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00:00From Ninja Gaiden's earliest 2D entries to Ryu's critically acclaimed foray into 3D,
00:13the Ninja Gaiden series has hacked and slashed its way to the top of the hyper-violent,
00:17also known as fun, action games genre. While countless Ninja games have been released since
00:22the NES original, what is it that makes the Ninja Gaiden series still relevant after nearly 40 years?
00:28In this episode of IGN Rewind, we're going to take a look back at how this series found its core game
00:32design DNA, thanks to an early use of cinematics, narrative-driven gameplay, and innovation in
00:38difficult but rewarding challenges, not to mention one of the sickest finishers ever in a video game.
00:45This is the story about how Ninja Gaiden has kept its blade sharp
00:49and remains one of the most influential action series of all time.
00:58The year is 1988. Arcades are a dominant force in games thanks to titles like Double Dragon,
01:13Ghouls and Ghosts, and Contra. All excellent games in their own right,
01:17but little did the world know that one of the most important Ninja games of all time
01:21was about to be released in both arcades and on the NES.
01:26Out of the darkness, the bright spirit of the Duken reborn, Ninja Dukenden from Tecmo.
01:36Just when you had given up all hope, a ninja saves you from the evil Jackie O.
01:41More realistic than any other TV game, you're right in the action, fighting to the death.
01:47Ninja Ryukiden, the game we in the Western world know as Ninja Gaiden because, well,
01:52according to the game's art director, this is a direct quote, it sounded cool.
01:56The arcades saw a Double Dragon-inspired port which, while popular at the time,
02:01was dramatically different from the console version of Ninja Gaiden that we would all come to know and
02:06love. Ninja Gaiden was an unexpected revolution in action games and overnight it had redefined what
02:11video games were capable of thanks to its difficult but extremely rewarding combat,
02:16narrative-driven gameplay, and one of gaming's first uses of cinematic cutscenes to tell a story.
02:22Today, you'd be hard-pressed to find a major release without some sort of cutscene or narrative
02:27break, with some games even feeling like they're more movie than game. In the early days, though,
02:32this wasn't the case. The majority of video games on the NES use a single static image with text and
02:38music to bookend a game store using what most would loosely call a cutscene. Games like Castlevania
02:43or The Legend of Zelda that demanded more explanation would require you to open up the manual and find
02:48it yourself rather than play the game. Yes, hardware was the limitation, but it wasn't the only one.
02:54Western and Japanese versions of some NES games varied dramatically in narrative, tone, and marketing
03:00because at the time, video games were still considered to be primarily for kids.
03:06Unseen, unheard, and unnoticed. Mission accomplished. The final battle begins. Ninja Gaiden for Nintendo from Tecmo.
03:21Ninja Gaiden desperately wanted to change that. The developers, Team Ninja, used a Hollywood blockbuster
03:27like approach to elevated storytelling for mature audiences. The game starts with a cutscene of two
03:33ninjas dueling to the death in a grassy, moonlit field. Like a big budget movie, it utilized fast cuts,
03:39cinematic camera work, a widescreen aspect ratio, and expressive music to set up the death of Ryu's father.
03:45This inciting incident leads you on a game-long quest for revenge. Revenge wasn't new to video games,
03:50but that kind of cinematic setup sure was. In just a few seconds, we went from video games with little to
03:56no storytelling to anime-inspired cutscenes and dialogue motivating the player to complete their
04:01journey. This level of storytelling marked a major step forward for the perception of video games,
04:07proving they could be so much more than a child's toy. Video games could also be an engaging platform
04:12to tell a captivating story. Cutscenes, however, aren't the only thing that made Ninja Gaiden stand
04:17out all those years ago. Gaiden's game design also made significant strides, proving to be uniquely
04:22challenging to gamers of the 8-bit generation. Instead of having the time jumps and memorize
04:27level layouts like in early Mega Man and Mario games, Gaiden's high difficulty, high reward gameplay
04:32tied progression to skill development and a player's ability to master the game's mechanics.
04:38Most hard games were designed to be this way because it was an easy way to pad out the game's
04:42runtime, or in the case of the arcade, make sure our pockets were noticeably lighter when we left.
04:47Ninja Gaiden was one of the first games to take a high challenge, high reward gameplay,
04:51and mold it into something more enjoyable. You're gonna die a lot when you play these games.
04:56But after enough frustrating failure, you'll eventually find yourself playing the game with
05:01a mix of defensive dodging and aggressive strike. And, okay, brace yourself for this one, having a
05:06lot of fun. Stage 1-1 is a masterclass in this philosophy, teaching players that challenge can be
05:12rewarding. The first stage in most games typically acts as a tutorial. Super Mario Bros. teaches players
05:17how to jump with a little difficulty, Metroid forces the player to backtrack in order to gain
05:22the morph ball ability, and Sonic quickly demonstrates the need for speed. Because,
05:26you know, you gotta go fast. By immediately thrusting you into combat, Ninja Gaiden's first
05:30level not only explains the game's core mechanics of kill or be killed, but also demonstrates that
05:36enemies can come from all directions, even behind you. We've all been killed too many times by those
05:43annoying dogs within a few seconds of starting. The game's tutorial level is a trial by fire that
05:48teaches you both strike first and strike fast, and how to navigate the game's levels. Those skills
05:54are continually reinforced throughout the game, requiring a lot more trial and error as it gets
05:58progressively harder. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? While the first true Souls-like game wouldn't be
06:04released for another 20 plus years, it's not hard to see Gaiden's DNA in Demon's Souls, Bloodborne,
06:09and every other Soulsborne game since. This challenging and at times frustrating game design
06:15not only solidified Ninja Gaiden's NES adventure as one of the 8-bit era's best games, but also
06:21helped shape the next generation of Ryu's adventures on the Game Boy, Sega's Master System, and a decade
06:26later, the original Xbox. The sixth generation of video games had some of the most influential games
06:37of all time. Games like Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, Resident Evil 4, Halo Combat Evolved, Kingdom Hearts,
06:43Metal Gear Solid 3, the list just goes on and on. So it would take a forward-thinking and not to mention
06:49generation-defying entry in the Ninja Gaiden series to even cut its own place in what many consider
06:54one of the best generations of gaming. For Ninja Gaiden, there weren't one but three titles that kept the
07:00series sharp in a time where competition was fierce and groundbreaking innovation was everywhere.
07:062004's Ninja Gaiden, and more specifically its expanded 2005 re-release, Ninja Gaiden Black,
07:12is considered one of the greatest action games of not only the sixth generation,
07:16but to some of all time. IGN gave it an incredibly high score of 9.4, praising its fast-paced combat,
07:24its hard but rewarding gameplay, and action. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Similarly to the original,
07:30this new take on the series would need to once again redefine the standards of what an action
07:35game can be. While the cutscenes look great for the time, it's Ninja Gaiden's gameplay that would
07:40once again shine and raise the bar for challenging action games across the board, while still emphasizing
07:46the strike-hard and strike-fast precision and timing from the NES era games. Combat was more chaotic and
07:52aggressive now that Ryu was able to be attacked in three dimensions, and pairing incoming attacks relied
07:57heavily on timing and rhythm. You can't just button mash your way through enemies, it requires a more
08:03methodical approach with each encounter, honed by a lot of death. Just like in the first game,
08:09you're taught this right off the bat, as you find yourself fighting two very annoying ninjas on a
08:13cliffside. I died a few times here. Choosing when to attack, when to dodge, and when to avoid enemies ends
08:19up becoming a metagame of rock-paper-scissors, and it's something we've seen in countless games since,
08:24like in the Batman Arkham series, and practically every Souls game ever. For some players, myself
08:30included, Ninja Gaiden Black was one of the first games where, even though the gameplay could get
08:34extremely frustrating at times, and it did, it was pretty hard to put down once the game's core
08:40mechanics were figured out. For me, it wasn't until I beat the first boss, timing my strikes and dodges by
08:45finding the right balance between patience and aggression, that I understood how rewarding the game
08:50could be. By the time the game's final boss comes stomping around, the game delivers a final fight
08:56that, when played how you've been trained up until then, feels cinematic in its own right. Instead of
09:01cheesing the boss and spamming x a million times until their health bar hits zero, the player will
09:05find themselves dodging and pairing in ways that they couldn't early on in the game, making the fight
09:10feel almost like a narrative device in its own right. You, as the player, grow alongside Ryu as his
09:15journey progresses. This is a concept that's found in pretty much every high difficulty, high reward
09:20game to this day, and if you really take a step back and think about it, by forcing the player to
09:26get good, or at least achieve some semblance of a flow state by combining parries, dodgers, and attacks
09:32with razor precision, the combat also becomes a narrative device that helps you progress the story.
09:37You grow alongside Ryu, you get stronger alongside Ryu, and most importantly, by the end you fight like a
09:43Master Ninja, just like the first game did way back in 1988.
09:52While not as impactful as the 2004 release, Ninja Gaiden 2 and 3 went on to receive critical acclaim
09:57and multiple releases and revisions. These games improved on what made the original Xbox title so
10:03meaningful, pushing Gaiden's precise combat and difficulty into the next console generation.
10:09Unfortunately, the franchise didn't cut through the competition in quite the same way Ninja
10:12Gaiden Black did at the height of the sixth console generation. It wasn't until over a decade after
10:18Ninja Gaiden 3 that indie developer, The Game Kitchen, would revitalize the series with Ninja
10:23Gaiden Ragebound. What's old is new again. Ragebound took the series back to its 2D roots, adding more to
10:30the lore of Ninja Gaiden and perfecting the series' difficult but fair gameplay for a new generation of
10:36side-scrollers. It went on to be considered one of the best entries in the series according to the IGN
10:41audience, and I concur. What's more, it helped pave the way for the latest installment, Ninja Gaiden 4,
10:48which looks set to raise the bar again for a new generation of hyper-violent and tough action games.
10:53It's impossible to overstate the impact Ninja Gaiden has had on action games over the years. Its DNA can be
11:00found in hundreds of great games due to its excellent combat mechanics, crushing difficulty, which somehow
11:06manages to be fun, and early use of cinematics to tell a story in new ways. Simply put, action games
11:13as they are today simply wouldn't exist without the influence Ninja Gaiden.
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