The other is available when you enter the room on any difficulty below very hard, on those modes, a fiend Ryu will have to be defeated beforehand.

Chapter 12 : Zarkhan Stadium and Staircase challenge: The latter is simply another encounter that will be triggered upon entering the area. The other will be available as soon as you leave and re-enter the stadium in chapter 12 or any time after that.

Chapter 13 : Great Bridge and Wasp challenge: The former is considered the hardest one in the game. This challenge will activate once you have placed the stone tablets in the serpents square in Tairon. It is located through the green door on the streets of Tairon, opposite the destructible wall. The wasp challenge is treated as a normal encounter and is only available once at the very start of the chapter.

Below is a list of how many enemies each encounter contains depending on the difficulty.

Ninja Dog: 40 (the missing kills will need to made up elsewhere to make the kill requirement, see Karma section for more details)

Normal: 60

Hard: 80

Very Hard: 100

Master Ninja: 120

Below is a guide to what enemies you will face in each challenge depending on difficulty.

Archive Challenge

Ninja Dog: Brown imps and monks

Normal: Brown imps and monks

Hard: Cat fiends and monks

Very Hard: Great cat fiends and monks

Master Ninja: Greater cat fiends and flame ninjas

Ritual Room Challenge

Ninja Dog: 40 zombies

Normal: 60 zombies

Hard: 80 zombies

Very Hard: 100 zombies

Master Ninja: 120 zombies

Bug Challenge

Ninja Dog: 40 bugs

Normal: 60 bugs

Hard: 80 bugs

Very Hard: 100 bugs

Master Ninja: 120 bugs

Peristyle Passage Challenge

Ninja Dog: 40 Brown imps

Normal: Brown and Pink imps

Hard: Brown and Pink imps

Very Hard: Pink imps and Crab imps

Master Ninja: 120 Crab imps

Zarkhan Stadium Challenge

Ninja Dog: 40 Red Dragons

Normal: 60 Red Dragons

Hard: 80 Ogres

Very Hard: Ogres and Berserkers

Master Ninja: 120 Berserkers

Staircase Challenge

Ninja Dog: Brown and Pink imps

Normal: Brown and Pink imps

Hard: Brown and Pink imps

Very Hard: Pink imps and Crab imps

Master Ninja: Pink imps and Crab imps

Wasp Challenge

Ninja Dog: 40 Wasps

Normal: 60 Wasps

Hard: 80 Wasps

Very Hard: 100 Wasps

Master Ninja: 120 Wasps

Great Bridge Challenge

Ninja Dog: Pink imps and Laser Crab imps

Normal: Pink imps and Laser Crab imps

Hard: Ogres and Red Dragon fiends

Very Hard: Black Spider Ninjas and Flame Ninjas

Master Ninja: 40 Laser Crab imps, 40 Ogres and 40 Berserkers

Weapons

Melee

• Dragon Sword (Later Increased to the True Dragon Sword)

• Lunar
• Nunchucks
• Wooden Sword (Can be upgraded to the Unlaboured Flawlessness)
• Vigoorian Flails
• Dabilahro
• War Hammee
• Kitetsu
• Spear Gun (Takes up the position of a melee weapon, but shoots harpoons)
• Dark Dragon Blade (Unlocked by acquiring all 50 scarabs and giving them to Muramasa.)

Projectile

• Shuriken
• Windmill Shuriken
• Incendiary Shuriken
• Smoke Bombs
• Bow (Later replaced with the Strongbow)
• Explosive Arrows
• APFSDS Cores.

Mission Mode

The mission mode is unlocked for completing the game on hard. Once unlocked it adds a substantial amount of value to the game. Below is a complete list of the individual missions and what enemies are present in them.

Path of the Master Ninja

Phase 1:

1st wave - 2 ninjas 1 mage at any time

( First two ninjas are brown and white. Reinforcements come in cycle of red, brown, white. Maximum of 5 brown ninjas, 5 white ninjas, 5 red ninjas. )

( Maximum of 6 magi. Magi will always appear one at a time. )

2nd wave - 3 red ninjas

Phase 2:

1st wave - 4 enemies at any time

( 1 Gallas, 1 Thorn Gallas, and 2 red ninjas at the start. Maximum of 4 Gallas, 4 Thorn Gallas, 8 red ninjas. Same order for reinforcements. )

2nd wave - 10 wasp fiends

Phase 3:

Before Masakado is knocked off - Masakado maximum of 2 minions

( Minions always come in a pair of mounted archer and spearman. Reinforcements only come in when Masakado has been damaged to a certain degree. )

After Masakado has been knocked off - Masakado 3 mounted minions unlimited minions on foot

( Maximum of 8 mounted archers, 8 mounted spearmen. )

Phase 4:

1st wave - 6 enemies at any time

( Maximum of 3 brown ninjas, 3 white ninjas, 2 black ninjas, 2 red ninjas, 1 purple ninja, 3 samurais, 3 silver samurais, 2 magi )

2nd wave - 6 magi

3rd wave - 6 enemies at any time

( Maximum of 3 brown ninjas, 3 white ninjas, 2 black ninjas, 2 red ninjas, 1 purple ninja, 3 samurais, 3 silver samurais, 2 magi )

4th wave - 6 black ninjas

5th wave - 6 enemies at any time

( Maximum of 3 brown ninjas, 3 white ninjas, 2 black ninjas, 2 red ninjas, 1 purple ninja, 3 samurais, 3 silver samurais, 2 magi )

6th wave - 6 purple ninjas

7th wave - 6 enemies at any time

( Maximum of 3 brown ninjas, 3 white ninjas, 2 black ninjas, 2 red ninjas, 1 purple ninja, 3 samurais, 3 silver samurais, 2 magi )

8th wave - 6 red ninjas

Phase 5:

Murai 3 minions

1st wave - 1 brown ninja 1 white ninja 1 mage

2nd wave - 1 brown ninja 1 white ninja 1 mage

3rd wave - 1 black ninja 1 purple ninja 1 red ninja

4th wave - 1 black ninja 1 purple ninja 1 red ninja

Nightmarish Phantasms

Phase 1:

Bone Dragon 4 waves of 6 wasp fiends

Phase 2:

Hydracubus minions

1st wave - 2 brown imps

2nd wave - 2 brown imps

3rd wave - 2 pink imps

4th wave - 2 armoured imps

Phase 3:

Doku minions

1st wave - 2 silver samurais

2nd wave - 2 magi

3rd wave - 1 silver samurai 1 mage

4th wave - 1 Vigoorian berserker

Phase 4

Yotunfrau 4 waves of 2 basts & 2 greater basts

Phase 5:

Smaugan 4 waves of 4 archer ghuls

Abysmal Lair

Phase 1:

1st wave - 12 creatures at any time

[ Maximum of 13 bats ( 6 at any time ), 13 pill bugs ( 6 at any time ), 14 cyclops wasps ( 6 at any time ). Start off with 4 bats, 5 pill bugs, and 4 cyclops wasps. ]

2nd wave - 15 ghost fishes

3rd wave - 15 ghost fishes

4th wave - 15 ghost fishes

5th wave - 15 ghost fishes

Phase 2:

Thunder Worm 4 waves of 2 pill bugs & 4 wasp fiends

Phase 3:

1st wave - 2 ogres 4 pink imps 4 armoured imps

( Together, the imps can only appear 3 at any time. An ogre will be added when 2 imps have been killed. )

2nd wave - ??? brown imps ( maximum of 5 imps on screen at any time )

3rd wave - 3 ogres

Phase 4:

1 Thunderbolt worms 1 Fire worm 3 waves of 2 pill bugs and 2 wasp fiends

Phase 5:

2 Thunderbolt worms 1 Fire worm

Once 2 worms are dead, 2 waves consisting of 2 wasp fiends 2 pill bugs join the remaining worm.

Military Destruction

Phase 1:

Dynamo minions

1st wave - 2 white SATs

2nd wave - 2 black SATs

3rd wave - 2 blue MSATs

4th wave - 2 black MSATs

Phase 2:

2 Tanks ( 1 at any time ) minions

1st wave - 2 Vigoorian infantry

2nd wave - 2 Vigoorian infantry

3rd wave - 2 mechanised Vigoorian infantry

4th wave - 2 mechanised Vigoorian infantry

Phase 3:

3 enemies on the platform 3 enemies on the tower at any time. The next wave will be triggered by the destruction of every 2 satellite dishes.

1st wave - 2 ogres 3 Mechanised Vigoorian Heavy Infantry

2nd wave - 3 pink imps 3 archer ghuls

3rd wave - 3 basts 3 archer ghuls

4th wave - 2 Vigoorian berserkers 3 archer ghuls

Phase 4:

1st wave - 2 Vigoorian infantry

2nd wave - 2 Vigoorian infantry

3rd wave - 2 mechanised Vigoorian infantry

4th wave - 2 mechanised Vigoorian infantry

Phase 5:

1st wave - 6 enemies at any time

( Maximum of 3 white SATs, 3 blue MSATs, 3 black SATs, 3 black MSATs, 3 purple SATs, 3 gold MSATS, 2 Vigoorian infantry, 2 Vigoorian heavy infantry, 2 mechanised Vigoorian infantry, 2 mechanised Vigoorian heavy infantry, 2 mini-helicopters. )

2nd wave - 5 Vigoorian heavy infantry

3rd wave - 6 enemies at any time

( Maximum of 3 white SATs, 3 blue MSATs, 3 black SATs, 3 black MSATs, 3 purple SATs, 3 gold MSATS, 2 Vigoorian infantry, 2 Vigoorian heavy infantry, 2 mechanised Vigoorian infantry, 2 mechanised Vigoorian heavy infantry, 2 mini-helicopters. )

4th wave - 6 mini-helicopters

5th wave - 6 enemies at any time

( Maximum of 3 white SATs, 3 blue MSATs, 3 black SATs, 3 black MSATs, 3 purple SATs, 3 gold MSATS, 2 Vigoorian infantry, 2 Vigoorian heavy infantry, 2 mechanised Vigoorian infantry, 2 mechanised Vigoorian heavy infantry, 2 mini-helicopters. )

6th wave - 5 mechanised Vigoorian heavy infantry

Descent of the Fiends

Phase 1:

2 ogres 1 bast fiend at any time

Maximum of 4 ogres, 5 greater basts & 5 basts ( greater bast appears first, reinforcements alternate between these two )

Phase 2:

Starting : 1 Ogre 1 Thorn Gallas 1 Vigoorian Berserker

Maximum of 2 Ogres, 2 Thorn Gallas, 2 Gallas, 3 Vigoorian Berserkers

Only maximum of 3 enemies in arena at any time.

Phase 3

1 Tank 4 waves of 2 soldier fiends

Phase 4

Paz Zuu minions

1st wave - 2 brown imps

2nd wave - 1 pink imp 1 ogre

3rd wave - 2 basts

4th wave - 1 greater bast 1 ogre

Phase 5

1st encounter - Doku 4 waves of 2 purple ninjas

2nd encounter - Marbus 11 basts ( maximum of 3 at any time )

3rd encounter - 3 Vigoorian berserkers ( maximum of 2 at any time )

4th encounter - Nicchae 4 waves of 2 armoured imps

5th encounter - Ishtaros

Captivating Goddess

Phase 1:

Awakened Alma minions

1st wave - 1 brown imp 1 pink imp

2nd wave - 1 bast 1 greater bast

3rd wave - 2 armoured imps

4th wave - 2 black imps

Phase 2:

Alma minions

1st wave - 2 brown imps

2nd wave - 2 pink imps

3rd wave - 2 basts

4th wave - 2 armoured imps

Phase 3:

2 Distraction force 2 Rachel shooters at any time

1st wave of Distraction force - 10 ghost fishes

2nd wave of Distraction force - 2 ogres

1st wave of Rachel shooters - 8 archer ghuls

2nd wave of Rachel shooters - 6 Vigoorian heavy infantry

2nd wave of each respective force will only appear when its 1st wave has been totally destroyed.

Phase 4:

Nicchae minions

1st wave - 3 brown imps

2nd wave - 3 pink imps

3rd wave - 3 bast fiends

4th wave - 3 armoured imp s

Phase 5:

Ishtaros 4 waves of temple knights

Fateful Confrontation

Phase 1:

1 Fiend Ryu wielding Vigoorian Flails

Phase 2:

1 Fiend Ryu wielding Kitetsu

Phase 3:

1 Fiend Ryu wielding Dabilahro

Phase 4:

1 Fiend Ryu wielding True Dragon Sword

Phase 5:

1 Fiend Ryu wielding Lunar

Battlefield of the Abyss

Phase 1:

Fiend Murai minions

1st wave - 2 brown imps

2nd wave - 2 pink imps

3rd wave - 2 armoured imps

4th wave - 2 black imps

Phase 2:

Spirit Doku 4 waves of 10 ghost fishes

Phase 3:

Marbus minions

1st & 2nd wave - 1 brown imp, 1 pink imp, 1 armoured imp, 1 bast, 1 greater bast

3rd & 4th wave - 1 Vigoorian berserker

Phase 4:

1 Fiend Ryu wielding Unlabored Flawlessness 4 waves of 2 purple ninjas

Phase 5:

1 Fiend Ryu wielding Vigoorian Flails 1 Fiend Ryu wielding Lunar

Giants of the Underworld

Phase 1:

Doku Alma

Phase 2:

Doku Marbus

Phase 3:

Marbus Alma

Phase 4:

Alma Nicchae

Phase 5

Nicchae Ishataros

Karma System

Karma System (story mode)

The karma system is essentially the game’s scoring system. There are a number of factors the player will have to master in order to gain the highest score possible. The main one being getting the highest number of ultimate techniques in every fight. These are done by absorbing essence orbs that the enemies drop, below is a guide on what essence will yield the techniques.

One Yellow = Essence Technique

Two Yellow = Ultimate Technique

Red = Ultimate Technique

Blue = Ultimate Technique

An essence technique will give a bonus of 2,000 karma points, whereas an ultimate technique will give a 5,000 point bonus. There is always a limit 50 scored UT’s per encounter spread across both. Meaning that you will only be rewarded for the move 50 times, whether it is 1 essence technique and 49 ultimate techniques or vice versa.

The biggest difference in Ninja Gaiden Black is that essence is not required for UT’s anymore. They can be charged by holding down the Y button. The armlet of celerity will decrease the charge time needed for this, something which is essential for high score runs. The band of light is obtained much earlier in Ninja Dog mode, which functions in the same way.

Each regular enemy in the game is allocated a base kill bonus of 1,000 points and a time bonus is worth 10,000 points and bosses are worth 100,000 points. If all enemies are killed and fully dissolved in the allotted time the time bonus will be achieved. Hit combos are multiplied by 10 and added to the final score. The remaining time left will act as a multiplier to the base kill bonus. For example, if an encounter has 100 seconds on the clock and it is beaten in 50 seconds, you will receive a 50% multiplier to the base kill bonus of that particular fight. If this was a boss encounter with 8 minions, that would be a base kill bonus of 108,000 and a bonus of 50% would be 54,00 points. Giving you a total of 162,000 point kill bonus.

There are also time limits for each chapter along with a minimum number of kills required to gain the end of chapter bonuses as well as finishing with a full ninpo meter. There is also an essence bonus that is worth 10,000 points, to obtain this you need to finish a chapter with 2,000 more essence than what you started the chapter with. For example, if you start a chapter with 5,370 in essence, you need to finish that chapter with at least 7,370 to get the full bonus. The other three bonuses are worth 100,000 points each, the full end of chapter bonus is worth 310,000 points.

Below is a complete list for every difficulty with the required time limits and kill requirements.

The numbers will be in order according to difficulty for times and kills. Since Ninja Dog and Normal are the same, there will only be one number for them. For example...

Time = 10/20/30/40

Kills = 100/200/300/400

10 and 100 will be Ninja Dog and Normal, 20 and 200 would be hard, 30 and 300 would be very hard and 40 and 400 would be master ninja. The number for time is in minutes except for the end game numbers.

Chapter 1:

Time = 10/11/15/17

Kills = 53/61/62/62

Chapter 2

Time = 10/12/15/17

Kills = 38/48/58/60

Chapter 3:

Time = 13/12/18/18

Kills = 37/49/69/69

Chapter 4:

Time = 12/15/17/17

Kills = 40/49/52/54

Chapter 5:

Time = 14/14/19/19

Kills = 63/56/58/58

Chapter 6:

Time = 36/56/63/79

Kills = 205/255/298/318

Chapter 7:

Time = 32/30/50/60

Kills = 123/242/270.290

Chapter 8:

Time = 18/20/25/30

Kills = 49/60/76/77

Chapter 9:

Time = 28/22/25/30

Kills = 80/87/82/92

Chapter 10:

Time = 33/45/60/90

Kills = 241/468/484/529

Chapter 11:

Time = 18/19/25/30

Kills = 34/50/45/45

Chapter 12

Time = 42/78/95/150

Kills = 154/283/336/380

Chapter 13:

Time = 32/42/60/100

Kills = 243/276/295/335

Chapter 14:

Time = 12/13/20/25

Kills = 160/191/194/187

Chapter 15:

Time = 30/25/50/60

Kills = 380/380/380/380

Chapter 16 (end game):

Time = 05:39:00/06:56:00/09:16:00/11:55:00

Kills = 1900/2555/2759/2936

Karma System (mission mode)

The mission mode karma system differs significantly from the one found in the story mode. This is mainly due to that items and ninpo are worth a very large amount of points in your overall score. Any items or ninpo slots left over at the end of the mission count for points and they are added to your end score. Below is a list of what each aspect is worth before the difficulty multiplier is applied.

Small Elixir = 10,000

Large Elixir = 40,000

Life Bar = 100% health is worth 7,200 points before the multiplier, so full health is worth 18,000 points.

Ninpo Slot = 20,000

Essence = (2 * multiplier) * Essence amount – 1,000 essence is worth 5,000 points on master ninja.

If you’re going for karma, you simply cannot use any items or ninpo as once the multiplier is applied you’re going to lose a lot of points. The difficulty multiplier applies to everything, this includes items and in-game karma. The in-game bonuses for ultimate techniques are the same, however enemies are worth 3,000 points each, whether they are a boss or not.

The timer in mission mode counts upwards instead of down. It tops out at 999.99 seconds but the game will not end if you go this far. You will simply receive no karma whatsoever if you let this happen. The time bonus is worth 100 points per second before the multiplier, below is an example...

Time upon completion = 500 seconds

(999.99 – 500) * 100 * Difficulty Multiplier = Final Bonus

The difficulty multiplier is the biggest addition to the mission mode karma system. It is simply impossible to attain the highest score on anything other than master ninja due to the multiplier. The individual multiplier are listed below

Normal = 1.0

Hard = 1.5

Very Hard = 2.0

Master Ninja = 2.5

Descent of the Fiends 5 System

This mission has a similar system to that of story mode. Each individual encounter will have its own time limit, UT limit and the kill scores are the usual 1,000 for enemies and 100,000 for bosses. Items and ninpo bonus do not apply to this mission. The main difference is that you will still gain karma for ultimate techniques after the time limit has expired. This will cease once a hidden timer reaches 999.99 seconds. Once you defeat the final boss, Ishtaros, your final score will be multiplied as usual to give your final score.

Eternal Legend System

This mission’s system is exactly like descent of the fiends 5 system with the following exceptions.

- The time bonus is 50,000 points instead of 10,000.

- Each minion is worth 5,000 points instead of 1,000.

- Masakado, Nicchae and Ishtaros are only worth 5,000 points instead of 100,000.

Xbox Originals

On April 7, 2008, Ninja Gaiden Black became available on the Xbox 360's Xbox Originals service for 1200 Microsoft Points.