Ninja Gaiden is an ambitious game for the DS courtesy of Team Ninja from Techmo
The game starts out with you controlling a female Ninja warrior named Momijee sparring with Ryu Hayabusa, the famed ninja descended of the Dragon Lineage clan and wielder of the Dragon Sword. Upon finishing your session together, you leave for the village. Returning to the village serves somewhat as a tutorial for the game, but for the most part you much learn the controls by yourself. However, while returning to the village, Momijee is ambushed by The Black Spider clan, a clan composed of many Fiends that hopes to destroy the Dragon Lineage and steal the Dragon Sword for their own evil purposes. Momijee is defeated, and taken hostage by an evil sorceress. When Ryu hears of this tragedy, he must embark on a quest to rescue Momijee and stop the Black Spider Clan once and for all.
The most controversial part of Ninja Gaided: Dragon Sword are the controls. These were the make it, or break it part to the game. Fortunately, they work fine. You hold the DS like you would hold a book. All the action occurs on the touch screen, while a map appears on the non-touch screen along with some various information. And don't worry if you are left handed or right handed. Dragon Sword has options for people who are left handed also.
To attack, simply slash over an enemy to attack them. To walk, you simply just hold down on a spot on the DS and Ryu will walk to the spot, like Animal Crossing. To jump, just slide the DS up, and Ryu will jump. To shoot a projectile, simply tap an area you want to shoot, and Ryu will shoot. It all works very well. And throughout all of this, depending on if you are left handed or right handed, the only button you will use are the R and L buttons to defend yourself with.
After you defeat an enemy, they release essence. The orb may be gold, blue, or red. Gold essence is used as a form of currency to buy new moves or increase your health, etc. Blue essence replenishes your health bar, and red essence replenishes Ninpo. Ninpo are special attacks you can do that can be used both to destroy enemies, or to affect the environment, such as destroying an immovable boulder to get by it. To activate your Ninpo, tap the icon at the top of the screen and fill in the character they show you. Once it is filled in, it becomes activated.
Never did I feel that the controls were hard to use or were overbearing. The camera worked great also. It is always focused on Ryu, and depending on the scale of the area, it may zoom in or out on your hero. Not once did I complain about the camera in the game, which is crucial to an action-adventure game of this sort. Sometimes there may be an archer off screen attacking you, but that only happens in very small, enclosed places where the camera is very closely zoomed up on you. Like I said, the camera works great and won't have you complaining if you die.
And speaking of dying, you will probably die your fair share of times. The game easiest difficulty (Normal) is set at a fine level. Dragon Sword doesn't follow its console big brothers by having painfully hard battles. Never did I think that Ninja Gaiden was too hard or too easy. The pacing in Ninja Gaiden is superb also. There are save points in almost all critical places, which also recover your health and energy. The story is told comic book style, and it is easy to follow along. All the characters have anime designs while they talk, but look realistic when you see them in game. The in-game graphics are awesome, some of the best on the DS. The detail in the environment is very high for a Nintendo DS game, and the character models are quite impressive too.
The story is told in chapters, and there are 13 chapters in the game. Each chapter can last between 15 to and hour in length, making the game about over 7 hours long your first playthrough. Chapters are concluded after you defeat the boss, and they give you a chapter summary and a label for how well you did on the chapter (e.g.: lesser ninja, greater ninja, head ninja, master ninja). The boss battles in Dragon Sword are really fun too. They oftentimes will have you alternating between using ranged attacks to up close and personal combat. They require all your skill to dodge their moves.
The audio is what you'd expect from a game of this sort. All your attacks have a personal sound to them. There is some very minor voice work, where a character will say the name of another character. I'm pretty sure there are some Japanese works uttered in the game also. There are a few themes that go to the levels, but not many. Overall, it gets the job done.
In conclusion, Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword is an excellent action-adventure game on the DS. With strong controls, excellent graphics, fun boss battles and great pacing, it is a game that should be in any collection of fan interested in the genre. It is a fun game that shouldn't disappoint.