Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword Review

Presumably, given the reportedly tense relations between Tomonobu Itagaki and Tecmo at present, this could be the last we'll see of Ryu Hayabusha for quite some time following the recent release of Ninja Gaiden II on the Xbox 360. Sitting between the 2004 Xbox original and the recent sequel in the Ninja Gaiden timeline, Dragon Sword once again finds Hayabusha squaring up against the Black Spider Clan and the Fiends from the netherworld as he attempts to rescue Momiji from Obaba and stop the evil Ishtaros from unleashing chaos upon the world.

Outspoken or not, Itagaki-san and the members of Team Ninja deserve nothing but credit for their authentic conversion to the Nintendo DS. Not content with delivering two of the finest action titles around on Xbox and Xbox 360, the team has somehow managed to squeeze the entire experience onto the humble handheld format.

Scratch, Scratch, Tap, Tap...

Holding the DS in the Brain Training/Hotel Dusk sideward position, the Ninja Gaiden formula established on the Xbox, ports across exceptionally well to the DS and sits as an action title largely without any competition on the format. Like its elder siblings on Itagaki-san' preferred format, Dragon Sword is an action title with little time for any additional elements. With the occasional door puzzle to solve, target to shoot and light to illuminate, Dragon Sword may offer a little more of a cerebral challenge than Ninja Gaiden II, but the test is still primarily a trial of your control and command over a stylus.

Using the stylus exclusively to guide Ryu's movement, Team Ninja have ported across virtually every technique at his disposal in previous games. Many of the series' features make an appearance including the iconic Ultimate Technique, however some aspects have understandably gone missing such as severed limbs and the gameplay impact they held in Ninja Gaiden 2. Ryu's standard blur of swipes and slashes translates to frantic scratches on the touchscreen acceptably, while more advanced techniques such as the Izuna Drop and Flying Swallow are replicated with corresponding stylus motions. It can all become a little hectic and as a result you're often performing moves that you didn't necessarily intend, but for the most part the control scheme captures the intensity of its predecessors alarmingly well on a handheld format - particularly one with a touchscreen.

With a hearty array of magical Ninnpo attacks unlocked with progress through the game, Dragon Swords uses the touchscreen to replicate the kanji-esque markings that conjure each spell. Ryu's range of additional weapons has also been restricted to a bow and arrow with alternative tips alongside the trusty shruikens.

"Are You Unhurt"

Given the series' legacy of providing a stiff challenge for even the most ardent videogame player, Dragon Sword comes up surprisingly short and leaves a questionable feeling throughout - particularly if you've had the pleasure of playing Ninja Gaiden 2 recently. We're not entirely sure whether it's due to the smaller levels that makes up the 13 different stages or because the control system makes it a little too easy for Ryu to slice his way through everything that stands in his path.

Either way Dragon Sword won't take too long before you're coming to the end, with many of the stages taking anywhere between 10-30 minutes to finish. Of course, it could be argued that Dragon Sword is a portable title with stages geared around this concept. Nevertheless, it doesn't detract from the feeling that Dragon Sword in every other department is a very competent port of its technically superior relatives, so the expectation is for something a little more - the unlocked extra difficulty and online rankings will only provide this for the Ninja Gaiden hardcore.

Using 3D visuals for the characters, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword employs pre-rendered backdrops for the game's environment. Of course this brings an array of fixed camera perspectives, so you're never going to have the stylish camera pans of Ninja Gaiden 2, but at the very least it signals an end to the frustrating camera issues that have plagued previous titles.