Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword (DS) Preview
Posted by Ramon Aranda on 02.25.2008
Vitals
Genre
Action Adventure
System
Nintendo DS
Release Date
Q0 0000
Hands On: We take a spin with the Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden for the Nintendo DS. So how does it control?
At GDC this week I got a chance to go hands on with Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword for the Nintendo DS. Since it's announcement a few months ago, I've been pretty excited at the prospect of Ryu Hayabusa returning to a Nintendo platform. When I first saw videos of it and learned that the game would be played like a book ala Hotel Dusk I was a tad concerned and seeing that you'd use the stylus to control Ryu, made me more nervous. Sure there have been games like Animal Crossing and The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass that have used the stylus to control your character but with Ryu's ninja skills, it seemed like a tough fit for that control scheme.
Well let me just say off the bat that minutes into the demo, my fears were long gone. When you first startup the game, you'll have some enemies that need a lesson in ass kicking. The game teaches you how to use various techniques with the stylus and I soon realized just how easy it was to pull off these maneuvers. Sure you can swing the stylus around like a seizure victim but there is some technique and strategy involved in using Ryu's arsenal of moves.
As for the look of the game, the art style is beautiful to say the least. The backgrounds are pre-rendered and look gorgeous; a great idea for the DS platform. Everything else is polygonal and the two just work great. The style is a favorite of mine because as we all know, the DS can't exactly do Gamecube graphics but with pre-rendered backgrounds, the game gives you the illusion that the handheld is pumping out gorgeous 3d graphics.
During the demo, I also encountered a boss battle which played out fairly well. When the battle begins, the screen zooms in such that the focus is soley on the fight and the background and surroundings become second fiddle. I won't go too much into the battle itself as not to ruin one of the bosses but let's just say it works.
While I would've loved to delve deeper into the game, the little bit that I got to play left me wanting more. This game has "smash-hit" written all over it and if Tecmo keeps the game polished and adds an intruiging storyline, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword could be one of the best games on the DS in 2008.
