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Ninja Gaiden - Xbox's Post-KOTOR Killer App?

Posted by simoniker on from the hash-and-slack-action dept.

Thanks to IGN Xbox for their hands-on feature on Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden, claiming that Star Wars:Knights Of The Old Republic "...has some competition for game of the year" on Xbox. According to the effusive preview, "While the original Devil May Cry made it fun to juggle enemies with your gun and then slice them in half with your sword, Ninja Gaiden one-ups Capcom's classic with a combat system that is more free-flowing and naturalistic than any 3D action game I can remember." The game, a sequel to the classic NES title, is "...tentatively set to ship Holiday 2003."

23 comments

  1. Naturalistic? by coj · · Score: -1, Redundant

    Does that mean the same thing as "natural?"

    1. Re:Naturalistic? by muirhead · · Score: 2, Informative
      Natural: Present in or produced by nature.
      Naturalistic: Imitating or producing the effect or appearance of nature.

      AFAIK neither word accurately describles the ability, to run up walls, unless your a spider.

      Summary of the article:
      The game is good, but you can't buy it now, and you probably can't buy it this year either.

    2. Re:Naturalistic? by coj · · Score: 1

      Learn something new every day. thanks!

    3. Re:Naturalistic? by Leynos · · Score: 1

      November.

      --
      "Did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?"
    4. Re:Naturalistic? by the_riaa · · Score: 1
      AFAIK neither word accurately describles the ability, to run up walls, unless your a spider.

      For a syntax nazi, you should at least know the difference between:

      your: a word used for showing posession
      you're: a contraction of the words "you are"

      Tsk.

      --
      The Kingdom of Retarsia
  2. Uhm... by M3wThr33 · · Score: 1

    THREE NES Ninja Gaiden titles were made. So which one is it a sequel to?

    1. Re:Uhm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      None of them. It's a new Ninja Gaiden one, not a part of the original "trilogy" in anything but name (and, well, Ryu).

    2. Re:Uhm... by KirkH · · Score: 1

      Probably the last one, I would assume.

  3. Does that reviewer need a little ego boost? by mithras+the+prophet · · Score: 3, Funny
    Those with less imagination might have stood around slowing chopping away at the seemingly endless horde of ninjas coming at them in the first level of Tecmo's demo, but not me. I was running along walls, flinging shurikens, dashing across the floor tagging enemies with 20-hit combos and then unloading a half-dozen shurikens...

    Ummmm, okay. Is this a review or a confidence-builder?

    --
    four nine eighteen twenty-7 thirty-nine forty-7 fiftyeight sixty-nine seventy-9 eighty-8 one-hundred-and-nine one-twenty
  4. haha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Who would want to play something so Gaiden ?
    Get it ? Gay-den ! Haha !

    1. Re:haha by DeathScythe21143 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Sorry, but I dont think that the game will suck.

      Personally, I want to know about what happens before the first Dead or Alive tournament. (Dead or Alive being another game in which the main character of Ninja Gaiden, Ryu Hayabusa, took part in.)

      I'm sure that other people who have played the DOA games want to know why he entered the tournaments.

    2. Re:haha by bigman2003 · · Score: 1

      For me, Knights of the Old Republic was a huge disappointment. The lack of 'real' (videogame style) combat was a killer. I've already sold my copy back, before I got too far.

      This game looks much better, just in the fact that you get to control your character during combat. But, can it be compared to Dead or Alive? Is it the same type of kill-only game?

      For game of the year, since the EA titles are usually out- Otogi looks like a possiblity, at least from the demo.

      --
      No reason to lie.
    3. Re:haha by Mike+Hawk · · Score: 2, Informative

      Who told you the combat in KoToR was "videogame style"? (whatever that means...real time?) KoToR was a d20 game. That means dungeons and dragons. I don't see how you could have been disappointed by that unless you were misled into thinking it was something else. In that case you should really blame the person who lied to you.

      Personally, I think KoToR is the best console RPG in the post-cartridge era. I hate cutscenes; KoToR lets me play the game and have choices that effect the outcome. Heh, I got banned from a whole planet. I don't remember anything that irreversable ever happening in FF. I'm going to play it again, and based on my impressions on another run-through I might upgrade it to my favorite console RPG ever.

    4. Re:haha by kc78 · · Score: 1

      this game and KoToR may very well convince me to buy an xbox, oh yeah, add in halo2 as well. Three amazing looking games.

    5. Re:haha by bigman2003 · · Score: 1

      Mike-

      Nobody 'told' me much about KOTOR, except that it was a great game. In fact, I never thought I needed to blame anyone, because potentially the game is great- if you like that type of game.

      My point was that *I* was disappointed. I did not present any judgment, except for my own disappointment. I did not say the game sucked, or anything else. I just wanted to express my own dissatisfaction.

      So, you think the game is one of the "best console RPG in the post-cartridge era." I just plain didn't like it. Hey! We disagree! But that's okay...that's what makes the world go round.

      --
      No reason to lie.
    6. Re:haha by crazyphilman · · Score: 1

      I agree. I don't think the KOTOR box was at all honest about how the combat system worked -- I had the impression, buying it after wildly enjoying Jedi Knight II and Obi-Wan, that I'd be having lightsaber battles, mixing it up with groups of sith, etc... Instead, the manual tells me that "combat is automatic" and it's all based on some weirdo D+D type dice roll paradigm. WTF??? Then I end up spending almost all time in-game jawboning with every other character in the game! I think the most annoying was hitting on the Sith chick in the bar, and getting rejected by her. I play video games so I DON'T have to go to bars and get rejected, you know?

      Feh. What, oh what, were they thinking???

      --
      Farewell! It's been a fine buncha years!
    7. Re:haha by crazyphilman · · Score: 1

      I think that playing through Jedi Knight II, with its first-person and third-person modes, and then playing through the third-person Obi Wan, both of which had great combat and lightsaber battles, DEFINITELY gives you the impression that the Star Wars franchise is based on first and third person shooters, although they do have role playing elements. And, if you look at the commercials for KOTOR, they show lots, and lots, of combat. But, they do NOT explain that this combat is all based on dice rolls, and that you're just watching it, not participating.

      This is misleading. You get the impression you're going to be fighting with lightsabers, having a blast slicing up sith, and you go out and buy the game based on what you've been shown, because it never even occurs to you that the game might be nothing more than a glorified paper-and-dice-roll kinda thing. I mean, who on earth would ever ruin an idea of this potential by stripping out all the combat? You'd have to be nuts... Or totally evil. It's almost as bad as what they did with Aliens Vs. Predator (man, don't get me started on that one, the PC games were intense first person shooters, and the console game is a STRATEGY GAME??? WTF???).

      I don't know about you, but I think this game is absolutely terrible. I was so disappointed with this game, I was crushed. I'd been looking forward to this thing for a while. And, what did I get? A game with absolutely NO real fighting at all! Sheesh. They can keep it.

      Next time they come out with a game, I'm going to rent the damn thing first. LucasArts has totally blown their credibility with me.

      --
      Farewell! It's been a fine buncha years!
    8. Re:haha by bigman2003 · · Score: 1

      Crazyphilman-

      I agree with you wholeheartedly. Run, rush, and shoot people (with blood and gore) on your way to your local gamestore. They will pay big bucks for this game right now (I got a whopping $28 for it) sell it quick, before everyone else who was totally disappointed goes in to sell their copy.

      I predict this game will fill the 'used game' shelves by Christmas.

      I hope that Crimson Skies is not a similar disappointment...

      --
      No reason to lie.
    9. Re:haha by crazyphilman · · Score: 1

      I keep hearing about a new version of Perfect Dark coming out, but I never see it in the store... I hope it comes out soon. Joanna Dark! Yum!

      --
      Farewell! It's been a fine buncha years!
  5. Hahahaha... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    ..is a good XBox game such big news that slashdot needs to announce it? Well Metroid Prime certainly didn't need to be announced here to get attention... muahahahaa

  6. Hmmm... by gamgee5273 · · Score: 2, Insightful
    I'm not sure if this will go over. Let's be honest: Enter the Matrix was supposed to deliver much the same type of "revolutionary gameplay." All it did was deliver less than 13 hours of mediocre, buggy gameplay.

    I'll wait until the hype has passed and actual, extensive hands-on reviews have been made.

    1. Re:Hmmm... by KirkH · · Score: 1

      I agree that you should look past the hype, but at least Tecmo has an excellent track record and this game doesn't have to deal with the "movie tie-in curse".

  7. The next killer app? by JFMulder · · Score: 1

    Not sure about that, since it's a few months off. Project Gotham 2 could be a killer app before that. There's a good chance that Sudeki and Halo 2 might come out before this game too, and, especially in the case of Halo 2, there is no doubt in my mind these games will be killer apps.