100%NES

MASTERPIECE! ★

70%Emulated

Cheap in many spots but a decent game overall

75%NES

Finally saw the ending to a game I rented often as a kid. I used saved states at the end so I didn’t have to go all the way back. Took me forever still. With a few tweaks in difficulty, knock back, and cheap enemy spawns, this game would be perfect.

100%NES

Legendary and hard. A masterpiece.

55%NES

Man, I think my gaming hot take is that Ninja Gaiden is not fun. The respawning enemies are cheap as hell. The bosses follow either uninteresting or nigh impossible to follow patterns. Yes, cutscenes are nice, but the hitboxes are jank. I appreciate what it does but this is exactly the kind of game that just didn't age well.

60%NES

Does well to distinguish itself from Castlevania, but suffers from enemy overload and an awful wall-jumping mechanic

45%Nintendo Switch

While its music and storytelling were impressive for the time, Ninja Gaiden’s level design is incredibly unfair and hasn’t stood the test of time.

80%NES

7.5 rounded.

While still a great platformer, I admit I'm a little disappointed in replaying Ninja Gaiden for the first time in 15 years -- and it's mostly because of act 6. While the game is notoriously difficult, I found acts 1-5 worthwhile challenges, but the last section truly ups the ante in just throwing so much at you at once, half of them traps that spawn off screen.

No, enemies don't spawn randomly, but if you stand at just the spot where they spawn off screen...they'll just keep spawning forever. That is a bit obnoxious, for sure -- especially in that final level when you're just dealing with SO MUCH at once ALL THE TIME.

But the game truly is great. Tecmo was a giant on the NES back in the '80s, and this sits among their best titles. The platforming is tight; the enemies and bosses all have that Dark Souls flair in that they're difficult as heck, but they all follow very predictable patterns; the level design is *chef's smoochies*; the storytelling -- my GOODNESS, the storytelling. Ninja Gaiden isn't telling us a literary masterpiece by any means, but it tells a story in a way that was unheard of alongside its peers, particularly for the platforming genre. They just pack so many twists and turns in such a short experience and so few cutscenes. (Vice: Project Doom -- also on Switch Online -- would later lift heavily from this.)

Showing its age, but still absolutely worth giving it your time if you're at all a platforming fan. Don't be afraid of using the Switch's rewind feature. Life's too short, and there are too many games.

60%NES

Does gratuitious usage of the Switch Online Rewind Feature ruin the pure sanctity of the video game experience? Perhaps yes, but it also makes completing some fun, interesting, inherently frustrating games possible, so there's that.

I found the platforming to be surprisingly tidy for this era of games and very satisfying, save for some of the wall jumping moments, the bosses are tough, but have enough tells that you can pick up--Act 4 though frustrated the hell out of me. Feels like a jump to gratuitious re-spawning and unjustly tough bosses around Act 6, but this game has held up better than a lot from its time, and with rewind function made for a nice evening's challenge!

100%NES

A masterpiece!

60%Emulated

Really cool game but has the most NES bullshit I've ever seen, would not recommend playing without save states unless you want to go insane

50%Nintendo Switch

I've played my fair share of hard games, but this does not rank among them. Because this isn't a game. A game wants to be played...it has emotions it wants to elicit and a story to tell. A game's challenges are laid out to test the player on skills they learn throughout the experience. Ninja Gaiden is not a game in this respect, for it does not want to be played. It's difficulty comes from chance encounters and brutal damage. Enemies spawn at random and without warning, dealing massive damage and leaving the player no time to recover before the next one appears. There's nothing to learn in this game...it's all trial and error. It's a shame, too, because the artwork and atmosphere have a lot to offer!

70%NES

the game is hard ,father is worth it

70%Nintendo Switch

Was pretty good until Act 6, which contains the worst levels and some absolutely horrible bosses. A good game with a bad finale.

70%NES

Me: "Hey, this game isn't too difficult. Wonder why everyone says it's impossible?" Then stage 6-4 happens.

70%Emulated

Incredibly frustrating hitboxes and respawns, otherwise fun.

90%NES

Relentlessly difficult but a must play nonetheless. Gameplay, music, graphics and story are all a win. Makes you wanna keep trying until you get it right.

80%NES

its like a gauntlet that just keeps getting harder but thats why its so fun. Rewards high-skill play and level memorization with high speed gameplay, if you try to rush through the levels like a crazy speedrunner man you are going to get bodied your first goes, but if you slow down to actively assess the situation you are in and what to do to get through it, you will have a much higher chance of pulling through. However, if you want to just try to bumrush through the levels like a crazy fast ninjaman and learn from there thats still just as much of an option, which is probably why this game is so good. It adapts to the players skill level instead of the other way around i guess.

70%NES

I can see why this is a classic. Really difficult, but engaging nevertheless. I'm not sure if stands the test of time like Super Mario does (for the original NES), but it was still a solid playthrough. I also used "quicksave" alot so I wasn't nearly as frustrated from dying in the game unlike when I played it ages ago on my NES.

70%Emulated

7.5/10

80%Emulated

For the most part, Ninja Gaiden is an above average platformer filled to the brim with intense action. The level of difficulty here is high - even stages as early as the second one can be downright gruesome if you don't know what to do, and with how fast-paced the game is, you've got to be a fast learner if you want to last long. I can respect that the game is geared more towards players with fast reflexes, but as someone who plays games more slowly and methodically, Ninja Gaiden kicked the shit out of me more often than not. I don't hold this against the game, it just means it wasn't designed for me, and generally speaking the challenge doesn't feel too unfair. There are some bullshit moments and malicious enemy placements later on in the game, however, and these can really sour the experience. Your post-hit invincibility period is very short, and enemies can pile on the hurt very quickly. Respawning enemies make it nearly impossible to stand still and take a breather. I also never really got the hang of how Ryu's katana works. It feels like the hitbox for the sword is very small, and it frequently felt like I was missing enemies that, by all means, I should've hit. It's certainly beatable within a day, even on your first playthrough, but the learning curve is sharp and it's very easy to get left behind. I'm generally not a fan of cutscenes, especially in platformers, but having a story told through cutscenes in an NES game is kind of unique for the time, so I can look past them. Despite the immense challenge, I would like to revisit Ninja Gaiden sometime and hopefully get a better grasp on it. It's a very demanding game and it does get punishing later on, but I'd say this is one punishment worth enduring.

80%NES

6-3 is really bad but the rest of this game is an exercise in positive frustration.

60%NES

Difficulty curve was good until the final stage. Not only does the game go from hard to incredibly unfair with enemies spawning on your landing zone as soon as you jump, but the game has the most punishing cost of failure: If you die to any of the bosses at the end of 6-4, you get sent back to 6-1.And it is hard to get back.

50%Nintendo Switch

Awful game design. Cool cutscenes.

80%NES

Pure adrenaline charged side scrolling goodness. Seeing as I normally don't play side scrollers, Ninja Gaiden got my attention and kept it.
This games major flaw is it's sheer amount of trail and error, there are multiple occasions in where you go to jump a pit only for an enemy to come out of nowhere and knock you into the pit. This game is rough for someone who is playing blind but a sheer joy to those who have played the game already as you can evade all the bullshit that gave you trouble before.

Today I beat this game on the switch using rewinding but right after I beat it and finally perfected the final boss strategy, I immediately popped in my NES cart and beat it for real in one clean shot in under 30 minutes. A super fun but high challenge game that will require tons of trail and error but once you overcome them this game becomes your bitch. 8.5/10.

80%Emulated

Pretty cool game, kinda unfair and hard.

50%Nintendo Switch

Savestated

60%Emulated

Note: This was played with a Restoration Hack that fixes the checkpoint bug in Act VI meaning that game-overing starts you at the beginning of the current stage (like the Japanese version), rather than all the way back to VI-1. Save states were used to easily practice the last two bosses, but not to create additional checkpoints on earnest attempts.

A VERY aged classic that highlights what devs have collectively learned in the past 30 years of game design. Late-game has some INCREDIBLY bullshit design, including way more enemies than anyone could make it past unscathed. The game also breaks its own rules all the time via decisions that were clearly made late to make the game harder. For example, dying generally starts you at the beginning of the current room as long as you have lives left, but the moment you enter the boss room, dying takes you all the way back to the beginning of the stage.

That said, this game is not without merits. Presentation is fantastic, with lovingly-drawn pixel art cutscenes and fantastic music. Base movement and gameplay do a great job of making you feel like a Hollywood-style ninja (there's a reason this game has remained the aspiration of more modern ninja games such as The Messenger or Cyber Shadow). Stages are memorable and generally short enough to be fun replaying until you can master and get past them.

There are some real surprises for a game of this age and style, too. Next time someone tells you about the good old days when games didn't have tons of cutscenes and didn't give you checkpoints between bosses, point them to the literal SIX MINUTES OF CUTSCENES between Act III and IV here! Or the weirdly simultaneously generous and stingy checkpointing of the final stage, where you have to start from the beginning of the stage (or act, for the vanilla US version) every game over or boss death, but you don't have to fight the first two of three final bosses again if you've already beaten them.

All in all I'm glad I played this. Maybe consider not being a maniac like me and use save states if you do though, because it's frustrating as fuck. At the very least, use the Restoration hack from romhacking so you don't have to start all the way back from the beginning of the damn act when you game over in Act VI.

90%TurboGrafx-16

The TurboGrafx-16 version is a port of the NES version. It's pretty awesome with some alternate graphics, music, and mechanics.

70%Nintendo Switch

The game started off pretty well and the story and cutscenes was pretty top notch and reminded me of a 80s to 90s cartoon kind of vibe. I do hate how enemies constantly respawn, sometimes they'll practically be right on top of you. The wizard final boss is probably the worst offender, random homing projectiles are awful with most of my attacks somehow not hitting him at all. If I hadn't abused rewind on that final boss I don't know how I would have beaten it.

70%Nintendo Switch

Tough as a MF, but the gameplay is fun...for the most part. I hate that the enemies respawn all the time. The music kicks ass.

60%Nintendo Switch

I won't even bother trying to complete this. The final boss is stupid hard.
The whole game can be very punishing, but it never feels fair.

40%NES

Very fast paced, not really all that hard; it was some fun, and fairly svelt, but nothing spectacular, merely functional

50%TurboGrafx-16

It's a great game on first stages, it get kind of difficulty on the middle. and then when you get to final stage in incredible unfair! I do hate it.

70%Nintendo Switch

wtf

70%Nintendo Switch

When you hear stories about hardcore, old-school games, they are talking about Ninja Gaiden. A torture-fest concocted by the mind of a psychopath. Devious. Devilish. Evil. Cool as beans too.

60%Emulated

A bit too maddening for me, was more fond of it as a kid I'd say.

100%NES

Insanely great game!

80%NES

A very hard game, that's for sure. The difficulty is due mainly to enemy placement and the respawning. The game really tests your reflexes and memorization in how the levels are designed and how the enemies are placed. The first few levels are pretty straightforward. The real challenge lies in Act VI - the final stages. It often feels like a barrage of enemies and you can't seem to get a grip on it. Like I said earlier, it's all about memorization and reflexes. I really loved the story of the game - the presentation especially. The cutscenes where great and the art design in these cutscenes were impressive. The gameplay is pretty basic, but the platforming is challenging.

70%NES

7.25/10

70%Wii U

Really Hard Game

70%NES

This should have been the greatest game ever. Wonderful graphics, new story for the time, great game play and fun bosses... The reason it's reduced to mediocrity is because it's so goddamned hard! The final 2 bosses are the hardest I've ever beat in a videogame, and the final level is utter torture!

50%NES

I made it to to Level 4 once.

90%No Platform Specified

Be well warned ahead of time: this isn't the kind of game you can pick up and breeze through on your first try. Completing the adventure takes practice and patience, both of which you'll likely be willing to invest given the solid and satisfying gameplay and the fact that you'll want to see how the story ends. Getting to the next cutscene, seeing the next piece of the plot, was a motivation not used before Ninja Gaiden in 1989. That novel sequence of events, paired with the high degree of difficulty, made this first Gaiden game a hit. A hit that started Tecmo's most powerful franchise, and a hit that's certainly worth the asking price.