Ninja Gaiden Trilogy
Super Nintendo
Nostalgia Factor:
Growing up a fan of the Ninja Gaiden series, I was always a little disappointed that this game never came out for the Sega Genesis. Remember: compilations or collections were not commonplace back in the 90s. I thought it was just the coolest thing that they were able to put all three of the NES games on one cartridge for the Super Nintendo. But seeing as how I did not own a Super Nintendo, I was never able to play it.
Over the years, I have read many comments and reviews online that have called out this collection for being crappy. Huh? How could they mess up a simple port of one of the greatest NES series of all time? I've been meaning to play the game for myself for a few years now, but I haven't had the time to get around to it until now. Would I agree with the negative reviews, or would I find that this game isn't really that bad after all? Let's find out!
Story:
Pardon my laziness, but I've already reviewed each of these games individually, so I don't think I need to recap them again. Click the following links if you want a story synopsis for each of these games:
I hate to sound like a broken record, but the gameplay has not changed much from the NES games either. Do I really need to describe the gameplay considering I've already reviewed each of these games individually? Probably not. Again, go back and read my last few reviews if you don't know how Ninja Gaiden works.
I don't know if this was a "me" problem, or a problem with the game, but I did notice a little bit of an issue with the hit detection when I first started playing the original Ninja Gaiden. I got hit a whole bunch of times and died on the first level - which I don't think I've ever done before. But the more I played, the more I adapted. By level two, I had a firm grasp of the controls and hit detection and had a fairly smooth experience the rest of the way. But I did have a problem with button presses not registering sometimes. Very frustrating when you have a jump timed out, and you just run off the ledge and die. Or you are leaping to make a precision strike, you hit the attack button, nothing happens, you hit the enemy, and you get bounced back to your death. Very annoying. I don't know if this was a problem with the game or my controller though - so I am not going to blame the game. Just don't you dare say it is a skill issue. I grew up on the first two games in this series and beat them many times as a kid. I know how to not make rookie mistakes.
The game does include a save or continue feature, which is nice. I am not quite sure how it works, because I beat each of these three games in one sitting each. But it is nice that this is an option, since it was NOT an option in the original games.
Graphics:
I think some of the criticism this collection takes is because it did not do much to update the game's graphics. This is not like Super Mario All-Stars, where the graphics are juiced up. They are only minorly improved. You could even make the argument they aren't improved at all, because they lack the charm of the original games.
I'm not going to judge this too harshly, though. I came here to play a collection of all three Ninja Gaiden games in one, and that is what I got.
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Sound:
This is where the collection takes a major step back from the original games. The NES game had a rockin' soundtrack. Here, they tried to make it "better" and ended up completely neutering the music. I don't know how to describe it. It has no edge anymore. It just sounds cheesy and generic.
Nothing wrong with the sound effects though.
Overall:
I think your enjoyment of the game will depend on what you are expecting coming in. If you are expecting a simple port of the NES games, you'll like this. I fall into this category. I had a good time with this. The series is annoying and difficult as hell, but I still like it.
If you are expecting a game with massive improvements made (like Super Mario All-Stars), you may come away disappointed.
But to me, it was everything I expected it would be: a faithful port of all three NES games on one cartridge. Yeah there are some questionable graphical/musical choices made, but the basic gameplay is the same. And it gives you a save feature.
So I am going to go ahead and give Ninja Gaiden Trilogy a pretty good score. It could be better, yeah, but it did what I expected it to do. Annoyances and crushing difficulty and all.
THE GRADE:
B+
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