Ninja Gaiden is absolutely perfect.
The developers at Team Ninja brought back the Ninja Gaiden series in a big way. They created a game that looks amazing from beginning to end, is fun to play despite an unreasonable amount of difficulty, and gives you the feel that you are in total control over the most butt kicking ninja ever put into a game.
You reprise the role of Ryu Hyabusa, the series' ninja hero. In this game, your clan has been wiped out and its powerful sword stolen by enemies unknown. This leads you on a mission of revenge, while you track down the sword. During the course of your adventures, you'll go from the wilderness around your town, to an airship, to a foreign city crawling with enemies. While this game plays like a third person action game, like Onimusha or Devil May Cry, you'll quickly realize that Ninja Gaiden is in a class all its own.
Ninja Gaiden is technically superior to any game made for the current generation of consoles. The graphics in this game are absolutely mindblowing, and there is not a flaw to be found anywhere. Ryu moves with stunning fluidity and speed, while your enemies are all well designed and varied nicely. The game moves at a constantly high framerate and can handle multiple enemies, motion blur, particle effects, and tons of movement without a hitch. It's amazing what Team Ninja was able to do with the Xbox hardware.
Ninja Gaiden is also one of the most difficult games in the current generation of consoles. Early on, before Ryu gets powered up, you'll be decimated by your foes for any mistake that you make. Later on, you'll go up against very strong enemies that can suck down your health quickly. Even worse, the bosses in this game are ludicrously hard to take down. They require nerves of steel and as much patience as you can muster. All of them come at you with a full complement of attacks, and it's up to you to first learn their weaknesses and then exploit them.
Not to be outdone by his enemies, Ryu gains a host of weapons and techniques to wipe out anyone that stands in front of him. You can bounce off of walls, use magic, and flip all over the place. The controls are perfect; you always feel like you are in total control of Ryu. As you progress through the game, you'll learn how to carve through the mass of nasty enemies using brutal attacks and smart defensive moves. It's refreshing to see that you get more and more powerful, but it's still balanced with the ever increasing enemy difficulty.
One of the nicest features offered is the ability to download updates for free off of Xbox Live. This includes a new weapon, the staff, and some challenge levels. The challenges up the difficulty more and offer some more value to the game. You can also unlock the original NES games and play those. They're not as fun as you probably remember, but it's a nice addition.
The only negative I can see about Ninja Gaiden is the uneven pace. There are a few instances where you'll breeze right through several sections with nary a battle, or backtrack through areas that you've already cleared. You may also find that the boss battles in the earlier parts of the game tend to be a lot tougher than the later bosses. It may just be because Ryu isn't as powerful early on, or that you'll be better at using him. It would have been nice to create some tougher later stage bosses.
Ninja Gaiden is a game that cannot be missed. It's rare that a game comes along that looks this good, plays this good, and is as challenging as Ninja Gaiden. This game is an absolute must-have for anyone with an Xbox.
