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It’s been quite some time since a Ninja Gaiden game came out that wasn’t a remake or a remake of a remake. The latest adventures of super ninja extraordinaire Ryu Hayabusa involves a lot of touching, but not in a friendly manner. Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword is designed exclusively for the DS and aims to take full advantage of the various special features of the system. Does it succeed? For the most part, yes; there are, however, some major flaws that hold back Dragon Sword from the upper echelon of portable action nirvana.

Big Swords, Little Screens

The first and most obvious element to the game is the use of the touch screen. Get familiar with it: you’ll be using it for everything. Jumping, attacking, running, and everything in between are accomplished with the tip of the stylus. Much like Phantom Hourglass before it, Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword implements all of the traditional game controls in a manner that is both smooth and easy. Touch the screen to begin running in that direction. Slash an enemy to attack. Even casting Ninpo magic requires you to fill in symbols for casting; from there each spell is used differently, like sliding fireballs around to hit enemies or poking a foe to stab it with lightning strikes. This is a whole new way to play Ninja Gaiden, but it works well and it makes sense.

Graphically, Tecmo made some interesting choices for Dragon Sword. By pre-rendering stage backgrounds, the character models can push more detail and animation. Because of this, the game is one of the best-looking titles on the DS. Instead of fully-voiced CG cut scenes, the developers instead chose to go with a more stylish route by featuring 2D animated panels, giving the story a comic book-like feel (punctuated all the more because the game is played while holding the DS sideways a la Hotel Dusk). This isn’t the brutal, bloody M-rated Ninja Gaiden of the past. Instead, the game is a much more accessible, “for all ages” action game.

And that is its biggest downfall.

Fall of the Ninja 

Very little of the complexity and depth of the console Ninja Gaidens makes the transition to the portable environment. Combat is very repetitive and often requires nothing more than slashing the touch screen furiously to defeat enemies. Dungeons are extremely short, artificially lengthened with rooms full of enemies that respawn every time the player visits them. Though the bosses require a great deal more strategy, they are not particularly difficult. This trend in challenge (or lack thereof) is reflected across the entire game, in fact, making Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword feel more like Ninja Gaiden Lite.

Speaking of the dungeons, get used to the color brown. While the game begins in a forest, the netherworld temples and vaults Ryu will be exploring are for the most part varying shades of earth tone. The advantage of pre-rendered, static backdrops is the ability for the environmental artist to show off their talent for detail and atmosphere, but the combat settings in this game are about as bland and mundane as one can imagine.

One other aspect that doesn’t feel quite right is the puzzle design. It seems like every time the game requires that the player put their brain into action to get through a dungeon or help out the people of the game’s hub village, the answer is always invariably the same: blow or yell into the microphone. Normally this kind of thing doesn’t warrant special attention in a review, but the microphone functionality feels like it was forcefully shoehorned into the game when it didn’t necessarily need to be implemented.

Ninja Dog

Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword is an enjoyable action game that will appeal to fans of the genre and portable gamers. It will also leave a vague air of dissatisfaction with Ninja Gaiden vets. It’s short, parts of it are sweet, but it never really gets firing on all cylinders, even though the hint of a promise for that level of intensity is present the whole time. The game is an admirable experiment by Team Ninja, and for trying something new with their biggest franchise, they deserve credit.

Review by: Justin Fassino