Ninja Gaiden is one of the most challenging games on the NES, combining fast-paced action, a fantastic soundtrack and brutal difficulty to make players work hard for their success. In some respects it was also a trendsetter, with cutscenes and cinematic moments that were ahead of their time.
Speaking to Polygon, game director Hideo Yoshizawa explained that cinematic scenes were essentially added for fun, even though it's hard to appreciate how influential they were in this age where we take such ideas for granted. These scenes were planned and sketched out, naturally, with the concept image below being rather eye-catching.
Discussing the famous difficulty of the game, Yoshizawa-san insists that the player being pushed to the start of a level when losing a life wasn't intended.
I wanted to put players back to the middle of the stage. But one of the programmers lied to me and said he'd do that, then ended up putting them back to the beginning.
As for those of us that can't beat this title, it seems we may be getting our strategy all wrong - when you get an item, use it right away.
We developed the game with the intent that the player should use items shortly after they get them, and if they do that, the game isn't that hard because the items are designed to help with certain enemies. But there are certain players who don't use items right away and want to save them for the end. And after the game came out, we realized if you do that, you pretty much can't win. It becomes a very difficult game.
Composer Keiji Yamagishi naturally had an important role, with a humorous small detail being that he "worked hard to make sure I made one of the first Famicom games that featured a drum roll in it". Nowadays Yamagishi-san is working on music albums that blend chiptune and real instruments, to represent a "futuristic emotional chiptunes world." The first album, Retro-Active Pt. 1 can be pre-ordered right now - part 2 and a physical CD version are also planned for this year.
You can have a listen to the available preview tracks below and share your thoughts on the original NES Ninja Gaiden in the comments section.
Enjoy!
[source polygon.com, via tinycartridge.com, store.bravewave.net]
Comments 10
Aha. bit of an interesting game. BS and it makes no sense. But still good.
Still, I don't understand why Ryu starts by running through the city streets randomly killing people and... wolf men.
Even when that Ninja picked up the statue with his feet proving he's more Ninja than Ryu. What the hell! And what in the world makes Tigers and Eagles wanna attack some random Ninja guy? Weather he's wearing a suit made of rabbit fur or those rugby people hypnotized them... I dunno.
Oh and that MAZE OF DARKNESS in the second game... is really, really bright btw. And what does Ryu do in his spare time when he's not randomly slashing and killing everyone and thing. Just doesn't make sense.
And by god that Tornado Slash was op.
@MetalK9
The sense that Mario games make probably makes you go insane! There's really no NES games that came out that go with a serious "realistic" approach...
I have beaten this game twice. Not as difficult as those Mario games on NES, or even silly games like Circus Charlie or Starforce.
That music track is pretty damn awesome. Definitely like to hear some more of his stuff.
@LittleFuryThing His the forward arrow in the player, there are four tracks (well, two originals and two remixes) available as free previews
Ninja Gaiden was the first video game I ever purchased with my own money.
I ordered it from a magazine and I still remember coming home from school and being so excited it was in. I can't even remember what magazine or how I ordered it lol. It's a vivid memory but also very vague.
This is one of my favorite games of all time; the music, the cutscenes, the action, everything is pretty much perfect. Even the "restart from the beginning of a level" thing isn't too bad, I mean, I beat the game
As hard as the first Ninja Gaiden game is with all those respawning enemies and smallers creatures that kept attacking you, the game is not bad. Even with the high difficulty, the game is still beatable if you had the patience to correct your mistake.
Funny to come across this now as I was just playing Ninja Gaiden seriously last night for the first time in a long while. It's a game I played many times back in the day but never owned. It may be beatable, but getting sent back to the beginning of a level is overly punishing, in my opinion. In spite of that, Ninja Gaiden just feels fun to play. I got that same feeling from NES Batman too.
I'll have to keep in mind what he said and see if he's right. I made it to stage five before I had to stop, so I still have to go back to it.
God knows how many times I've beaten this game as a kid. Blaster Master as well! Ninja Gaiden 3 was hard as hell too but beat it several times. No saves. Just straight through!
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