| Games - Console Gaming |
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword was released on Nintendo's popular Dual Screen platform early last year. A large part of the DS audience missed out on this title, including me. In Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword you take control of Ryu Hyabusa. Momiji, a female ninja, has been kidnapped and it's up to Ryu Hyabusa to save her. Ryu has to find all seven of the Dark Dragonstones in order to accomplish this task. These Dark Dragonstones are very powerful and it seems that Ryu is the only one strong enough to control their energy.
The Ninja Gaiden series is known for its difficult combat more than anything, and with Dragon Sword's controls I was skeptical as to how they would turn out. First of all, this game is played in the book style, similar to Brain Age. The DS is held on its side with one hand and the stylus in the other. Second, All movement is done by tapping on the touch screen. Sword attacks are done with swipes, and jumps are performed with upward strokes on the touch screen. Tapping on far away enemies initiates projectile attacks. The face and shoulder buttons are used for blocking. These controls are similar to The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass on DS except Ninja Gaiden improves on these controls in some regards. With a game like Ninja Gaiden, players absolutely need responsive controls and Dragon Sword nails this. The touch screen controls are responsive and not once did I attempt to do an attack without Ryu performing on screen, which I can't honestly say about Phantom Hourglass. A variety of attack upgrades along the way will add even more gestures to your arsenal and they all work flawlessly. Gestural controls make it extremely easy to go from swipe at an enemy with the stylus, to tapping a far away enemies and bombarding it with shurikens. This pinpoint precision with the stylus with projectiles is very useful and much easier than using a controller. In regards to controls, Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword has really impressed me; it is more responsive than I could have imagined.
Ninja Gaiden was one of the best looking games on the Xbox, and the same holds true for Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword. Most of the title uses pre-rendered backgrounds (similar to Resident Evil) which look great on DS. Thanks to the backgrounds being pre-rendered, the character models for Ryu and all the enemies look just fantastic for a DS game. Boss fights are a little different though. They are fully 3D; these fights look fantastic. The bosses have large character models, and are highly detailed for a DS title; and I have not seen a dip in frame rate. Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword pushes the DS hardware farther than any other DS game I have played.
On the gameplay front, Ninja Gaiden is an interesting combination of fast paced action and puzzle solving. Combat is the focus, of course, but puzzle segments do provide a relaxing break every so often. These puzzles use the features of the DS in interesting ways. I don't want to spoil anything but let's just say the mic is used in a few ways I've never seen before. Also, there are a variety of powerful Ninpo attacks, which are activated by writing Japanese symbols on the touch screen with the stylus. These are implemented well and really give the player the feeling of being a Ninja. Ninja Gaiden on Xbox was known for its difficulty, although Dragon Sword doesn't start out hard, the last few levels are quite difficult. For the most part, the gameplay of Dragon Sword is very straight forward hack and slash.
Dragon Sword takes place six months after where Ninja Gaiden for Xbox left off. The story didn't really stand out to me, but the it did keep my interest long enough to finish Dragon Sword. The story is told through comic book panel style cutscenes on both of the screens. Dragon Sword does a good job with these scenes and uses the two screens to highlight important things. Fore example, one screen may have a far out view while the other is zoomed in on a specific object in the picture. The art style in these panels is typical Ninja Gaiden fair; it gets the job done. The music inNinja Gaiden: Dragon Sword does a good job of setting the mood. There is pleasant Japanese music playing in the villages Ryu visits, and fights have faster paced music playing. Overall, the story and music are completely forgettable though.
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword is a good action game for Nintendo DS. It nails touch controls, has clever puzzles, and pushes the DS hardware extremely far. Beyond that there isn't anything else that shines out to me, but that is to be expected with a Ninja Gaiden title.
Graphics - 90/100 This is the best looking DS title I have played, this pushes Nintendo's little handheld.
Audio - 60/100 Completely forgettable but it gets the job done.
Gameplay - 80/100 A good mix of action and simple puzzles.
Plot - 60/100 Team Ninja tried to make the story stand out but it is middling at best.
Ninja Factor - 85/100 You will be throwing shurikens in your sleep. Its that good.
Lasting Appeal - 70/100 Dragon Sword is solid in length, there is a harder difficulty, and a lot things of to collect.
Overall - 80/100 A solid action title, one of the best on DS.
