For Ninja Gaiden fans, there's probably no questions, but I definitely give my recommendations.
I didn't question buying this game because I know Team Ninja is all about action packed gameplay, tight controls and good lookin graphics. There was no doubt in my mind that they somehow would find a way to bring all the Xbox Ninja Gaiden awesomeness into this little portable system in a way that no other company has done yet. And of course, they did.
The game is all stylus controlled, minus blocking which can be done with any button. Most comfortably will be the Dpad (if you're right handed). Most games that try to be all stylus controlled fail in one way, or all ways. For early DS games it made them feel gimmicky, now it just makes them feel crappy because there are plenty of games that have a good balance to compare them to. Ninja Gaiden suprisingly pulls it off.
At the start of the game it feels kinda like a hectic lottery scratch off, but, with a bit of time and through fighting a few different enemies it starts to feel more naturally although I wouldn't say I was ever completely sure of what Ryu would do when I swiped. I felt much more comfortable scratching an enemy than just a quick swipe and putting faith in Ryu doing the right thing.
I also found often that when I was trying to run, just holding the stylus in one spot, he would start jumping and swinging like I was doing some awesome move in the middle of battle. On the other end, sometimes in battle when I was swiping all over enemies he would just stand there. I'm sure it's easy for him to get mixed signals with all the different swipes this game encompasses, but it can be frustrating.
However, I was relieved to find that this wasn't another straight remake of the Xbox NG. It featured many of the same environments, and you'll recognize them if you've played the Xbox version, and also many familiar enemies. Thankfully though, no military.
The levels in this game were much shorter than other renditions though, and the fighting significantly easier. You probably won't even break a sweat fighting most bosses, including the final one. The whole game didn't take me much over 4 hours to complete either. Granted, the challenge in NG is going back through the harder modes, and by no means do I think a game should be long just to be long. It was a pretty solid 4 hours, but still, 4 hours.
Ninja Gaiden is really all about the fighting though. Enter a room, battle away, rinse and repeat. There are very few platforming segments, which is good because stylus platforming in 3D doesn't sound fun. You'll definitely feel yourself become more skilled at the fighting as the game goes on to, which is a good reward.
NG is one of the most solid DS experiences out there and is worth picking up to DS fans, actions fans and NG fans alike despite my minor discrepancies with it.