Ninja Gaiden, the original; I’ve seen that people have rated this game the second best of its series. Is it really? There are some people who find this game to be the best of its series. I find this issue controversial, and both sides seem pretty fair to me.

Graphics:

Of course Ninja Gaiden’s graphics don’t compare to that of The Dark Sword Of Chaos (Ninja Gaiden 2). In fact, Ninja Gaiden 2 pulverizes its predecessor when it comes to the visual detail. What has Ninja Gaiden have that the both sequel’s don’t have? Maybe nothing. Of course you have to realize that Ninja Gaiden did come out in 1989, one year before The Dark Sword Of Chaos. The weird thing about all three games, however, is that most (if not all) of the bosses are huge! Compare them to Ninja Ryu and you’ll see.

Sound:

Ninja Gaiden has lovely music. It keeps the flow of action going and matches the setting of each stage or scene. Compare the intro music to that of Ninja Gaiden 2: which do you think has more feeling into it? Near the end of the game, there is a theme that resembles “A Time For Us” - from the motion picture, Romeo & Juliet. It adds to the emotion of the drastic scene that takes place.

Gameplay:

The gameplay was unbelievable for its time. It brought new action to side-scrolling games. Back then, the buttons were typically jump and shoot, with nothing else. In Ninja Gaiden, you can jump, cling to walls, jump off walls, attack, throw ninja stars, freeze time, toss a fire wheel, spin-jump, duck, throw shurikens, and many other things. Every certain item also takes up a certain amount of magic in your possession. The most distinct characteristic of Ninja Gaiden was that Ninja Ryu had the ability to jump from one wall to another. The best part is that it is very easy to execute; If you have played Strider, for the NES, you will notice a giant gap of a difference. Ninja Gaiden 2, in my opinion ruined the aspect of wall jumping, but then again, it saved lots of frustration.

Story:

Above average graphics, great music, killer gameplay… now there is something else a game needs: A story line. The intro speaks for itself. In fact, Ninja Gaiden has quite an excelling storyline throughout the acts. With a variety of complex characters like Walter Smith, Bloody Malth, Foster, Irene, and Guardian De Mieux building up the plot, you’ll be putting pieces together to solve the puzzling conflicts going on in this excellent adventure. Throughout the 3 series of Ninja Gaiden, the creativity in the storylines decline (Ninja Gaiden having the best, Ninja Gaiden 2 in the middle, Ninja Gaiden 3 being the worst).

Also, I don’t quite remember seeing anything like Ninja Ryu parachuting into the Amazon in the other two series.

Overall:

So, my conclusion: Ninja Gaiden beats the other two in music, storyline, creativity, and overall performance. But not graphic-wise

The translation of Ninja Gaiden 1 to Arabic for Nes. Proudly presented for Arabic speakers residents by Rajul Almakhatir.

Translation : 90%

• No-Intro Name: Ninja Gaiden (USA)
• (No-Intro version 20130731-235630)
• File SHA-1: CA513F841D75EFEB33BB8099FB02BEEB39F6BB9C
• ROM SHA-1: 15F245161179AB1959B7DC20E82ADD024D23AA3D