I' ve been playing one of the games in my ENORMOUS backlog: Ninja Gaiden. I remember this being the first game I bought when I got the original Xbox. I got halfway through and found myself at a boss with less than half my health and no potions. After she kicked my ass plenty times I gave up and my schedule never allowed me to pick it back up again.  
 
It still holds up if you ask me. The graphics still look pretty good and the gameplay, oh man the gameplay. There is nothing like kicking an enemy away from you (either through a combo  or counter-attack) and to follow him/her/it with a roll, a jump and a finishing slash. The thing that makes it better than say God of War (which I also really love) is that least five different command inputs in the course of 1-2 seconds. That shit really makes you feel like a Ninja.  
 
I also noticed that now that I have played Ninja Gaiden 2, this one is easier to get through. I am also playing different. I play through an area all the way using all the potions and whatnot is needed and then reset the console and play through it seriously to keep my item-use to a minimum. Because that Boss is going Down!  
 
Oh and i got stuck at the damn Armadillo Boss in NG2. In a way Ninja Gaiden can be considered the bullet-hell shooter of the action-adventure genre. Consider this: Every pack of enemies can kill you. When you get to a boss a first encounter kill is highly unlikely since you need some time to study it's attack pattern and discover it's (really short) moment of weakness. Doesn't that sound like a bullet-hell shooter to you? 
 
Oh and besides this one I am getting some achievement in WoW and playing Final Fantasy X although I have an unhealthy craving for Final Fantasy XII. I haven't finished a Final Fantasy since Final Fantasy 7. And the sad part is: I own them all, including the remakes. Except Final Fantasy 6, but i'll wait for the remake. :) 
 
Oh and I plan to get a ps3 soon and I will most definitely pick up Ninja Gaiden Sigma 1 & 2. The last time I wanted to buy a ps3 I ended up buying the GTX 275 videocard instead. :P Not regretting it.

I' ve been playing one of the games in my ENORMOUS backlog: Ninja Gaiden. I remember this being the first game I bought when I got the original Xbox. I got halfway through and found myself at a boss with less than half my health and no potions. After she kicked my ass plenty times I gave up and my schedule never allowed me to pick it back up again.  
 
It still holds up if you ask me. The graphics still look pretty good and the gameplay, oh man the gameplay. There is nothing like kicking an enemy away from you (either through a combo  or counter-attack) and to follow him/her/it with a roll, a jump and a finishing slash. The thing that makes it better than say God of War (which I also really love) is that least five different command inputs in the course of 1-2 seconds. That shit really makes you feel like a Ninja.  
 
I also noticed that now that I have played Ninja Gaiden 2, this one is easier to get through. I am also playing different. I play through an area all the way using all the potions and whatnot is needed and then reset the console and play through it seriously to keep my item-use to a minimum. Because that Boss is going Down!  
 
Oh and i got stuck at the damn Armadillo Boss in NG2. In a way Ninja Gaiden can be considered the bullet-hell shooter of the action-adventure genre. Consider this: Every pack of enemies can kill you. When you get to a boss a first encounter kill is highly unlikely since you need some time to study it's attack pattern and discover it's (really short) moment of weakness. Doesn't that sound like a bullet-hell shooter to you? 
 
Oh and besides this one I am getting some achievement in WoW and playing Final Fantasy X although I have an unhealthy craving for Final Fantasy XII. I haven't finished a Final Fantasy since Final Fantasy 7. And the sad part is: I own them all, including the remakes. Except Final Fantasy 6, but i'll wait for the remake. :) 
 
Oh and I plan to get a ps3 soon and I will most definitely pick up Ninja Gaiden Sigma 1 & 2. The last time I wanted to buy a ps3 I ended up buying the GTX 275 videocard instead. :P Not regretting it.

Kicked the boss' ass!! now i jsut need to get more efficient about it. Spend all the items I hoarded.

This was my favourite xbox game, an action master work. However,the distance between save points and availability of potions left me stuck.

Consider playing Ninja Gaiden Sigma. That version has more save points and health potions. Consequently, this helped me make it through.

One of my favorite Xbox games. For years it was one of my favorite games ever. I don't think I'd consider it that still, but definitely one of the best games that you use swords in. I remember I played it while my brother got Freedom Fighters. I got to the first boss, and not knowing I could even upgrade, I died so I gave up and played Freedom Fighters. Both turned out to be fantastic games. A 'friend' stole my original copy of Ninja Gaiden, but I went ahead and bought it again. Sigma is fine. Also, it took me a long time to get into two; I just didn't like it that much initially, but I got through it and really enjoyed it, though not nearly as much as the first. I don't care for Sigma 2, and I never played three. Around the time Ninja Gaiden came out, it was that and RE4 I had on mind a lot in terms of games that you can upgrade weaponry. They're not overly similar, but I always compared them because of the upgrading aspect, and I felt that the quality of both for what they try to do are about the same I'd say. That all said, Ninja Gaiden isn't as good to me anymore I think, mainly because of what I look for in games I want to experience. This does make me want to listen to the music in it though, I really enjoyed that aspect. Oh, and I tried Black. I didn't get through it. At the time, the evil Hayabusa or whatever was pretty challenging. I was disappointed Sigma didn't have the same content, just with its own additions.

Wow @6 year old post, but yeah Ninja Gaiden was a great game. I wasn't so big on the sequel and didn't like the 3rd at all but the first had the perfect balance of difficulty and fun relying on actual skill instead of any cheap mechanics.

This is one of my favourite games. The only thing I didn't like in this game was the low number save points in a level and the lack of a checkpoint system (remember the Xbox 1 had an internal hard drive). This was remedied in the Sigma release.

Even today, the kind intensity and sanctification you feel when battling enemies and then ultimately defeating them is hard to find in any other game.

Here's hoping for a Ninja Gaiden 4!