Ninja and video games have had a long history together. I still remember that fat green ninja from the original Bruce Lee game. I guess that's where they got the idea for that Chris Farley movie. What was I talking about again? Oh yeah... Ninja Gaiden. Most people fondly remember the original NES 'classic' game called "Ninja Gaiden," however, I had to be the only nitwit who was pissed off at it. I actually liked the arcade version of the game... and the NES version had nothing to do with it for the most part. Thankfully, the Atari Lynx was home to the only arcade conversion of the original arcade classic.

Man, that first paragraph was completely pointless. I apologize. I've been playing a lot of Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox lately. It is Team Ninja's highly anticipated ass kick-a-thon that promised to wow and amaze gamers with graphics only the Xbox could produce and gameplay that would surely make you cry. Now here is the tricky part? Did Team Ninja deliver?

I have heard a lot of impressions about Ninja Gaiden already. Some people have claimed the game to be perfection, some people scoff at the game because they feel it is just some cheap rip off of titles which came out before. As usual, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

I'll be honest with you right now. There isn't much to hate about Ninja Gaiden. My only real complain would be that the camera shifted a couple times in the worst possible moment, causing either instant or ensuring a timely death. Did this happen all the time? No. Was the camera as shitty as the one in Kingdom Hearts? Far from it. That is about it for the complaint section. Ninja Gaiden actually has a pretty decent camera system overall. Team Ninja thankfully included an extremely quick reset function which centers the camera instantly.

The first think anyone will most likely notice are the graphics. Let's face it, Team Ninja seems to know their way around the polygon. The original DoA on the Saturn rivaled even Sega's own work. DoA 2 on the Dreamcast blew people away... and the third game is still one of the best looking Xbox fighters out there. Ninja Gaiden really isn't any different. It looks incredible. The characters are all highly detailed. The backdrops are dripping with lush textures and complex geometry. Sometimes I swear the visuals almost hurt my eyes since they were so crisp.

The other nice addition to having great looking characters and levels are the diverse amount of locations and enemies are numerous. You will find everything from horse riding samurai to archer zombies to ghost fish. It pretty much runs the gambit for locations as well. You start off in a simple ninja village, end up in undead filled catacombs and everywhere in between. While it may not be the most artistic and creative game out there, it certainly isn't bad to look at. Ninja Gaiden is one of those games which could be used as a benchmark for comparing games on the Xbox. It just does everything right.

There are a lot of nice effects that I liked in the game as well. One of the little touches I enjoyed the most was the blood spray resulting from taking on gun shots. If your back was against a wall... and you took a couple rounds, you would see a sweet little splatter shoot on the wall near you. It just looked brutal. Lighting effects are all around you at all times and the game features some really kick ass water. I don't know why I pay attention to the water effects so much, but I think it was Mike's fault initially. I also love how Team Ninja snuck in that gaudy Xbox prototype. (The shiny metal one shaped like a giant upright 'X'.)

The cut scenes and cinemas are simply jaw dropping at times. In general, most of the cut scenes are at the high quality we are used to from the usual Team Ninja games, but there are a few in there that are even better. There are a couple scenes from the opening sequence which almost look live action during a few moments. It is extremely well done and I did not ever find myself annoyed to be watching a cinema. I can't tell you how many times I've played games with painful cinemas.

Sonically, Ninja Gaiden also does a fine job. I love the weapon sounds in particular. The blades clanging against armor, the numbchuck-like flails 'whooshing' and even the enemy gunfire all sound just perfect. The music is decent enough, however, as with most games, I'm not clamoring for the soundtrack to be released.

Ninja Gaiden could look like a diamond and sound like a symphony all it wanted, however if the gameplay sucked, people wouldn't play it. Wait... maybe that isn't true... Enter the Matrix sold like it cured herpes and it was a pile of shit. Either way, Ninja Gaiden plays really well. You have a ton of options available to you. There are plenty of combos and techniques to master plus they vary from weapon to weapon giving you even more options. The controls are extremely well implemented and not overdone. My only complaint is that they mapped the door open action to an attack button. Sometimes you could be right in the middle of a battle and then just walk out the door, missing out on the spoils of your vanquished foes, or worse, a much needed health orb. Other then that, the battle system is a dream.

Environment also plays a major role in your battles. Sure, wall running and jumping may be the flavor of the month in action games as of late, but Team Ninja did it right in this title. It works, it works well and sometimes it is even necessary for battle strategy and not just in there for show. The other thing I love about the gameplay is how the game really forces you to use a variety of techniques. Button mashers will be severely punished. You have to learn your defense and you have to use employ it at all times. There are very few instances where you can just go all out balls to the wall offense.

Ninja Gaiden contains some particularly brutal AI. Enemies like to attack in packs and they like to use a lot of techniques themselves. Mixing up your offensive and defense is important since if you try to just mash away on the attack, even the lesser enemies will block and counter. Turtle up on defense and the baddies are likely to grab and go for a throw move. One time, early on in the game I was passed between three enemies who each gave me a Cuban necktie. One right to the next... I blocked for a little bit too long and one guy grabbed me, threw me right into his buddy who did the same and then passed me right to the last guy. It was devastating. Managing your area is a key element to surviving in Ninja Gaiden.

Since I started talking about the enemy AI, I'll talk about the overall difficulty of the game. First of all, a lot of people try to make it seem like the game is made for only the so called 'hardcore' gamers. That simply isn't true. The game isn't a cake walk by any means but it isn't out of reach for anyone who is willing to play through a level a couple times. I actually feel the game is set up with a very odd difficulty curve. It seemed that the first couple bosses were pretty damn hard while the next bunch are damn near pushovers. It kind of reminded me of high school football tryout practices where they worked you to death in order to shake out the pussies who really didn't want to be there. I guess Team Ninja was going for the same thing, because the game isn't too friendly early on as compared to a bulk of the middle levels.

Don't worry. The game isn't a pushover in any way. There are plenty of opportunities for the 'normal' bad guys that you face all throughout the levels to end your quest early. If you get caught in a combo, you could easily lose a quarter of health in the blink of an eye. I remember the first time I was stuck in the middle of four speedy ninja with those damn incendiary throwing knives. I just had to put the controller down and walk away for a while. It nearly made me cry.

In the end, I love Ninja Gaiden. I was on the fence about the title before it came out, but the demo released for the game served it well. The demo hinted at a very fun and involved game and I'm quite pleased with the results. While there were a few camera issues along with a suspect learning curve, I can't find too much to complain about at all with Team Ninja's latest effort. Ninja Gaiden is basically everything you want from a great action game. Tight gameplay? Check. Great graphics and sound? All there. How about some challenging gameplay and plenty of action? It's all there. Tecmo picked a great time of year to release Ninja Gaiden especially since we are in the annual drought season which is even worse for the Xbox right around now. I don't think many people will find disappointment in Ninja Gaiden. It's an extremely solid effort and a lot of fun to play which is everything I look for in a video game.