| There's nothing like playing the newer generation of classic games. For Nintendo, that's like between 1991-1993. Ninja Gaiden 3: The Ancient Ship Of Doom, which came out in 1991, is the newest installment of the Ninja Gaiden Series. Like any sequel, it features improvements from the its predecessor(s). But, unfortunately, like some sequels, it fails to bring out the quality that it should have. Graphics: 9
Since Ninja Gaiden 3, or (NG3), came out later, one would expect more out of its graphics. NG3 improves when viewing the excellently detailed backgrounds and sprite images, but doesn't do too well due to the fact that the depth was taken away. Now the ground is solid flat, like in Batman. Fortunately, some depth was added by making the background move in its own way (i.e. In Act 2-1, the desert, the background moves slower, making it seem farther away). Another plus side to NG3's graphics are its visual effects, like when a boss is defeated there is a quick flash. And Ninja Ryu's headband moves. Many moving sprites are present. Again, the scenes are cinematic, but not quite what Ninja Gaiden featured. Sound: 8
Even more improvements, NG3 has added to the SFX. Now when Ryu swings, he yells. Sometimes you won't hear this because of the constant action going on everywhere.
The music is where NG3 degrades. It matches the mood pretty fine, especially in Act 2-2. But ""Battlefield III"" could have done better. When Ryu dies, the ""Death"" music sounds strange also (it should have been the same as Ninja Gaiden 2). The cinematic songs don't quite get to you as good as the previous games, except in the intro. The music after defeating the first boss sounds similar to ""Dehumanize"" from Ninja Gaiden 2, infact, the music after defeating the first boss in Ninja Gaiden has the same mood also. Judge for yourself. Gameplay: 9
In Ninja Gaiden, Ryu had the ability to cling and jump off walls; in Ninja Gaiden 2, Ryu is able to climb walls (like Spiderman); and NG3: Ryu Hayabusa can now hang under objects, like cliffs, bars, platforms, and other things unexpected. One annoying thing about Ninja Gaiden 2 was when the player climbed to the top of the vertical wall and needed to jump onto the horizontal platform. The player would have to jump to the side and quickly change directions. Now, the player can jump straight onto the platform by pressing Up + Jump.
The most unforunate quality EVER, NG3 takes away the shadow ninjas. What happened? Was this some sort of thing that a programmer licensed but took away with him when he left? The game tries making up for it by adding a ""blade"" extension, giving it a ""Strider"" look to it, which is quite nifty but doesn't ""follow Ryu around"" between levels like the shadow ninjas do. The player will need the blade, it helps significantly during the climactic parts, which is another thing. NG3 has many climactic action areas in it, where the difficulty gets steep, much steeper than in the first two series. And pretty early too
The physics are a little strange in this game, when Ryu jumps, he floats longer than in the previous games. This can be pretty good sometimes: Ryu can make longer jumps that would seem impossible. It also causes trouble when the player needs to touch the ground quickly, which happens plenty. The programmers also get to your nerves when enemies knock you off ledges and small platforms. This happens quite often in Stage 3-1. Watch carefully and you'll see Ryu get hit, land on a platform, and bounce off it into the pit of doom. Overall: 9
Replay Value: Moderately High, depending on the player: A true player would see this game as a challenge. The ""other player"" would give up hopelessly. Those in the middle would continue trying even if all seems lost, getting quite an experience.
NG3 offers the best challenge: Ninja Gaiden 2 was, in my opinion, the easiest. Ninja Gaiden (1) was quite difficult, but only has six Acts. NG3 is difficult and offers as many Acts as Ninja Gaiden 2. Ninja Gaiden 3 does not offer unlimited continues this time, Aholes! . However, unlike the final bosses of the previous series, when the player loses, he/she does not get sent to the beginning of the entire Act, cussing Tecmo out.
Someone must have been fired halfway through the making of this game, because the storyline starts out strong in the intro, with as much creativity as its predecessor, and stays constant. But somewhere, halfway through the game, the storyline dies down to the bottom, like the 1929 Stock Market Crash. The game's story is then comparable to the average game story, where the hero must save the world and he is their only hope, or where the hero's friend is really... never mind.
Now, the results, Ninja Gaiden 3: The Ancient Ship Of Doom, succeeds its predecessors in: 1.) background images & effects (not overall graphics) and 2.) providing the best challenge. Ninja Gaiden 3 also ranks 3rd in the series, which is not a bad thing when looking at how high the pedestal is for those games. Tecmo also disappoints us all by not including a Soundtrack! If you're really into Ninja Gaiden music, though, go to www.classicgaming.com/ninjagaiden/midi.html. I know this is against Vimm's Lair's policy, but it's not like any money is being made from it.
Also, if you have a SNES, you might want to check out Ninja Gaiden Trilogy, offering all three of the these exciting ninja adventures! |
