.gif)
Ninja Gaiden (Xbox)
Encyclopedia
Ninja Gaiden is an action-adventure game
developed by Team Ninja for the Xbox
video game console. It went through five years of development before its release by Tecmo in 2004, and has been progressively enhanced with a number of expansion packs and two remakes, Ninja Gaiden Black and Ninja Gaiden Sigma
. The game follows the fictional story of Ryu Hayabusa
, a ninja
, in his quest to recover a stolen sword and avenge the slaughter of his clan.
Inspired by the 1990s Ninja Gaiden series for the Nintendo Entertainment System
, the 2004 version was originally set in a re-imagined game world based on another Team Ninja creation, the Dead or Alive series of fighting game
s. However, interviews with Tomonobu Itagaki
indicate that the Xbox games are prequels to the NES series and that both possibly share a single continuity
.
Tecmo specifically targeted Ninja Gaiden at a non-Japanese
audience, and despite difficulties in obtaining content ratings
due to the game's graphic depictions of violence, it was generally well received, and 362,441 copies were sold in North America in the first month after its release. However, the game had to be censored for release in some regions, and Japanese sales were poor, with only 60,000 in the four months following its début.
Making use of the Xbox's internet connectivity
, Ninja Gaiden was the focus of a series of online contests
across North America, Europe, and Japan. Record-breaking numbers of players took part, competing for places in the live final, which was held during the 2004 Tokyo Game Show
. Team Ninja continued to update the game after its release: two Hurricane Packs were made available for free download that added extra content, gameplay challenges, and game engine
improvements. These were incorporated into a 2005 remake, entitled Ninja Gaiden Black, that was regarded by the game's creator as the definitive version. Two years later, the game was ported to the PlayStation 3
with extra content and released as Ninja Gaiden Sigma
.
. Viewed from a third person
over-the-shoulder perspective, in typical action-adventure
fashion Ryu starts the game with basic, low-level abilities and weapons that can be upgraded as he progresses, by discovering or buying items. In keeping with his ninja
persona, his character can interact with the game environment to perform acrobatic feats, such as running along and jumping off walls, swinging from pole to pole, or running across water.
The game world is made up of several distinct regions, most of which are connected via the city of Tairon, which functions as a hub. Inspired by the mechanics of the The Legend of Zelda video games, access to these regions is obtained by fighting enemies, finding keys, or solving puzzles. To avoid disrupting its narrative flow, the game hides delays caused by loading a new area into memory by showing in game cut scenes, and Dragon
busts
scattered throughout the regions provide the means to save player progress, permitting gameplay to be resumed at a later time.
In addition to the narrative Story Mode, subsequent remakes Ninja Gaiden Black and Ninja Gaiden Sigma introduced a gameplay variation called Mission Mode. Focused on action rather than character development, this provides combat-based missions set mainly in small areas, where the player's goal is to "destroy all enemies". In both Story and Mission modes, game scoring is based on the player's speed in clearing encounters, the number of kills achieved, the number of unused magic spells (or ninpos) remaining at the end, and the amount of cash collected. Players can compare their scores on online ranking boards.
. The game's control system, which comprises the left thumbstick
, two attack buttons, and a block button, was described as "fluid and responsive", and Ninja Gaiden was regarded as having one of the deeper combat engines among Xbox
games at the time, comparing well to the PlayStation 2
action-adventures God of War
and Devil May Cry
. Eric Williams, the designer of the God of War combat engine, explained that Ninja Gaiden prohibits players from stopping or changing attacks in mid-stroke. In contrast, God of War allows players to do so, and Devil May Cry grants this freedom to certain attacks. Williams said that, compared to those two games, the combat system in Ninja Gaiden was harder to master; however, it lets players fight their computer controlled foes on equal terms.
Ninja Gaiden features a large selection of weapons for Ryu to wield, each with advantages and disadvantages that affect the way the player approaches combat. These include one-handed swords, such as the Dragon Sword and Kitetsu, which grant quick attacks and a move called the "Flying Swallow", that allows Ryu to leap and slash through enemies. In addition these light weapons allow Ryu to smash foes into the ground and perform his signature Izuna Drop—a spinning piledriver
. Heavy weapons, such as the Dabilahro and the Unlabored Flawlessness, are slow but cause more damage to opponents. With flail
s and staves
, the player can string together long sequences of attacks, and to engage distant foes Ryu can throw shuriken
and shoot arrows.
In addition to using standard melee techniques, Ryu can employ 'essences' in combat. These are colored globes of energy that are released on the death of enemies, and absorbed into Ryu's body when he comes into proximity with them. Essences have an important role in general gameplay, acting to heal Ryu, restore his magic, or increase his cash. However, in combat the player can cause Ryu to deliberately draw in essences, which can then be used to unleash powerful attacks known as Ultimate Techniques. These techniques deal heavy damage and make Ryu immune to injury for a short time.
Ninja Gaiden also provides Ryu with magical spells in the form of ninpos. When activated by the player, these make Ryu cast fireballs, ice storms, or bolts of lightning. Functioning in a similar manner to the bombs or grenades of shooter action games
, these spells allow Ryu to inflict heavy damage on enemies while potentially avoiding damage himself. However, dissatisfied with their programmed visual effects, the game director
Tomonobu Itagaki
wanted to deter players from using ninpos. He therefore tweaked the game to award bonus points when players cleared stages without employing magic.
For Ryu's defense, the player has two options. First, Ryu can stand still and attempt to block attacks. However, certain enemies can break his guard—either through particularly strong attacks or by grappling
him. The second option is to make Ryu dodge, by rolling away from the attack in a maneuver called "reverse wind".
Ninja Gaiden is set in the game world of another Tecmo release, Dead or Alive (DOA). Located mainly in Japan and the fictional Vigoor Empire, the game draws on Heian period structures for its Japanese locales—a ninja
fortress and village set in the mountains. In contrast the Vigoor Empire, with its capital city of Tairon, is a blend of architectural types from around the world. European-style buildings display Arabic
lettering, and the monastery in Tairon exhibits Gothic
influences with a vaulted hall, pointed arches, and large stained glass windows. A hidden underground level features statues with the heads of cats, walls covered with carvings, and hieroglyphics
and Team Ninja included an Aztec pyramid
and a labyrinth
. This hodgepodge of styles was the result of Itagaki's deliberate refusal to constrain the game's creative process.
, the "super ninja", is the protagonist of Ninja Gaiden, and the only player-controllable character in the game. Itagaki believed that creating extra player characters might distract his team from focusing on Ryu's development. Ryu has a long history with Tecmo; he was the star of the 1990s Ninja Gaiden series, and has been part of the DOA roster since 1996. His roles in these games played a part in his popularity among fans and the game industry. Ninja Gaiden provides a backstory to Ryu's appearance and character as seen in the Dead or Alive series, being set two years before the first DOA game.
Rachel is the leading female character, and tragic hero
ine of the game. She and her twin sister, Alma, are afflicted with a blood curse that turns humans into fiends. Believing that there is no cure for their condition, Rachel seeks to kill Alma to redeem her sister's soul. The relationship between the sisters and the Greater Fiend Doku, who cursed them, serves as a plot device
to drive the game forward, with Rachel occasionally needing to be rescued
by Ryu. Although not a player-controlled character in Ninja Gaiden, in a few sections of the Ninja Gaiden Sigma remake she is controllable.
Two other characters assist the player in the game. Ayane, a female ninja and one of the DOA regular cast members, acts as a guide throughout Ninja Gaiden by supplying advice and objectives to the player. Muramasa, a bladesmith
, has shops scattered throughout the game world where players can purchase useful items and upgrades for Ryu's weapons. Muramasa also gives quests
and relates back-stories
and other crucial information; for example, he tells Ryu how he can obtain the item required to upgrade his Dragon Sword to its full potential.
Itagaki found it more interesting to design nonhuman creatures than human enemies, and as such, most of the enemies Team Ninja created for Ryu are fiends—humans changed into monsters by their blood curse. Three Greater Fiends lead their lesser brethren against Ryu, playing major roles in the game's plot: Alma, Rachel's sister, whose story forms a significant part of the game; Doku, Ryu's main antagonist, whose raid on Hayabusa village and theft of the Dark Dragon Blade comprise the main plot thread; and Marbus, lord of the fiend underworld who is responsible for the final set of challenges Ryu faces in the realm of the fiends before encountering the Vigor Emperor.
Team Ninja based their 3D computer models
, from the pistols of the henchman upwards, on real world material. Character models were taken from studies of human anatomy, and the team hired martial artists
in order to digitally capture their movement. Rather than import the motion capture
s directly into the game, however, the animators used them as templates to give a sense of realism to the game characters' exaggerated movements. Players have the option to customize the appearance of player characters, with selectable costumes for Ryu and hairstyles for Rachel.
Kureha and has taken the Dark Dragon Blade. Ryu is cut down by Doku with the stolen Blade, but he is brought back to life as a "soldier of revenge" by a falcon, the spiritual animal of the Hayabusas.
Seeking vengeance for Kureha's death, Ryu learns from Murai that the raiders were from Vigoor, so he stows away on an airship
bound for the empire. Fighting his way through the streets of its capital city, Tairon, Ryu faces several bosses
including the three Greater Fiends. He defeats Alma in a battle that wrecks the city, but leaves her to Rachel's mercy. However, Rachel cannot bring herself to kill her sister, and instead is taken by Doku, who prepares to sacrifice her in a ritual to enhance Alma's power. With Alma's help Ryu rescues Rachel and destroys Doku's spirit, but with his dying breath Doku casts the blood curse on Ryu. The only way for Ryu to lift the curse is to kill the emperor, so he storms the palace, defeating Marbus who bars his way to the emperor's personal realm. Two successive boss fights must be completed to destroy the Emperor and reclaim the Dark Dragon Blade—once this is accomplished his realm starts to destruct. Ryu must then be maneuvered up a series of ledges to escape, but in the process he loses his grip on the Dark Dragon Blade.
The fallen Blade lands at the feet of a figure, the Dark Disciple, who has been shadowing Ryu throughout the game. Taking the Blade, the Disciple reveals himself to be the clan leader Murai. He admits that the raid on Hayabusa village was part of his plan to restore the Blade's evil power, using souls harvested by Ryu. Drawing on the Blade, Murai transforms himself, setting the stage for the final boss fight. Ryu defeats Murai and shatters the Blade with the True Dragon Sword. Victorious, Ryu turns himself into a falcon and flies to the Hayabusa village. In the game's final scene he places the Dragon Eye, used to enhance his sword, on Kureha's tombstone and disappears into the night. The story of Ninja Gaiden is continued in the sequels Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword
and Ninja Gaiden II.
PlayStation 2
in the United States. Itagaki, however, had other plans; the Team Ninja Leader was impressed with the software development kit
s for the Xbox and pushed for his team to develop for the Microsoft
console. The company kept silent on this change in direction, and surprised both the games industry and fans when they announced at E3 2002 that Ninja Gaiden was exclusive to the Xbox. Most fans who voted on Tecmo's poll wanted the game on the Nintendo
GameCube.
Ninja Gaiden was Team Ninja's first action title. Its initial concept had nothing in common with the original Ninja Gaiden series, released on the Nintendo Entertainment System
. However, for retail reasons Tecmo wanted to retain a link with the previous games, which had many adherents in the West
, so Itagaki was asked to rethink his ideas to target the foreign market. Analysing the earlier games, he concluded that their violence appealed to players, and included gory content, such as beheadings, in the Xbox game to retain that spirit. He also aimed to make his new game hard but alluring; it would challenge players on their reflexes rather than on their memories of layouts and timings. His team made a point of designing smoothly-flowing gameplay with high-quality animations that reacted quickly to the player's input. Itagaki paid homage to the earlier Ninja Gaiden series by including updated versions of foes and special attacks.
In 2004 Tecmo released a demo disc
of Ninja Gaiden in Japan, bundled with the February 26 issue of Famitsu Xbox
magazine. The demo let players try the first chapter of the game on two difficulty settings with a few fully upgraded weapons and ninpos. On March 2, 2004, a year later than originally planned, Tecmo released Ninja Gaiden.
The two Packs were available over Xbox Live
in the third quarter of 2004. Hurricane Pack 1 was a revamped version of Story Mode; Team Ninja tweaked the encounters and artificial intelligence
(AI) of Ryu's foes to increase the difficulty of the game. The pack introduced additional foes such as humanoid cats, giants wearing Triceratops
skulls, and cyborg
s, and Team Ninja made a key change to the camera system by which the on-screen action is displayed; players could now control the camera and change its viewing angle. Another feature of the pack was to enhance the combat engine; the new "Intercept" skill let players counter any enemy attack with the proper timing.
Hurricane Pack 2 kept the enhancements of the first, but took place in an alternative world comprising only two regions, where players have to fight through several encounters to rescue Rachel from two new bosses (Nicchae and Ishtaros). This expansion introduced fiends who wield giant swords and cast fireballs.
Team Ninja later compiled both expansion packs, and added new features, to create Ninja Gaiden Black (Black). This game, which Itagaki viewed as the final version of Ninja Gaiden, went on sale on September 20, 2005. A few years later, Team Ninja upgraded the graphics of the game and ported
it to the PlayStation 3
(PS3). This version was released as Ninja Gaiden Sigma (Sigma) on June 14, 2007. Black became an Xbox Original game on February 11, 2008.
, and grotesque monsters. The North American games rating body, the Entertainment Software Rating Board
(ESRB), rated it as a "Mature" game, which prohibits sale to anyone under the age of 17. However, the depiction of beheadings attracts stricter ratings in other parts of the world. In Germany, the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle
(USK) deemed these excessive, and refused to rate the game at all. Since this had the potential to place Ninja Gaiden in Germany's "List of Media Harmful to Young People", which would have meant that shops could neither advertise the game nor sell it unless by request to customers of 18 years or older, Tecmo censored the European PAL
version to obtain a USK rating. A year later, Tecmo managed to obtain a USK 18+ rating for the uncensored release of Ninja Gaiden Black, but Ninja Gaiden Sigma was censored for release under the same rating.
Japan's Computer Entertainment Rating Organization
(CERO) rated Ninja Gaiden and Black, on their release, as 18+ games. At the time, CERO ratings acted as guidelines for consumers. However, on March 1, 2006, the Japanese rating system changed. A scale from A to D was introduced, with an additional Z rating for games with large amounts of gore and sexual content. The Z rating is legally enforced, it being illegal to sell such games to anyone under the age of 18. As a result, Tecmo removed the human beheadings in Sigma to obtain a D rating for the East Asia
n market. However, CERO reclassified the two previous games as D, despite them also depicting human beheadings.
The Master Ninja Tournaments were a series of three online contests held by Microsoft and Tecmo in 2004. They took place over Xbox Live, and were open to participants in Europe, Japan, and North America. Winner selection was based on the scores achieved through playing Ninja Gaiden or its Hurricane Packs. Players had 14 to 24 days to complete the required games and submit their scores to an online scoreboard.
The first two tournaments formed regional qualification stages for a live Ninja Gaiden Master Tournament World Championship, held on September 25 at the Tokyo Game Show 2004
. Competition for places was intense, with both tournaments breaking records for online participation in Xbox Live events. Six of the highest scoring players from Europe and North America won bokken
s bearing Itagaki's signature, and five regional winners were selected to proceed to the final. Here, the finalists simultaneously played a custom game drawn from Hurricane Pack 2 while commentators called out the action. They had 15 minutes to complete the game and post the highest score; the winner emerged only in the last 20 seconds, when Yasunori Otsuka cleared the game and outscored his rivals. At the award ceremony, the finalists received their prize plaques from Itagaki.
The tournaments were not without controversy. Players complained about Microsoft's tardiness in posting the official rules for the first playoff, and it was believed that the top posted score was not achievable by fair means. Officials, however, stated that the score was possible, and allowed the results to stand. In the second playoff, Microsoft initially named the runner up as the North American finalist, after disqualifying the winner for no publicly stated reason, but eventually had to send the second runner up to Tokyo when the first was unable to produce a passport in time.
Master Ninja Tournament 3 started on September 27 and lasted 26 days. Rankings were decided by scores obtained while playing Hurricane Pack 2, and the prizes were Tecmo apparel and Team Ninja games. This marked the end of official tournaments for Ninja Gaiden, although Microsoft have retained the ranking boards for players to upload their scores.
fiends who can imitate Ryu. It contains more costumes than the original, and swaps Ninja Gaiden's unlockable NES games
for an arcade version
.
One key feature of the remake is its two new difficulty settings—the easy 'Ninja Dog', and the very hard 'Master Ninja'. Itagaki added Ninja Dog after receiving complaints of Ninja Gaiden being too hard in its default incarnation, although he believed that, with persistence, any player was capable of completing the game. Hence he ensured that those players selecting Ninja Dog would be subjected to gentle mockery by the game—players on this difficulty setting receive colored ribbons as accessories, and Ayane treats Ryu as an inferior. In compensation, Itagaki made the other difficulty settings harder than in Ninja Gaiden. Ryu's adversaries were strengthened and made more aggressive, and some of his offensive moves, such as the Flying Swallow, were toned down.
While most of the improvements made in the Hurricane Packs carried forward through this game, including the camera system tweaks and new boss battles, one significant feature did not. The Intercept maneuver, introduced in Hurricane Pack 1, was not included in Black, as Itagaki felt it rendered the game too easy when mastered. This was a significant exclusion, as it now meant certain enemies, like Berzerkers, intended to be fought with the Intercept as part of the players' repertoire, were now to be fought without. This served to further increase the difficulty of certain encounters, adding to the increased challenge seen in Black.
Another feature of Black is its Mission Mode, which comprises 50 combat missions, one of which is adapted from the custom game designed for the Ninja Gaiden Master Tournament World Championship final. The last five missions are based on those in Hurricane Pack 2, but with the Black game engine, and form a linked series known as "Eternal Legend".
obtained the European publishing rights for this game. Itagaki had no direct role in Sigma, and judged it a flawed game, although he acknowledged that Sigma gave PlayStation owners a taste of Ninja Gaiden.
plastic figurines
of Ninja Gaiden characters in their range of products. As of 2007, they have produced figures of Ryu, Ayane, Kureha, and Rachel.
! style="background:#e8f4f8;"| Ninja Gaiden
Sigma
|-
|Metacritic
|91
|94
|88
|-
|Game Rankings
|92.0%
|94.0%
|87.0%
|-
! colspan="4" style="font-size:110%; text-align:center; background:#d1dbdf;"| Awards
|-
|Ninja Gaiden
|colspan=3|IGN's Best Xbox Action Game 2004
IGN's Best Xbox Downloadable Content 2004
X-Play
's Best Action/Adventure Game 2004
EGMs Xbox Game of the Year 2004
|-
|Ninja Gaiden
Black
|colspan=3|GameSpot's Best Xbox game 2005
IGN's Best Xbox Action game 2005
TeamXbox
's Best Xbox Action Game 2005
|-
|Ninja Gaiden
Sigma
|colspan=3|IGN's Game of the Month
|} score out of 5
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
developed by Team Ninja for the Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
video game console. It went through five years of development before its release by Tecmo in 2004, and has been progressively enhanced with a number of expansion packs and two remakes, Ninja Gaiden Black and Ninja Gaiden Sigma
Ninja Gaiden Sigma
Ninja Gaiden Sigma, also known as Ninja Gaiden Σ, is an action-adventure game developed by Team Ninja for the PlayStation 3 video game console. Originally released on Xbox in 2004, it is an enhanced port of Ninja Gaiden and a continuation of a 1988 video game originally released for the Nintendo...
. The game follows the fictional story of Ryu Hayabusa
Ryu Hayabusa
is the protagonist of the Ninja Gaiden video game series as well as a player character in the Dead or Alive series, both published by Tecmo. According to the game canon, Ryu Hayabusa is a ninja and the leader of the that has spiritual, physical and magical ties to ancient dragons...
, a ninja
Ninja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
, in his quest to recover a stolen sword and avenge the slaughter of his clan.
Inspired by the 1990s Ninja Gaiden series for the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
, the 2004 version was originally set in a re-imagined game world based on another Team Ninja creation, the Dead or Alive series of fighting game
Fighting game
Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...
s. However, interviews with Tomonobu Itagaki
Tomonobu Itagaki
is a Japanese video game designer who created the Dead or Alive fighting game and beach sport simulation series and also revived the Ninja Gaiden franchise in 2004...
indicate that the Xbox games are prequels to the NES series and that both possibly share a single continuity
Continuity (fiction)
In fiction, continuity is consistency of the characteristics of persons, plot, objects, places and events seen by the reader or viewer over some period of time...
.
Tecmo specifically targeted Ninja Gaiden at a non-Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
audience, and despite difficulties in obtaining content ratings
Video game content rating system
A video game content rating system is a system used for the classification of video games into suitability-related groups. Most of these systems are associated with and/or sponsored by a government, and are sometimes part of the local motion picture rating system...
due to the game's graphic depictions of violence, it was generally well received, and 362,441 copies were sold in North America in the first month after its release. However, the game had to be censored for release in some regions, and Japanese sales were poor, with only 60,000 in the four months following its début.
Making use of the Xbox's internet connectivity
Xbox Live
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It is currently the only online gaming service on consoles that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. It was first made available to the Xbox system in 2002...
, Ninja Gaiden was the focus of a series of online contests
Online game
An online game is a game played over some form of computer network. This almost always means the Internet or equivalent technology, but games have always used whatever technology was current: modems before the Internet, and hard wired terminals before modems...
across North America, Europe, and Japan. Record-breaking numbers of players took part, competing for places in the live final, which was held during the 2004 Tokyo Game Show
Tokyo Game Show
The , commonly known as TGS, is a video game expo / convention held annually in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association and the Nikkei Business Publications, Inc...
. Team Ninja continued to update the game after its release: two Hurricane Packs were made available for free download that added extra content, gameplay challenges, and game engine
Game engine
A game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...
improvements. These were incorporated into a 2005 remake, entitled Ninja Gaiden Black, that was regarded by the game's creator as the definitive version. Two years later, the game was ported to the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
with extra content and released as Ninja Gaiden Sigma
Ninja Gaiden Sigma
Ninja Gaiden Sigma, also known as Ninja Gaiden Σ, is an action-adventure game developed by Team Ninja for the PlayStation 3 video game console. Originally released on Xbox in 2004, it is an enhanced port of Ninja Gaiden and a continuation of a 1988 video game originally released for the Nintendo...
.
Gameplay
Ninja Gaiden develops its narrative thread through the actions of its player-controlled protagonist, Ryu HayabusaRyu Hayabusa
is the protagonist of the Ninja Gaiden video game series as well as a player character in the Dead or Alive series, both published by Tecmo. According to the game canon, Ryu Hayabusa is a ninja and the leader of the that has spiritual, physical and magical ties to ancient dragons...
. Viewed from a third person
Third-person shooter
Third-person shooter is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.-Definition:...
over-the-shoulder perspective, in typical action-adventure
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
fashion Ryu starts the game with basic, low-level abilities and weapons that can be upgraded as he progresses, by discovering or buying items. In keeping with his ninja
Ninja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
persona, his character can interact with the game environment to perform acrobatic feats, such as running along and jumping off walls, swinging from pole to pole, or running across water.
The game world is made up of several distinct regions, most of which are connected via the city of Tairon, which functions as a hub. Inspired by the mechanics of the The Legend of Zelda video games, access to these regions is obtained by fighting enemies, finding keys, or solving puzzles. To avoid disrupting its narrative flow, the game hides delays caused by loading a new area into memory by showing in game cut scenes, and Dragon
Japanese dragon
Japanese dragons are diverse legendary creatures in Japanese mythology and folklore. Japanese dragon myths amalgamate native legends with imported stories about dragons from China, Korea and India. The style of the dragon was heavily influenced by the Chinese dragon...
busts
Bust (sculpture)
A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...
scattered throughout the regions provide the means to save player progress, permitting gameplay to be resumed at a later time.
In addition to the narrative Story Mode, subsequent remakes Ninja Gaiden Black and Ninja Gaiden Sigma introduced a gameplay variation called Mission Mode. Focused on action rather than character development, this provides combat-based missions set mainly in small areas, where the player's goal is to "destroy all enemies". In both Story and Mission modes, game scoring is based on the player's speed in clearing encounters, the number of kills achieved, the number of unused magic spells (or ninpos) remaining at the end, and the amount of cash collected. Players can compare their scores on online ranking boards.
Combat system
Ryu's movements are directed using the console gamepadGamepad
A gamepad , is a type of game controller held in two hands, where the digits are used to provide input. Gamepads generally feature a set of action buttons handled with the right thumb and a direction controller handled with the left...
. The game's control system, which comprises the left thumbstick
Analog stick
An analog stick, sometimes called a control stick or thumbstick, is an input device for a controller that is used for two-dimensional input. An analog stick is a variation of a joystick, consisting of a protrusion from the controller; input is based on the position of this protrusion in relation...
, two attack buttons, and a block button, was described as "fluid and responsive", and Ninja Gaiden was regarded as having one of the deeper combat engines among Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
games at the time, comparing well to the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
action-adventures God of War
God of War (video game)
God of War is an action adventure video game for the PlayStation 2 first released by Sony Computer Entertainment's Santa Monica division in March 2005...
and Devil May Cry
Devil May Cry (series)
Devil May Cry is a series of five action hack and slash video games set in the modern day. The series was developed by Capcom and created by Hideki Kamiya. Originally intended to be a sequel in Capcom's Resident Evil series, Devil May Cry was such a radical departure from the series' style that it...
. Eric Williams, the designer of the God of War combat engine, explained that Ninja Gaiden prohibits players from stopping or changing attacks in mid-stroke. In contrast, God of War allows players to do so, and Devil May Cry grants this freedom to certain attacks. Williams said that, compared to those two games, the combat system in Ninja Gaiden was harder to master; however, it lets players fight their computer controlled foes on equal terms.
Piledriver (professional wrestling)
A piledriver is a professional wrestling driver move in which the wrestler grabs his opponent, turns him upside-down, and drops into a sitting or kneeling position, driving the opponent head-first into the mat. The most common piledrivers are the basic belly-to-back, or Texas piledriver, and the...
. Heavy weapons, such as the Dabilahro and the Unlabored Flawlessness, are slow but cause more damage to opponents. With flail
Flail
A flail is an agricultural implement for threshing.Several tools operate similarly to the agricultural implement and are also called flails:...
s and staves
Quarterstaff
A quarterstaff , also short staff or simply staff is a traditional European pole weapon and a technique of stick fighting, especially as in use in England during the Early Modern period....
, the player can string together long sequences of attacks, and to engage distant foes Ryu can throw shuriken
Shuriken
A shuriken is a traditional Japanese concealed weapon that was generally used for throwing, and sometimes stabbing or slashing...
and shoot arrows.
In addition to using standard melee techniques, Ryu can employ 'essences' in combat. These are colored globes of energy that are released on the death of enemies, and absorbed into Ryu's body when he comes into proximity with them. Essences have an important role in general gameplay, acting to heal Ryu, restore his magic, or increase his cash. However, in combat the player can cause Ryu to deliberately draw in essences, which can then be used to unleash powerful attacks known as Ultimate Techniques. These techniques deal heavy damage and make Ryu immune to injury for a short time.
Ninja Gaiden also provides Ryu with magical spells in the form of ninpos. When activated by the player, these make Ryu cast fireballs, ice storms, or bolts of lightning. Functioning in a similar manner to the bombs or grenades of shooter action games
Shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...
, these spells allow Ryu to inflict heavy damage on enemies while potentially avoiding damage himself. However, dissatisfied with their programmed visual effects, the game director
Game director
Game director may refer to:* Video game producer, the person in charge of overseeing development of a video game* Technical director, usually a senior technical person within creative group...
Tomonobu Itagaki
Tomonobu Itagaki
is a Japanese video game designer who created the Dead or Alive fighting game and beach sport simulation series and also revived the Ninja Gaiden franchise in 2004...
wanted to deter players from using ninpos. He therefore tweaked the game to award bonus points when players cleared stages without employing magic.
For Ryu's defense, the player has two options. First, Ryu can stand still and attempt to block attacks. However, certain enemies can break his guard—either through particularly strong attacks or by grappling
Grappling
Grappling refers to techniques, maneuvers, and counters applied to an opponent in order to gain a physical advantage, such as improving relative position, escaping, submitting, or injury to the opponent. Grappling is a general term that covers techniques used in many disciplines, styles and martial...
him. The second option is to make Ryu dodge, by rolling away from the attack in a maneuver called "reverse wind".
Plot and setting
Ninja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
fortress and village set in the mountains. In contrast the Vigoor Empire, with its capital city of Tairon, is a blend of architectural types from around the world. European-style buildings display Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
lettering, and the monastery in Tairon exhibits Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
influences with a vaulted hall, pointed arches, and large stained glass windows. A hidden underground level features statues with the heads of cats, walls covered with carvings, and hieroglyphics
Egyptian hieroglyphs
Egyptian hieroglyphs were a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that combined logographic and alphabetic elements. Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphs for religious literature on papyrus and wood...
and Team Ninja included an Aztec pyramid
Mesoamerican pyramids
Mesoamerican pyramids, pyramid-shaped structures, are an important part of ancient Mesoamerican architecture. These structures were usually step pyramids with temples on top – more akin to the ziggurats of Mesopotamia than to the pyramids of Ancient Egypt...
and a labyrinth
Labyrinth
In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth was an elaborate structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos...
. This hodgepodge of styles was the result of Itagaki's deliberate refusal to constrain the game's creative process.
Characters
Ryu HayabusaRyu Hayabusa
is the protagonist of the Ninja Gaiden video game series as well as a player character in the Dead or Alive series, both published by Tecmo. According to the game canon, Ryu Hayabusa is a ninja and the leader of the that has spiritual, physical and magical ties to ancient dragons...
, the "super ninja", is the protagonist of Ninja Gaiden, and the only player-controllable character in the game. Itagaki believed that creating extra player characters might distract his team from focusing on Ryu's development. Ryu has a long history with Tecmo; he was the star of the 1990s Ninja Gaiden series, and has been part of the DOA roster since 1996. His roles in these games played a part in his popularity among fans and the game industry. Ninja Gaiden provides a backstory to Ryu's appearance and character as seen in the Dead or Alive series, being set two years before the first DOA game.
Rachel is the leading female character, and tragic hero
Tragic hero
A tragic hero is the main character in a tragedy. Tragic heroes appear in the dramatic works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Seneca, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Webster, Marston, Corneille, Racine, Goethe, Schiller, Kleist, Strindberg, and many other writers.-Aristotle's tragic hero:Aristotle...
ine of the game. She and her twin sister, Alma, are afflicted with a blood curse that turns humans into fiends. Believing that there is no cure for their condition, Rachel seeks to kill Alma to redeem her sister's soul. The relationship between the sisters and the Greater Fiend Doku, who cursed them, serves as a plot device
Plot device
A plot device is an object or character in a story whose sole purpose is to advance the plot of the story, or alternatively to overcome some difficulty in the plot....
to drive the game forward, with Rachel occasionally needing to be rescued
Damsel in distress
The subject of the damsel in distress, or persecuted maiden, is a classic theme in world literature, art, and film. She is usually a beautiful young woman placed in a dire predicament by a villain or monster and who requires a hero to achieve her rescue. She has become a stock character of fiction,...
by Ryu. Although not a player-controlled character in Ninja Gaiden, in a few sections of the Ninja Gaiden Sigma remake she is controllable.
Two other characters assist the player in the game. Ayane, a female ninja and one of the DOA regular cast members, acts as a guide throughout Ninja Gaiden by supplying advice and objectives to the player. Muramasa, a bladesmith
Bladesmith
Bladesmithing is the art of making knives, swords, daggers and other blades using a forge, hammer, anvil, and other smithing tools. Bladesmiths employ a variety of metalworking techniques similar to those used by blacksmiths, as well as woodworking for knife and sword handles, and often...
, has shops scattered throughout the game world where players can purchase useful items and upgrades for Ryu's weapons. Muramasa also gives quests
Quest (gaming)
A quest in role-playing video games — including massively multiplayer online role-playing games and their predecessors, MUDs — is a task that a player-controlled character or group of characters may complete in order to gain a reward...
and relates back-stories
Back-story
A back-story, background story, or backstory is the literary device of a narrative chronologically earlier than, and related to, a narrative of primary interest. Generally, it is the history of characters or other elements that underlie the situation existing at the main narrative's start...
and other crucial information; for example, he tells Ryu how he can obtain the item required to upgrade his Dragon Sword to its full potential.
Itagaki found it more interesting to design nonhuman creatures than human enemies, and as such, most of the enemies Team Ninja created for Ryu are fiends—humans changed into monsters by their blood curse. Three Greater Fiends lead their lesser brethren against Ryu, playing major roles in the game's plot: Alma, Rachel's sister, whose story forms a significant part of the game; Doku, Ryu's main antagonist, whose raid on Hayabusa village and theft of the Dark Dragon Blade comprise the main plot thread; and Marbus, lord of the fiend underworld who is responsible for the final set of challenges Ryu faces in the realm of the fiends before encountering the Vigor Emperor.
Team Ninja based their 3D computer models
3D modeling
In 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling is the process of developing a mathematical representation of any three-dimensional surface of object via specialized software. The product is called a 3D model...
, from the pistols of the henchman upwards, on real world material. Character models were taken from studies of human anatomy, and the team hired martial artists
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
in order to digitally capture their movement. Rather than import the motion capture
Motion capture
Motion capture, motion tracking, or mocap are terms used to describe the process of recording movement and translating that movement on to a digital model. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, and medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robotics...
s directly into the game, however, the animators used them as templates to give a sense of realism to the game characters' exaggerated movements. Players have the option to customize the appearance of player characters, with selectable costumes for Ryu and hairstyles for Rachel.
Story
Ryu's quest for vengeance spans sixteen chapters, each beginning and ending with a cut scene. At the start of the game, the player takes control of Ryu as he infiltrates the Shadow clan fortress. Ryu is there to visit his uncle, the clan leader Murai. During their chat, Ayane delivers news of a raid on the Hayabusa village. Fighting his way back to his village, Ryu encounters Doku, who has killed the Hayabusa shrine maidenMiko
is a Japanese term that anciently meant a "female shaman, spirit medium" who conveyed oracles from kami , and currently means a "shrine maiden; virgin consecrated to a deity" who serves at Shinto shrines.-Word:...
Kureha and has taken the Dark Dragon Blade. Ryu is cut down by Doku with the stolen Blade, but he is brought back to life as a "soldier of revenge" by a falcon, the spiritual animal of the Hayabusas.
Seeking vengeance for Kureha's death, Ryu learns from Murai that the raiders were from Vigoor, so he stows away on an airship
Airship
An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
bound for the empire. Fighting his way through the streets of its capital city, Tairon, Ryu faces several bosses
Boss (video games)
A boss is an enemy-based challenge which is found in video games. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight...
including the three Greater Fiends. He defeats Alma in a battle that wrecks the city, but leaves her to Rachel's mercy. However, Rachel cannot bring herself to kill her sister, and instead is taken by Doku, who prepares to sacrifice her in a ritual to enhance Alma's power. With Alma's help Ryu rescues Rachel and destroys Doku's spirit, but with his dying breath Doku casts the blood curse on Ryu. The only way for Ryu to lift the curse is to kill the emperor, so he storms the palace, defeating Marbus who bars his way to the emperor's personal realm. Two successive boss fights must be completed to destroy the Emperor and reclaim the Dark Dragon Blade—once this is accomplished his realm starts to destruct. Ryu must then be maneuvered up a series of ledges to escape, but in the process he loses his grip on the Dark Dragon Blade.
The fallen Blade lands at the feet of a figure, the Dark Disciple, who has been shadowing Ryu throughout the game. Taking the Blade, the Disciple reveals himself to be the clan leader Murai. He admits that the raid on Hayabusa village was part of his plan to restore the Blade's evil power, using souls harvested by Ryu. Drawing on the Blade, Murai transforms himself, setting the stage for the final boss fight. Ryu defeats Murai and shatters the Blade with the True Dragon Sword. Victorious, Ryu turns himself into a falcon and flies to the Hayabusa village. In the game's final scene he places the Dragon Eye, used to enhance his sword, on Kureha's tombstone and disappears into the night. The story of Ninja Gaiden is continued in the sequels Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword
Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword
Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword has received generally positive reviews. On the review aggregator Game Rankings, the game received an average score of 85% based on 14 reviews. On Metacritic, the game received an average score of 84 out of 100, based on 17 reviews...
and Ninja Gaiden II.
Development
In 1999, Team Ninja started work on the "Next-Generation Ninja Gaiden Project". The first stage of development was to create the game on the Sega NAOMI arcade system board. They then planned to move the project to the Dreamcast console for further development and release, but this was abandoned when Sega announced the end of Dreamcast product line in 2001. At this point, Tecmo decided to release Ninja Gaiden as a launch title for the SonySony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
in the United States. Itagaki, however, had other plans; the Team Ninja Leader was impressed with the software development kit
Software development kit
A software development kit is typically a set of software development tools that allows for the creation of applications for a certain software package, software framework, hardware platform, computer system, video game console, operating system, or similar platform.It may be something as simple...
s for the Xbox and pushed for his team to develop for the Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
console. The company kept silent on this change in direction, and surprised both the games industry and fans when they announced at E3 2002 that Ninja Gaiden was exclusive to the Xbox. Most fans who voted on Tecmo's poll wanted the game on the Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
GameCube.
Ninja Gaiden was Team Ninja's first action title. Its initial concept had nothing in common with the original Ninja Gaiden series, released on the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
. However, for retail reasons Tecmo wanted to retain a link with the previous games, which had many adherents in the West
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
, so Itagaki was asked to rethink his ideas to target the foreign market. Analysing the earlier games, he concluded that their violence appealed to players, and included gory content, such as beheadings, in the Xbox game to retain that spirit. He also aimed to make his new game hard but alluring; it would challenge players on their reflexes rather than on their memories of layouts and timings. His team made a point of designing smoothly-flowing gameplay with high-quality animations that reacted quickly to the player's input. Itagaki paid homage to the earlier Ninja Gaiden series by including updated versions of foes and special attacks.
In 2004 Tecmo released a demo disc
Game demo
A game demo is a freely distributed demonstration or preview of an upcoming or recently released video game. Demos are typically released by the game's publisher to help consumers get a feel of the game before deciding whether to buy the full version....
of Ninja Gaiden in Japan, bundled with the February 26 issue of Famitsu Xbox
Famitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
magazine. The demo let players try the first chapter of the game on two difficulty settings with a few fully upgraded weapons and ninpos. On March 2, 2004, a year later than originally planned, Tecmo released Ninja Gaiden.
Post-release
Team Ninja kept working on the Ninja Gaiden project after its release, with the aim of pushing the action genre and their first such title as far as they could. To this end, they released downloadable expansions, known as "Hurricane Packs", free of charge. Itagaki said that since the packs were born out of his team's interest, they did not care to charge players for their efforts.The two Packs were available over Xbox Live
Xbox Live
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It is currently the only online gaming service on consoles that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. It was first made available to the Xbox system in 2002...
in the third quarter of 2004. Hurricane Pack 1 was a revamped version of Story Mode; Team Ninja tweaked the encounters and artificial intelligence
Game artificial intelligence
Game artificial intelligence refers to techniques used in computer and video games to produce the illusion of intelligence in the behavior of non-player characters . The techniques used typically draw upon existing methods from the field of artificial intelligence...
(AI) of Ryu's foes to increase the difficulty of the game. The pack introduced additional foes such as humanoid cats, giants wearing Triceratops
Triceratops
Triceratops is a genus of herbivorous ceratopsid dinosaur which lived during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period, around 68 to 65 million years ago in what is now North America. It was one of the last dinosaur genera to appear before the great Cretaceous–Paleogene...
skulls, and cyborg
Cyborg
A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...
s, and Team Ninja made a key change to the camera system by which the on-screen action is displayed; players could now control the camera and change its viewing angle. Another feature of the pack was to enhance the combat engine; the new "Intercept" skill let players counter any enemy attack with the proper timing.
Hurricane Pack 2 kept the enhancements of the first, but took place in an alternative world comprising only two regions, where players have to fight through several encounters to rescue Rachel from two new bosses (Nicchae and Ishtaros). This expansion introduced fiends who wield giant swords and cast fireballs.
Team Ninja later compiled both expansion packs, and added new features, to create Ninja Gaiden Black (Black). This game, which Itagaki viewed as the final version of Ninja Gaiden, went on sale on September 20, 2005. A few years later, Team Ninja upgraded the graphics of the game and ported
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
it to the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
(PS3). This version was released as Ninja Gaiden Sigma (Sigma) on June 14, 2007. Black became an Xbox Original game on February 11, 2008.
Regional censorship
As released, Ninja Gaiden contained bloody acts of violence, beheadingsDecapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
, and grotesque monsters. The North American games rating body, the Entertainment Software Rating Board
Entertainment Software Rating Board
The Entertainment Software Rating Board is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings, enforces industry-adopted advertising guidelines, and ensures responsible online privacy principles for computer and video games as well as entertainment software in Canada, Mexico and...
(ESRB), rated it as a "Mature" game, which prohibits sale to anyone under the age of 17. However, the depiction of beheadings attracts stricter ratings in other parts of the world. In Germany, the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle
Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle
Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle is the organization responsible for computer game ratings in Germany.- Ratings :...
(USK) deemed these excessive, and refused to rate the game at all. Since this had the potential to place Ninja Gaiden in Germany's "List of Media Harmful to Young People", which would have meant that shops could neither advertise the game nor sell it unless by request to customers of 18 years or older, Tecmo censored the European PAL
PAL region
The PAL region is a television publication territory which covers most of Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and most of Western Europe...
version to obtain a USK rating. A year later, Tecmo managed to obtain a USK 18+ rating for the uncensored release of Ninja Gaiden Black, but Ninja Gaiden Sigma was censored for release under the same rating.
Japan's Computer Entertainment Rating Organization
Computer Entertainment Rating Organization
The is a Japanese entertainment rating organization based in Tokyo. rating video game content in console games with levels of rating that informs the customer of the nature of the product and for what age group it is suitable...
(CERO) rated Ninja Gaiden and Black, on their release, as 18+ games. At the time, CERO ratings acted as guidelines for consumers. However, on March 1, 2006, the Japanese rating system changed. A scale from A to D was introduced, with an additional Z rating for games with large amounts of gore and sexual content. The Z rating is legally enforced, it being illegal to sell such games to anyone under the age of 18. As a result, Tecmo removed the human beheadings in Sigma to obtain a D rating for the East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
n market. However, CERO reclassified the two previous games as D, despite them also depicting human beheadings.
Online competition
The first two tournaments formed regional qualification stages for a live Ninja Gaiden Master Tournament World Championship, held on September 25 at the Tokyo Game Show 2004
Tokyo Game Show
The , commonly known as TGS, is a video game expo / convention held annually in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association and the Nikkei Business Publications, Inc...
. Competition for places was intense, with both tournaments breaking records for online participation in Xbox Live events. Six of the highest scoring players from Europe and North America won bokken
Bokken
A bokken , "wood", and ken, "sword") , is a Japanese wooden sword used for training. It is usually the size and shape of a katana, but is sometimes shaped like other swords, such as the wakizashi and tantō...
s bearing Itagaki's signature, and five regional winners were selected to proceed to the final. Here, the finalists simultaneously played a custom game drawn from Hurricane Pack 2 while commentators called out the action. They had 15 minutes to complete the game and post the highest score; the winner emerged only in the last 20 seconds, when Yasunori Otsuka cleared the game and outscored his rivals. At the award ceremony, the finalists received their prize plaques from Itagaki.
The tournaments were not without controversy. Players complained about Microsoft's tardiness in posting the official rules for the first playoff, and it was believed that the top posted score was not achievable by fair means. Officials, however, stated that the score was possible, and allowed the results to stand. In the second playoff, Microsoft initially named the runner up as the North American finalist, after disqualifying the winner for no publicly stated reason, but eventually had to send the second runner up to Tokyo when the first was unable to produce a passport in time.
Master Ninja Tournament 3 started on September 27 and lasted 26 days. Rankings were decided by scores obtained while playing Hurricane Pack 2, and the prizes were Tecmo apparel and Team Ninja games. This marked the end of official tournaments for Ninja Gaiden, although Microsoft have retained the ranking boards for players to upload their scores.
Re-releases and merchandise
Tecmo published two remakes of Ninja Gaiden: Ninja Gaiden Black and Ninja Gaiden Sigma. Essentially the same game as the original, they tell the same story of Ryu and the Dark Dragon Blade, but include additional content and updated game mechanics. Itagaki deemed Black to be the final version of Ninja Gaiden, but with the release of the PlayStation 3, Tecmo ported the game to this platform as Sigma.Ninja Gaiden Black
Tecmo announced at E3 2005 that Team Ninja was working on Ninja Gaiden Black, and later exhibited a working version of the game at the 2005 Tokyo Game Show. Black is a reworked compilation of the original Ninja Gaiden and the two Hurricane Packs. The game features new foes, such as exploding bats and doppelgängerDoppelgänger
In fiction and folklore, a doppelgänger is a paranormal double of a living person, typically representing evil or misfortune...
fiends who can imitate Ryu. It contains more costumes than the original, and swaps Ninja Gaiden's unlockable NES games
Unlockable games
The term unlockable games refers to full video games that can be unlocked within another video game, often as easter eggs. Often these unlockable games are earlier entries in the series of the game in which they are hidden, and they become available after beating the game or meeting other...
for an arcade version
Ninja Gaiden (arcade)
Ninja Gaiden, known in Japan as and in Europe as Shadow Warriors, is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up originally released by Tecmo as a coin-operated video game. It was first released in North America in and in Japan and Europe in...
.
One key feature of the remake is its two new difficulty settings—the easy 'Ninja Dog', and the very hard 'Master Ninja'. Itagaki added Ninja Dog after receiving complaints of Ninja Gaiden being too hard in its default incarnation, although he believed that, with persistence, any player was capable of completing the game. Hence he ensured that those players selecting Ninja Dog would be subjected to gentle mockery by the game—players on this difficulty setting receive colored ribbons as accessories, and Ayane treats Ryu as an inferior. In compensation, Itagaki made the other difficulty settings harder than in Ninja Gaiden. Ryu's adversaries were strengthened and made more aggressive, and some of his offensive moves, such as the Flying Swallow, were toned down.
While most of the improvements made in the Hurricane Packs carried forward through this game, including the camera system tweaks and new boss battles, one significant feature did not. The Intercept maneuver, introduced in Hurricane Pack 1, was not included in Black, as Itagaki felt it rendered the game too easy when mastered. This was a significant exclusion, as it now meant certain enemies, like Berzerkers, intended to be fought with the Intercept as part of the players' repertoire, were now to be fought without. This served to further increase the difficulty of certain encounters, adding to the increased challenge seen in Black.
Another feature of Black is its Mission Mode, which comprises 50 combat missions, one of which is adapted from the custom game designed for the Ninja Gaiden Master Tournament World Championship final. The last five missions are based on those in Hurricane Pack 2, but with the Black game engine, and form a linked series known as "Eternal Legend".
Ninja Gaiden Sigma
In 2006, Tecmo and Sony announced the development of Ninja Gaiden Sigma for the PS3. EidosEidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive Ltd. is a British video game publisher and is a label of Square Enix Europe. As an independent company Eidos plc was headquartered in the Wimbledon Bridge House in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton....
obtained the European publishing rights for this game. Itagaki had no direct role in Sigma, and judged it a flawed game, although he acknowledged that Sigma gave PlayStation owners a taste of Ninja Gaiden.
Merchandise
Tecmo has built up a line of merchandise around the Ninja Gaiden name. Its online shop carries apparel and accessories such as caps, wristbands, T-shirts, key holders, and mugs. Most of the merchandise is based on that associated with the various Ninja Gaiden game launches or given as prizes in the Master Ninja Tournaments. Tecmo also published the original soundtrack of the game under their record label, Wake Up, on March 20, 2004. Kotobukiya, a figurine maker, includes 1/6 scale1:6 scale modeling
1:6 scale modeling, a.k.a. Playscale Miniaturism, is a hobby focusing on the collecting and/or customization of commercially produced 1:6 scale action figures and accessories....
plastic figurines
Model figure
A model figure is a scale model representing a human, monster or other creature. Human figures may be either a generic figure of a type , a historical personage , or a fictional character .Model figures are sold both as kits for enthusiast to construct and paint and as pre-built, pre-painted...
of Ninja Gaiden characters in their range of products. As of 2007, they have produced figures of Ryu, Ayane, Kureha, and Rachel.
Reception
Black! style="background:#e8f4f8;"| Ninja Gaiden
Sigma
|-
|
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
|
|
|
|-
|
Game Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="4" style="font-size:110%; text-align:center; background:#d1dbdf;"| Awards
|-
|
|colspan=3|
IGN's Best Xbox Downloadable Content 2004
X-Play
X-Play
X-Play is a TV program about video games, known for its reviews and comedy skits...
's Best Action/Adventure Game 2004
EGMs Xbox Game of the Year 2004
|-
|
Black
|colspan=3|
IGN's Best Xbox Action game 2005
TeamXbox
TeamXbox
TeamXbox is a gaming media web site dedicated to Microsoft's Xbox and Xbox 360 platforms. While the majority of content is Xbox and Xbox 360 related, the site occasionally covers general technology and other video game news....
's Best Xbox Action Game 2005
|-
|
Sigma
|colspan=3|
|} score out of 5
Ninja Gaiden was released to much critical acclaim. GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
called it "one of the best most challenging action adventure games ever made", and IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
said that it "sets a new standard for third-person action games in terms of length, depth, speed, and gore". Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
called it "an unmissable instant classic", and declared that "no Xbox should go without [Ninja] Gaiden". Critics also regarded it to be one of the most difficult games released prior to 2007. Its remake, Ninja Gaiden Black, also impressed reviewers. GameSpot hailed it as having the best visual and audio presentation on the Xbox, and praised its new Mission Mode for "[distilling] the game down to its purest essentials". IGN called its release "a rare and welcome day", which "[brought their] excitement levels back to the first time [they] played the game".
From a technical point of view, critics regarded Ninja Gaiden and Black as the best of the available Xbox software at the time; the console hardware had been pushed to its limits without showing significant drops in performance. GameSpot was impressed with their "first-rate presentation" and said that no other games at that time came close in visuals and audio. According to IGN, the games could "make [them] momentarily forget about the next generation of consoles". Both Ninja Gaiden and Black were top-sellers, which led to them being compatible
Backward compatibility
In the context of telecommunications and computing, a device or technology is said to be backward or downward compatible if it can work with input generated by an older device...
with the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
for all regions on the new platform's release.
However, critics varied in their views on the technical aspects of Ninja Gaiden Sigma. For example, although the gaming site 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
called the updated graphics "a gorgeous reworking of the modern ninja classic," Pro-G
Pro-G
VideoGamer.com is a London based website focused on video game news, reviews, previews and videos. It is privately owned and operated by Pro-G Media Ltd., and was launched in November 2004 by university friends Adam McCann and Tom Orry.On 6 October 2008, VideoGamer.com launched a high-definition...
said that they were average by next-generation standards and showed occasional "tearing, jagged edges, and mismatched collision between bloodstains and walls". Various flaws also troubled 1UP—despite installing the game on the local hard drive, they encountered frequent loading delays, even in combat. They also noted visual glitches, such as screen tearing when the camera moved. These problems made the game "feel like a bit of a slapdash port". Although reviewers appreciated the retention of the gameplay of previous versions, Sigma's lack of new attractive features caused them to question its worth as "a remake of a remake". Pro-G said that Sigma was not worth its full-game price tag because it "has, in effect, been available for years in one form or another". Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
stated that Sigma lacked the "wow factor" when compared to God of War and its sequel
God of War II
God of War II is an action-adventure video game released for the PlayStation 2 by Sony Computer Entertainment's Santa Monica division in March, 2007....
. The 1UP critic felt that shaking the Sixaxis controller to power up a ninpo was "silly" and a "foolishly tacked-on" way to use the controller. IGN was not excited about playing as Rachel and wished to "get back to Ryu's sections simply because he's more fun to play". DailyGame, however, appreciated the change of pace, saying that Rachel will bring a "much-needed respite for newcomers and provide something new for experienced players".
Ninja Gaiden attracted criticism for the way on-screen action is framed by the game's camera. The default camera system centers the action on Ryu and his surroundings, but reviewers were frustrated by occasions when the camera locked on to part of the scenery, thus losing track of Ryu. Tecmo attempted to address this with the introduction of manual camera controls in the Hurricane Packs, and most critics judged that either the camera frame was usually acceptable, or that Ninja Gaiden was a good enough game that its flaws could be overlooked.
The Ninja Gaiden games gained a reputation throughout the gaming community for their difficulty and attention to detail. Although they appealed to gamers who, like Pro-G, wanted a "bloody hard, but also bloody good" challenge, it was feared that casual gamers would find the learning curve daunting. IGN warned that gamers with lesser skills might not "get as much out of this game as others due to [its] incredible difficulty", and Edge
Edge (magazine)
Edge is a multi-format computer and video game magazine published by Future Publishing in the United Kingdom. It is known for its industry contacts, editorial stance, distinctive anonymous third-person writing style, yearly awards and longevity....
commented, "Tecmo’s refusal to extend any kind of handhold to less dedicated players is simply a failure of design, not a badge of hardcore honour. … it’s impossible to believe they couldn’t have found a way to increase the accessibility of the game without undermining the gloriously intractable nature of the challenges it contains." Electronic Gaming Monthly found the challenge to be "rewarding", and said that it "motivates you to actually get better at the game". Clive Thompson
Clive Thompson (journalist)
Clive Thompson is a Canadian freelance journalist, blogger and science and technology writer.Thompson graduated from the University of Toronto with majors in political science and English...
focused on Ninja Gaiden in his Slate
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
article examining the motivation for playing difficult games. He contends that extreme levels of challenge can be initially very frustrating and may cause a game to be abandoned in disgust. However, where a game also rewards a player's perseverance by teaching the skills required to overcome its challenges, that player will have the motivation to finish the game. Ninja Gaiden, in his opinion, strikes the correct balance between challenge and reward; completion brings "a sort of exhausted exhilaration, like finally reaching the end of War and Peace
War and Peace
War and Peace is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in 1869. The work is epic in scale and is regarded as one of the most important works of world literature...
".
Consumers purchased 1.5 million copies of Ninja Gaiden and Black to August 2007, with the bulk of these sales going to North America and Europe. According to the NPD Group
NPD Group
The NPD Group, Inc. is a leading North American market research company. The NPD Group consistently ranks among the top 25 market research companies in the independent Honomichl Top 50 report, which the media and the research industry acknowledge as a credible source of information on the market...
, in its first month Ninja Gaiden sold 362,441 copies in the United States, with Sigma selling 63,637. Next Generation
Next Generation Magazine
Next Generation Magazine was a video game magazine that was made by Imagine Media publishing company . It was affiliated to and shared editorial with the UK's Edge magazine. Next Generation ran from January 1995 until January 2002. It was published by Jonathan Simpson-Bint and edited by Neil West...
reported that as of April 2008, 470,000 copies of Sigma have been sold in Europe and North America. These sales figures reflect Tecmo's decision to target the non-Japanese market. Japanese gamers were not particularly excited by the games—according to Itagaki, only 60,000 copies of Ninja Gaiden were sold in Japan in the four months following its release, and Famitsu gives a figure of 76,095 copies for Sigma in its first six months. The critical and commercial successes of Ninja Gaiden have led CNET
CNET
CNET is a tech media website that publishes news articles, blogs, and podcasts on technology and consumer electronics. Originally founded in 1994 by Halsey Minor and Shelby Bonnie, it was the flagship brand of CNET Networks and became a brand of CBS Interactive through CNET Networks' acquisition...
and GameSpot Asia to induct the game into their Halls of Fame.