dorky Category: Games
**Posted on my 1up.com page to which there is a link on my main MySpace page. This entry is only for the brave...
Despite the obvious Quick Man avatar and name I use on 1up.com, Mega Man is not my favorite video game franchise of all time. Although it would be easy to assume, since that is how I sign all of my emails and posts on the message boards. Speaking of those boards, sometimes every now and then I'll elude to which gaming franchise has that special place in my heart for it. First, I'll give you a (very) little background into what I like and who I am.
I wouldn't say that my personality trends in this direction, however I have always been akin to the darker side of pop culture and media entertainment. In my time of being a gamer, this has also held true almost the entire time. I used to frequent various arcades in my hometown quite a bit when I was a kid and loved to play anything I could get my greasy little hands on. One game in particular had a sequence that would forever change the way I viewed video games and the affect they had on me. I was watching some older kids play a "beat 'em up" not unlike anything I'd ever seen, however as they did not beat the game and died and ran out of quarters, those events revealed this life changing moment I've been building to.
This screen shot was a sequence that scared the crap out of me when I was a kid. It was graphic, dark, and had an element that has had me hooked on video games since that afternoon at the local Empire Mall arcade. Of course the screen shot above is the continue screen from the coin-op "Ninja Gaiden." Of course I tried my hand after the older kids moved on to another game and proceeded to get the crap beat out of me. The game is damn hard, if you"ve never played it before. I had a Nintendo, but nothing in terms of this game had been released for it. Or so I thought.
On a trip to Kay*Bee toys (which was at the same mall as the arcade) I saw something behind the counter that almost made me squeal with the joy of a 3rd grade girl (even though I was a mere 3rd grade boy). It was Ninja Gaiden!! I begged and pleaded with my parents to buy me the game. Surprisingly, they did even though they were in the habit of telling me "no" most of my childhood. I could not wait to get home and play this game. Just as a side note, I did know the difference between the NES version and the arcade version because I received the Nintendo Power previewing/reviewing the game that came out in Japan the fall before. I still own that issue of Nintendo Power in my collection, by the way, and no I won"t be selling any of said collection on eBay.
The game was (and is) a masterpiece in my mind, and in the minds of others I would assume or would hope. Every thing was there for me, the cut cinema scenes, the soundtrack, and that element that roped me in to the arcade version. That darkness, that sense of impending doom like the train is about to come off the tracks and crash into fiery oblivion. These are the things that I love in video games, that element of gloom and doom, and Ninja Gaiden had it in spades. I'm not going to go into the details of the game, because if you want to know go to wikipedia and get the background because it's too good a story to summarize in a blog. Just know that the final act of the game is seen by many as one of the hardest levels in video game history, that should give you some idea of its background, if you're unfamiliar. Of course the game was a hit with my friends and we played the damn game to no end and practically wore out the cartridge. I ran a Nintendo fan club in my neighborhood and we all adopted the names of our favorite bad guys or good guys. Of course, being the president I picked first and actually deemed myself Guardia de Mieux. I'm not kidding. I was also the only person who picked a bad guy for my name. With this entire buzz over this game you could just about imagine how crazy I was going for this.
May of 1990 was a sweet, sweet time in my life. The clock toward summer was almost done ticking down, and 4th grade was about to be completed. Notoriously to my parents, one of my most misbehaved years in history. Anyway, I had been salivating for this game for some time, and the advent of the Nintendo Power Strategy Guide series only added fuel to the fire. Of course the Super Mario Bros. 3 came out first, but that was ok as that's regarded as the best NES game ever, which I won't argue with. Once I finally did get it (the game, not the guide) I was too hyped up to sit down or eat. All I remember is that my dad came home with it from work during the middle of the week and I skipped dinner and played it for the first two hours standing up I was so damn rabid over my new game. I played this sucker until I beat it that weekend. Everyone stayed over at my house that Friday night and we took turns trying to beat it. Not having any tips what so ever, we felt like explorers in the new world trying to conquer it. To me, as I look back there was no better feeling when I observe how I spent my gaming time at that age. We didn't finish that Friday night unfortunately, however I strongly feel we would have had my mom not come down and made us go to bed at 2AM.
The next day I had a friend over at my house, while everyone else was at one of my other friend's house. My buddy and I got further than the night before and finally beat Ashtar, and proceeded to complete the next level. Once we got to the very near end of the game the most shocking plot twist I had ever been witness to happened. The main antagonist from the first one made a comeback! Rather than jump right into it and continue on in the game, we decided to ring my friends' house and tell them. It's funny how 10 year old boys are not unlike 13 year old girls.
Would you like to see the extent of how deep this goes? Well, ok then. When I was in fifth grade we had to write a fictional story, the story I wrote was like a Captain N meets all of my favorite video games. Of course Ninja Gaiden II was central to the plot and the longest chapter. This story received an A and is still one of my most treasured belongings. I'll try to get a picture of it uploaded on here someday, with all the artwork goodness included!!
Of course, nothing could prepare me for the monumental letdown of what was to follow in the series.
Well, what can I say other than the fact that this game is the red headed step child of the NES installments of this franchise. I liked the game a lot, I just liked it the least. It had a great story and I liked the fact that it did tie back in to the first game, some elements that is. However, with the Super Nintendo on the horizon I was looking toward the future and really sort of ignored this game. Of course it got its fair share of controller time and I did eventually beat it. No small miracle of course. I can tell you that the amount of hype compared to the first two creates a gap so wide I don't think I'd seen the likes of it in a major Nintendo series. I had high expectations considering how awesome SMB 3 and Castlevania III were. I liked the new weapons, sure, and almost new advanced feel to the game, but it just didn't have that element that I'd talked about so much before. It just didn't have that X-factor that separated it from a lot of the Nintendo games at the time, which is the reason I liked it so much in the first place.
Warning: This may be the hardest Nintendo game I ever did play, and it's harder than the first one, despite what some would argue. Two words: Limited Continues. So, go out and get it on eBay or download the ROM and prepare to rip your hair out. This, I believe was one of my crowning achievements in video gaming from the NES generation because of that difficulty. And that I'm the only one I personally know to have beaten said game.
I was disappointed when Tecmo opted not to release a Ninja Gaiden game for the next two generations. On the other hand it was nice that it didn't get diluted like so many other franchises. All in all, I sort of lost track of my beloved series from the NES, even after purchasing the Ninja Gaiden Trilogy on the SNES, which is almost a slap in the face to the originals with the exodus of the blood, satanic imagery, and the messing with the sound. Improvements my windmill star!
This all of course until I heard that Team Ninja (creators of the Dead or Alive series, most notably) was working on this...
When I heard about this, I read every development online, purchased every magazine that had its name on the cover, anything I could get my hands on regarding this game I did. When the announcement made its way to me, this was the single greatest shred of news ever when it came to video games in that particular generation. Even more so than a little title by the name of Halo 2 that would come out later that year. The website from Team Ninja was something that I checked on a daily basis, no joke. I played demos and talked on message boards endlessly about my new 3D gaming adventure that was to come out in spring of 2004.
Once March 2nd, 2004 finally came to pass, nearly 15 years after I played the first Ninja Gaiden on my NES, I was about to get a new experience in the world of the series. I'm happy to say that it wasn't muddled down with a lot of spin offs, even though it did whore itself out to some different systems that I never owned. But the main games in the series, all four of them (I'm not counting "Black" or "Sigma" because they are iterations of the original for Xbox), stand the test of time. I know it's sort of a cliche' thing to say, however it is true when you really think about it. Like Castlevania (the other series it is compared with the most), the classic 2D games hold up well and people seem to enjoy them quite a bit even today. However, unlike Castlevania, Team Ninja converted to 3D extremely well.
The game itself, what can I say? It sold well and garnered high marks for a reason. I also like the fact that it really separated the "men from the boys" in terms of its difficulty. The story was dark and mysterious, the main antagonist was something that you could actually "fear" and the boss battles were nothing short of epic. Of course, it had the signature Ninja Gaiden twist at the end that made it all worth it, all the dying and taking the wrong way and finding better ways to try and beat Alma. I also like the replay-ability with the Hurricane Expansion and playing on higher difficulties.
I'm eagerly anticipating "Sigma"and it's one of the games on my short list of anticipated titles for this year on the PS3. This series for the reasons I've listed far surpasses the Mario Bros., Mega Man's, and Halo's of the world because of that element of darkness that keeps me coming back again and again. For me it's just a preference, and I know it may be uncool to list this as my favorite franchise of all time, but it's just who and what I am.
 | Currently listening : Pig Lib By Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks Release date: By 18 March, 2003  |
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