31 replies to this topic

[PlayerOneCJ]

Episode 66's Game Club game will be Ninja Gaiden (NES). Discuss!

[levitynyc]

Placeholder text here till I put somethin' in....

Episode 66's Game Club game will be Ninja Gaiden (NES). Discuss!

You might wanna sticky this topic.

[Jonnjonzz]

How many actualy finished this game without cheats/codes of any kind? God knows I didn't and still haven't. I play the Chris Kohler way, play till you see the castle and thats the real end of the game, anything else is just a form of self punishment.

[PlayerOnePhil]

How many actualy finished this game without cheats/codes of any kind? God knows I didn't and still haven't. I play the Chris Kohler way, play till you see the castle and thats the real end of the game, anything else is just a for of self punishment.

I'm so tempted to answer this now, but I suppose I should wait until next week's show.

Spoiler

I kicked/still kick Ninja Gaiden ass.

[Jonnjonzz]

If you are going to make this a regular thing, why not make this its own topic in the Video game section?

3 things.

1. How is everyone going to play this? Good Ol' NES, one of the various Xbox remakes(its was on those right?), or some non un-illegal way.

2. I would recommend finding a way to play the Master System version of Ninja Gaiden. Its pretty fun and there are a few interesting design choices that become apparent in the 3rd or 4th screen of the game.

3. Watch the episode of Game Center CX involving this game, its friggin hilarious.

[Tron]

Ok, so last year, my friend and I were like "Let's play through all three Ninja Gaiden games".

Yeah.

That is not easy. We basically only got through the first two by using the game genie, and even WITH the game genie, we couldn't finish #3.

They are so ridiculously hard, but awesome.

Fuck birds.

[StinkingBishop]

I have played and beaten this game many years ago. I got it for Christmas one year. i think it was about August of that year that I finally managed to beat it. A friend bough ti off ebay last summer and I no longer have the touch I developed for it way back when. This was a very fun and great game.

Funny to me story. The July before i beat it i had a relative from Poland come to visit. He was out for the afternoon so i was playing the game. I was at the end boss, fighting him/it and he walks in, says something in polish (which i can not speak) and unplugs my Nintendo then starts to laugh and runs out. Never forgiven him for that.

[Kirbutashi]

Damned respawning enemies!

[JDUB X]

The Third boss might just be the most annoying boss in all of Video Games.

Also This Speed run video makes me SAD

[Grecco]

One of my favorite games of all time. Funny thing though my first experience with Ninja Gaiden was with the Arcae game in a trip to spain.

[DistantStorm]

i remember playing this on a friend's NES back in the day. even at around 10 years old, i knew there was something different about this game that i hadn't seen in a Nintendo game up til then. it just had a feel unlike anything else i had played. plus the challenge level, right from the start, was on a different plane altogether.

i don't think we ever beat it, but it was great fun trying.

[nasero]

I don't remember much from the first Ninja Gaiden besides the music. In fact pretty much all the NES Ninja Gaiden games had pretty darn good music.

As for the game itself, it was good but difficult and not as good as say.... StarTropics.

[Enchy]

This game ends for me when you see the castle. Everything after that is disgustingly badly designed.

[Jonnjonzz]

This game ends for me when you see the castle. Everything after that is disgustingly badly designed.

This is something I totally agree with, I think a lot of the games on the NES get too much credit for being good, cause most everyone played them and it was the only game they had for months at a time, so they made themselves like it. Games like Ninja Gaiden and Kid Icarus get this retro treatment, if people would be honest with themselves I think people would hold a lot less NES games to a high standard, since at some point the level design or the limitations of the system make parts of the game too cheap to be considered anywhere near good(the respawning birds for instance).

[Reivax]

My only memories of Ninja Gaiden is the first level. Enough to say how hard the game is and how bad I was at i.

Oh, and "He's making the jump...it's his second time through...and he hasn't even taken a hit yet. He's a wizard."

[Wenny]

I'm almost ashamed to admit that I haven't played Ninja Gaiden before. I didn't own it back in the NES days and never got around to checking it out. I'll pull it of VC and give it a pair of fresh eyes...though if it kicks my ass (remember, I am lazy) I probably won't last long with it.

Good choice though, as it gives me something new to try that I've been missing out on.

[mrplaid]

I think I agree with the sentiment that Ninja Gaiden is remembered a bit too fondly. The game had cutscenes with awesome (by 1988's standards) graphics and a coherent story (with an unforgettable intro) thanks to one of the best translations of its time. Of course, it's way too punishing to be considered enjoyable by today's standards and the enemy design is laughably random (witches and linebackers?), but I'd argue that in terms of character development the game is about on par with the original Metal Gear Solid.
I was five or six the first time I played it, and I could never get past those damn eagles, either. I remember watching my brother play it all the way through at least once, though. He had skillz.

Also, 'Bloody Malth' is a mistranslation of 'Bloody Mars,' Mars being the Roman name for Ares.

Also also, raise your hand if you called it 'gay-den' back in the day. *raises hand*

[Losername]

Also also, raise your hand if you called it 'gay-den' back in the day. *raises hand*

*here*

[Enchy]

Also also, raise your hand if you called it 'gay-den' back in the day. *raises hand*

<<<<<<<<<Look at this guy.

[juanster]

I remember when I first saw the intro way back in the day and thought it was so freaking cool. It still is.

[Chairman Steve]

I adore Ninja Gaiden, but the game's legendary difficulty almost made me crack when I put forth a final effort to finish it a few months ago. I've played it off and on for the last 17 years or so, and every time I play it, I get to the final boss with a full life count, die, stare in disbelief as I am forced to restart the entire final act, and come dangerously close to throwing my NES through the television. I then vow to never play the game again, but the cycle has repeated itself every 5 years or so since I first played the game.

I finally finished the game after it was released on the Virtual Console, but it was definitely a harrowing experience. I replayed that last level so many freakin' times that I should've been able to breeze through it, but those glitchy respawns would always find a way to knock me into a pit.

Anyways, all grief aside, NG is one of my favorite NES games. I prefer Ninja Gaiden 2 (a game that is strangely hampered by a lack of difficulty), but I'll take either in a heartbeat.

[Hargrada]

Well, I went ahead and played this game again for the first time in years and I have some thoughts on the experience.

I was surprised how fast the timer moves in this game, cause I sure don't remember racing the clock like this when I was younger. The bosses are way easier then I remembered, especially the broken Bloody Malth (just keep slashing!). Level 6-2 is just plain ridiculous. I seriously have no idea how I passed this stage when I was younger. Oh, and i've heard that there's a way to split the Kelbeross into 3. Anyone know how to do this?

Lookin forward to the next Retro Game Club!

[juanster]

I found it really funny that there are football players that are trying to kill you for some reason. The rocket pack ninjas got a laugh too.

[Spiz]

EFF THOSE GREEN LINEBACKERS!

[juanster]

EFF THOSE GREEN LINEBACKERS!

Ryu and his hurricane kick too!

[Spiz]

When Ryu does his hurricane kick I thought he said, "SUBJECT PREDICATE!"

[mik]

When Ryu does his hurricane kick I thought he said, "SUBJECT PREDICATE!"

Consider it your death sentence.





(yes, I did)

[Brennzky]

I owned the second one, but I rented the hell out of this one. I always got to the last boss but could not beat it. So intense, it took me forever to get by Bloody Malth. When I was a kid I thought that was Jaquio, so when I beat it I was so happy, but alas stage 6-2 was ahead of me, plus the impossible last boss fight. Well for me anyway.

The MUSIC is great though, one of the best soundtracks on the Nes!

[Owozifa]

So I wavered back and forth between here and the video game completion thread, but decided here since this is why I -started- playing the game. A year ago I didn't get very far, but this spring break I came back to it.

I beat f---ing Ninja Gaiden.

I pretty much breezed through Acts 1-5 in one day. It's not really as hard a game as all that. Act 6 is definitely a distillation of all the bs from the previous levels, but that still wasn't too bad. I mean at this point I can run through Act 6 quite easily. I kind of had to, didn't I?

So there are three final bosses, as many probably know. First one is really quite easy. Second one is kind of a dick, but once in a pattern I didn't have too much trouble. Third, I dunno what is wrong with me. It looked so easy to dodge, but I just could not get my head around it. Of course every time you die even once on the final bosses you get sent back to 6-1, which is what really made this attempt drawn out. I did the first five acts in an afternoon, and took a break at 6. Act 6 has taken me about 4 days with a good few hours of play a day to get through. Let's see. 3 hours on Tuesday. 3 and a half on Wednesday. I dunno about Thursday because I fell asleep with it paused. Hour and a half Friday.

I really hate the area right in front of the boss door. I almost always lose a bunch of health there right before the door, making it that much harder to survive. Finally I made it with a little over half health, the Fire thing, and 99 spirit junk and spammed that demon bastard until he exploded.

This is the first time I've ever played the game, having missed the NES era for the most part. Honestly, despite some frustration at the end, I can't say I stopped having fun. Even now if you sat me down and told me to play through Act 6 again, I'd be fine with that. I think that says something about the game. To me, the game is a lot like mastering a song on Guitar Hero or something. You have to get the rhythm of the enemies and their placement down. You have to know where to stop, and where you have to run like hell. There's a great flow to it. Of course, if you miss one beat the enemies pretty much descend and rape you, but that's what happens to me in Guitar Hero too. Now I just have to try and beat Castlevania...

[levitynyc]

Did you beat it legit or did you use save states?

[Owozifa]

Virtual Console, so no chance to cheat.

[headcaseGames]

I LOVE this game. I remember seeing it advertised in Nintendo Fun Club as "Dragon Ninja" and saying ""what the hell is this?" It came out maybe 6mo/1yr later and I was all over it..
It was frustrating, and I remember it took me some time to clear but not THAT long. I am surprised to see so many people look back at it now as a "legendary hard game." It was just long and kind of picky, but as someone above was saying, it's a testament to the game's design how much it compels people to come back for e.

I did away with one and dispatched #2 the weekend I bought it, but never got my hands on number three. Back in the day, they said that one was unbelievably difficult. My 15-year-old tenacity might have been up to the task, but I am not so sure how well I would fare now. Still quite a good looking game!