Ninja Gaiden

Tecmo once again shows mastery over Xbox hardware in this epic fighting adventure.

One of the greatest game series of the Nintendo era has finally returned and it's returned with a vengeance. Ryu Hayabusa has made his way back into the Ninja Gaiden world and like his previous outings, this ninja is nothing short of spectacular. The crazy gymnastic moves that the ninja was once known for are still here and he has even learned a new trick or two over the years.

Our hero has returned to retrieve the Dark Dragon Blade from the evil Vigoorian Empire that has stolen it from where it was kept in safety. You now possess the Dragon Sword, which is the ying to the Dark Dragon Blade's yang, to help you in your excursion to retrieve the Blade. Your journey starts in your decimated home village with fellow ninja's slain and houses destroyed and quickly turns to the city of Vigoor where the rest of the game takes place in, around and under.

Right off the bat you can tell from the gorgeous graphics that you are going to be in for one hell of a ride. The crisp and dazzling graphics are easily the best that the Xbox has seen so far and definitely, a breath of fresh air when compared to not just other ninja genre games, but any game that the system has seen. There are so many little details in the game that stand out to give it that extra push such as shimmer and twinkle on metal objects and the way the water looks as you run over the top of it like a flat rock skipping over the surface.

The cut scenes found in between each chapter are some of the most fantastic CG that has been in any game ever. The animation is bang on and the voice acting is superb in Japanese and English, which ever you choose. The enemies you face, whether it is supernatural undead monsters or the military army type soldiers that patrol the city streets, all look terrific and act and react very intelligent to your actions.

Not only do the regular enemies add a higher level to the game, but also the bosses are some of the biggest and best looking around. Although the bosses are original and exceptional in appearance to start with, sadly you will face some of them repeated times. Other bosses will share different forms the next time you meet them, but there definitely is no shortage of boss fights in this game as some levels you can end up fighting three or four until you actually hit the final boss of the particular chapter.

At first, the game may seem like it is a "button mashing-kill everything around you" type of control, but in actuality, there is a deeper control system to be found. Each weapon you use, be it a flail, nunchuku, war hammer or even your trusty Dragon Sword, can be upgraded at stores that are found throughout the game and each time it is upgraded, it unlocks more moves that you can pull off. Also, each time you hit an opponent a combo hit counter starts. You can string a chain of attacks together and hit an opponent up to as many times as you can figure out. Some combos stop at 6 hits while others go on and on up to and even way past 20 hits.

Different enemies handle different weapon types but for the majority of the game you will find that you use your dragon sword 90 percent of the time and only use the flails or nunchuku when many weaker enemies surround you. The ki force that Ryu has control over can be upgraded as well. These Ninpo spells control the elements of ice, fire and lightning and blast outwards to attack all the enemies on the screen. In addition to his main weapons, Ryu also has projectile weapons in the form of shurikens that have an unlimited supply and a bow and arrow, which is usually filled by pulling arrows from corpses.