Ninja Gaiden II

[captain ahar]

i was at Digipen and they have a couple play-choice mulit game cabs. both are broken in some fashion, but i played a little NGII on one of them, and it frickin rocked! the only trick was in order to get the attack button to register you kind of have to slide your finger across the B button, so i died before i had mastered it.

couple questions too. do the NG games run identically well on Nintendo? there being 3, how would you rate them best to worst (relatively speaking, because i assume that none are plain bad games)?

thanks for indulging my late bloomer tastes. this is like me piling praise on gradius after it is a good 14 years old.

[PsikyoPshumpPshooterP]

my top 5 favorite games of all time...if only Ninja Gaiden xbox had a code to unlock part 1,2, and 3 instead doing that crazy mission

[marcus12024]

couple questions too. do the NG games run identically well on Nintendo? there being 3, how would you rate them best to worst (relatively speaking, because i assume that none are plain bad games)?

For me, Ninja Gaiden II is the nicest of the three, mostly because it was the first one I ever played. It's also the easiest. And it has my favorite music of the three - the music is really catchy, and quite nice on this cart. Especially the stage where the rain is falling, and the wind blows you around. I love NES tunes...

Next is Ninja Gaiden, which is technically a little inferior (graphics-wise, but not by much, maybe just a few less special effects). It's a little harder than II, but still not too bad. There are a few bosses that cause me grief to this day, but I can still beat it without much trouble.

Last is III, which doesn't feel anything like the other games. It's much harder, less forgiving in almost all respects, and I really don't care for it very much. The level design seems inferior, too. And the controls are a bit different, feeling more "floaty", if that makes any sense to you. I don't remember the music too much.

So yeah, overall the first two are great. If you like them, it's hard to say if you'll like the third one.

And as far as the carts being the same as the PlayChoice versions - I believe they are nearly identical - anyone else know a little more about this?

[it290]

Yup, the PC-10 version and the NES version are pretty much identical, although not necessarily in difficulty. I agree with Marcus' ranking - 2,1,3. 1 and 2 are both equally worth, really, and you must play both, but 2 is a bit more polished and has cooler power-ups and abilities.

Just avoid the SNES Ninja Gaiden Trilogy (you'll likely never spot it in the wild anyway), as they butchered the music badly.

Also, if you enjoy this type of game, I highly recommend Vice: Project Doom, also on NES. Gameplay is fairly similar (although it has a few extra sequences like spy hunter-style driving shmup and operation wolf-type sequences), and it has great cutscenes like NG.

[captain ahar]

For me, Ninja Gaiden II is the nicest of the three, mostly because it was the first one I ever played. It's also the easiest.

easiest? yes! its mine.

[it290]

That doesn't mean it's easy, though.

[Davey]

It's hard to say whether 1 or 2 is better, it's pretty much a toss-up. I prefer 1 because it feels faster for some reason.

Lots of people hate 3, but I like it as much as the other 2. Usually the complaints are:
- Floaty jumps: Different, yes, but they don't bug me.
- Too hard: It's a Ninja Gaiden game. It's supposed to be hard.
- Retarded storyline: It's a fucking NES game. Want a better storyline? Read a book.

I guess part of the difficulty in 3 comes from the fact that the Japanese version had saving or passwords or something like that, and the US version does not.

And yes, Vice Project Doom is a good Ninja Gaiden wannabe.

[Alske]

I felt that Ninja Gaiden 3 was too hard because it had so many instant deaths, you really had to memorize the game to get through it.

The second is the best, followed closely by the first.

[landshark]

I like them in order of their release.

1 - 2 - 3

2 is very close to 1 however (and a longer game). I didn't play 3 too much because I couldn't seem to get into it as much as the 1st two.

[LoneSage]

- Retarded storyline: It's a fucking NES game. Want a better storyline? Read a book.

dude man, Hi five! People who bring up that arguement just..suck.

And wtf ahar! The Ninja Gaiden Trilogy even surpasses my love for the SMB Trilogy on NES, and you haven't even played it.

Ninja Gaiden 1 is great, the music is on par with some of the Mega Man games and very memorable. love it mang.

Ninja Gaiden 2's the pinnacle of the series, and opens with a story shocker at the very beginning. It's the easiest of the three but also the most fun.

Ninja Gaiden 3 is so very close to beating NG2 in my honest opinion, but I am certainly in the minority in that one -- most people claim it to be too hard, but hey, I think it's just as "hard" as the first Ninja Gaiden. The graphics are amazing, some of the best I've seen on the NES (right up there with Irem's Metal Storm). Incredible action with great graphics.

So, 2>3>1. But they're all wonderful games and some of the best platforming ninja action you can get, ever. On any system.

[TGK]

3 > 2 > 1 for me

I'm surprised nobody mentioned 1's infinite enemy respawn. The enemy will respawn infinitely if you stand still at the place that it respawn, or if you move back just a little bit (to dodge bullet for example). I found that freaking unfair and frustrating, since you have to pretty much finish certain stages on one non-stop take.

3 feels very balanced to me, except for the time limit that is never reset, but that's a minor flaw. 3 is the only NG game I can finish with 3 lives. (you can also call that a 1-life, since the lives you lost would be because the time counter runs out)

I actually likes 3's "floaty jumps", since it helps in some tough moments in the last stage.

[Dartagnan1083]

Shinobi III>>>>>>>Ninja Spirit>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>All NES Ninja Gaidens

Chalk it up to the airborne enemies, over-emphasis on memorization, and finicky respawning.

anyways. . .NG1>NG3>NG2

[Moogs]

Ninja Gaiden II.

That's it.

I refuse to play the other two. The other three if you count the shitty arcade game.

[PFG 9000]

The NES NG trilogy are some of my alltime favorites.

NG1) Definitely in my top 3 favorite games, and my favorite of the series. Admittedly, I love this game mostly for nostalgic reasons, as it was one of the first NES games I really got into back around '87. Excellent soundtrack, and a fantastic story for its time.

NG2) Most people consider this the best of the three. I like it, but it took me a long time to get into it. I used to hate it back in the day, but once I learned how to use the shadow doubles, it became far easier. Definitely the least-difficult in the series. Very polished, with some gorgeous cutscenes and fantastic music. The storyline is fairly good as well, if a bit predictable. This is probably the one for beginners, though it will definitely take a good bit of work to master.

NG3) I like this game because it's NG, but it really does have many problems. Your continues are limited unlike the first two NES versions, but that doesn't matter for me because I usually shut it off in frustration while I still have several continues left. As was already mentioned, the Japanese version had a password/continue feature, but it also had far superior enemy and powerup placement. The story is pretty dumb (they never explain just why the f*** you're traveling through a region with upside-down mountains in the background, for example), but you won't see most of it unless you're a very patient individual. I think the music is the best of the series, but there's not nearly enough of it. Most of the main level BGM's repeat at least once throughout the game. My biggest complaint about NG3 is that the respawn points are spaced way to far apart. Many sections have no respawn points at all. It's just a terribly frustrating game, in the opinion of this gamer who had a relatively simple time mastering the first two NES titles.

I actually play the Lynx port of NG3 more often than the NES original. Except for the graphics being scaled down and the music being horribly butchered, it's a fantastically faithful port. The controls are spot-on. But a great port of a mediocre game is still only mediocre at best. Still, there's nothing like 'Gaiden on the Go.

[BrianC]

The Japanese Ninja Gaiden III has some major differences from the US one. A longer sword when starting out, less damage from enemies, and some other little differnces make it much less frustrating than the US version and well worth checking out. NGII's still my favorite of the NES games, though.