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Developer: Team Ninja | Publisher: Tecmo |
| Release Date: February 22,
2012 |
Available On:
Vita |
Ryu Hayabusa is back in fine form in this latest
port of Ninja Gaiden for the Playstation Vita.
This is the fourth version of Ninja Gaiden since
its original release on the Xbox back in 2004:
Ninja Gaiden Black, which was an enhanced
version of Ninja Gaiden was released on
the Xbox the following year. In 2007 a seperate
team ported Ninja Gaiden Black to the
PlayStation 3, dubbing the game “Ninja Gaiden Sigma”. This
latest version for the PlayStation Vita is essentially a port of Sigma. So what is
new in this package? Aside from taking advantage
of some touch control capabilities, not a whole
lot…but that is definitely not a bad thing.
Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus follows Ryu Hayabusa on
his quest to avenge his clan. Doku, the lord of
the greater fiends, slaugthers Ryu’s friends and
family in order to steal the Dark Dragon Blade
and restore the blade’s evil powers. The game
takes place in a seperate part of the Dead or
Alive universe, spanning fictional Japanese
settings within the Vigoor Empire. Ryu must stop Doku and the forces behind
the theft of the Dragon Blade before the evil
contained within are unleashed by the weilder.
As far as action games go, Ninja Gaiden Sigma
Plus for the Vita is just as good as its console
bretheren. Ryu has an arsenal of weapons at his
disposal that become available at certain parts
of the game, and each has a distinct feel to
them. Some of his tools of destruction are more useful than others in certain situations, but I found myself
constantly assessing enemies and adjusting
tactics accordingly. This is the challenge of Ninja Gaiden, after all. Ryu still has all of his old ninpo (magic) abilities from before – even a new one, which helps him even more to slaughter fiend after fiend.
I find that the Ninja Gaiden
games feel better on Playstation consoles, and
that is no exception – even with this handheld
iteration. Without the two joysticks the
Playstation Vita boasts, this game would not
even be possible to play. In addition, Sigma Plus looks amazing. The
team may have sacrificed slight texture
resolution in return for a higher framerate, but to me, this is a small price to pay for the sake of the gameplay. For a handheld game to look as great as this and maintain such a high framerate – even with the swarms of enemies that simultaneously appear on-screen – is simply astounding.
With that being said, fluidity has always been a major selling point of the Ninja Gaiden franchise, with its fast-paced combat system. The PlayStation Vita only features two buttons less than the PS3 controller (four if you include “L3” and “R3”), but Team Ninja did an excellent job making everything work within the limitations of the handheld. Moving on, Ninja Gaiden Sigma has some of the coolest early utility of the Vita hardware, including the use of Ryu’s bow and arrows. When attempting to aim at distant foes, players can simply tap the screen to bring up a first-person aim mechanic. From there, you can look around with the gyroscope and tap the point on the screen that you are trying to shoot. As with anything in Ninja Gaiden, this feature can be slightly frustrating – one area of the game forces you to avoid enemy rockets while shooting the dishes of a radio tower in the distance. It is at this point that the “tap-and-shoot” mechanic feels like less of a neat idea, and more of an annoyance, as fingers are much wider than the tip of a stylus. Since arrows are not exactly abundant in the game, this can be tiresome.
The other significant use of the Vita hardware comes up when casting Ryu’s ninpo spells. After
activating an ability, a series of button
presses can enhance the strength of the spell.
The difference here is that instead of physically
pressing buttons, you tap the position of the
indicated button on the rear touch pad. Using
the rear touch pad for the spells greatly
increases damage done, and some spells can even
wipe out all of the enemies in the surrounding area.
Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus offers plenty to do once
you complete the game. Harder difficulty settings await, not to mention a full selection of Trophies to unlock and show off through PlayStation Network. Futhermore, there are 76 “missions” to play through; these generally throw Ryu in a battle scenario with a specific weapon set or some other crazy stipulations to deal with. Finishing these rewards the player with some unlockables, and gives you a reason to keep coming back for more.
Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus doesn’t reinvent the series, but it
doesn’t try to, nor did it really need to. If you own a Playstation Vita,
and have not checked out the Ninja Gaiden series
in the past, this version of the game demands
your attention. With a $40 price tag,
players should easily get the best of their money with this near-perfect combination of Ninja Gaiden gameplay and portability.
| Graphics: | 8.5 |
| Sound: | 8 |
| Gameplay: | 9.5 |
| Creativity: | 9 |
| Replay Value/Game Length: | 9 |
| Final: | 9.3 out of 10 |
| Written by Drew Meadows | Write a User Review |
