Team Ninja's DS debut proves they're master developers.
Set six months after the events in Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox (and set as a prequel to Ninja Gaiden II for the 360) the game picks up with Ryu Hayabusa and a female ninja in training Momiji in the rebuilt Hayabusa village. Soon enough the Black Spider Clan comes, kidnaps Momiji, and fiends start showing up. So what's a master ninja to do? Cut up everything that moves.
To do that, you'll be using the stylus. Actually aside from blocking, you'll use the stylus for everything. You press a point on the screen to move, make slash movements to do attacks and trace symbols to release kai attacks. The stylus play works extremely well and adapts itself to Ninja Gaiden almost perfectly thanks to a simplified fighting mechanic.
Thanks to that simplified mechanic, the game loses its difficulty. I remember being challenged by normal mode on Ninja Gaiden, but normal in Dragon Sword is pretty easy to get through. Some die hard Team Ninja fans my find this to be disappointing thanks to their notorious difficult games, but for a handheld game the difficulty suits it well.
Overall Dragon Sword is a great game. It is one of the best looking DS games ever, and plays extremely well. Any Ninja Gaiden fan should get it and anyone new to the series should give it a try.