Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword hands-on

I was really surprised to see Ninja Gaiden DS on the show floor. I didn’t think the game was anywhere close to being localized. That was the case actually, as the game was still fully in Japanese. That didn’t stop me from jumping right in and taking out a few demons though. When an entire game is touch screen controlled, you don’t really need much of an explanation.

Okay, we have all heard that this game looks fantastic. Is it the best looking game on the DS? It may very well be. I wouldn’t normally gush on about the graphics since we have heard so much, but seeing the game in person is a completely different story. Screens and videos don’t do this game justice. The graphics really pop when you see them with your own eyes. The mix of 3d character models with pre-rendered backgrounds looks fantastic on the DS screen. This may be a graphical method we haven’t really seen in awhile, but it is perfectly suited for the DS.

Character movement also worked really well. Ryu has a very smooth style of walking/running through the stylus control. I guess it sounds kind of lame to say it, but his control through the stylus really gives you the impression of a ninja. Very quick, flowing from area to area. Combat works just as well too. Within a few minutes I was taking out enemies with a few stylus swipes. A few minutes after that I had figured out some of the special moves. Phantom Hourglass and Ninja Gaiden DS have a lot in common when it comes to the control scheme. Ninja Gaiden obviously has a lot more moves to master, but the way it is handled through stylus input is a lot a like.

This should put the focus of the difficulty squarely on the gameplay instead of the controls. One man at the demo booth was dead set on performing all the moves from the Xbox version in the DS version. He managed to do them all, and even did one move that he could never master on the console version. He was extremely proud of himself for pulling it off. If that doesn’t speak volumes for the control, I don’t know what is.

Other than fighting a few enemies and running around the landscape, we didn’t get to do too much. The language barrier stopped us from progressing too far, due to a giant boulder that blocked our path. I tried the “Zelda answer” by killing all the guys in the area, but it didn’t do anything to clear the path. That’s something I really look forward to doing when the game finally comes out. That, and really sinking my teeth into the entire experience.