Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword

Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword
System: Nintendo DS
Genre: Action-Adventure
Developer: Team Ninja
Publisher: Tecmo
Release: 2008

Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword is an original Ninja Gaiden game made specifically for the Nintendo DS. The game, a sequel to the 2004 Xbox version of Ninja Gaiden, takes advantage of the DS's exclusive functionality to create a unique action experience unrivaled by anything else released on the system so far.

Being a sequel to the Xbox game, Dragon Sword takes place six months after the events featured in it, referred to here as the "Dark Dragon Incident". You still play as series star Ryu Hayabusa, who has just rebuilt his namesake village and is now living peacefully with other survivors of the incident. Needless to say, enemies both old and new end up disturbing this newly created peace, and Ryu is called back into action once again.

Arguably the most notable feature of the game is its control system. Featuring stylus-based gameplay almost exclusively (except for the Start and Select buttons opening your inventory, and all other buttons being used to block),the game is a unique experience in terms of action games. Holding the DS on its side (as made popular by the Brain Age games),you can make Ryu run, jump, and pull off a multitude of different attacks simply by stroking the screen in the right direction. While its amazing that you'll be pulling off a lot of the same moves as you did in the first game on this portable system, this method of control does have its flaws.

For the most part the game is pretty responsive, but it is not perfect. There are times when you'll input a specific technique that doesn't go through, and oppositely times when you weren't trying to pull off a technique and you'll end up doing one. But being an action game using this type of unique control scheme, things like this are mostly forgivable, though it seemingly degenerates the game into a random screen slasher at some points. Less forgivable, however, are when these controls mess up on you during moments when the game needs you to be precise, specifically during boss battles. Figuring out the strategy to beating these parts isn't too hard, but properly implementing it can lead to much frustration due to having to fight with the controls as well.

Visually, the game looks good, pulling off 3D graphics well on the DS. Many of the stages are reused from the first game, and they look almost exactly as they did there. Though the stages aren't as detailed this time around, many of them featuring 2D backgrounds, they still manage to look great in the transition to the DS. Other aspects of the game, such as the comic book-style cutscenes, also look really good, giving the game a nice visual presentation overall.

The game also has a nice audio presentation. Once again taking cues from the first game, a lot of the music and sound effects are reused. Fortunately, none of the quality is lost in its transition to the handheld, making this a great sounding game. And though the game does not feature full voice acting, almost every line of dialogue is accompanied by some sound clip from the character who is talking, whether it be a few words, a laugh, a scream, or something in that vein. An option to switch the speech to English would have been preferable, but with most of it not being actual words they obviously didn't see it necessary to record any English audio.

Overall, the game offers a unique DS experience enhanced by beautiful visuals and a high quality audio presentation. However, despite the DS makeover, this game does retread a lot of ground that the first game did. As previously stated, many of the stages and sounds are reused in this game, and in addition, some enemies and even bosses are reused as well, most still using the same tactics as they did before. Another thing which may be considered a flaw to some is the game's length, as the main story can be completed in around six hours. The game does offer incentives to replay the game, such as unlockables that cannot be unlocked the first time around, but there are no other gameplay modes (such as the challenges featured in the first game) aside from the main story.

But despite its flaws, this game is still recommendable, especially for those who are looking for a great action experiences on the DS. Those looking for a more grand, meatier action experience or a more fresh Ninja Gaiden experience are probably better off waiting for this summer's Ninja Gaiden II, but for those who want something to hold them over until then or just a good DS game in general, you can't go wrong with Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword.

Jam it back in, in the dark.