Developer: Team Ninja

Publisher: Tecmo

Release Date: March 25, 2008

System: Nintendo DS

ESRB Rating: T

Official Web site

0:00 I got interested in this game when I first saw a video of the touch-controlled action gameplay. It's what I always envisioned when I first saw the DS.

0:01 "In ancient times, humans lived in peace with Dragons. But then came the Dark Dragon, a malevolent giant that wasted no time plunging the Earth into the abyss of darkness." So the other dragons collected all their power into a fang that was used to make the Dragon Sword, which was gifted to a human who used it to defeat the Dark Dragon. In the millennia since, the dragons have died out, but their spirit remains in the Sword. Old-style art and battle sound effects in background help tell this text-based story.

0:02 Difficulty choices are "Master Kunoichi," "Master Ninja," "Head Ninja" and "Normal." Normal is recommended for first-timers, so I guess I'll choose that.

0:03 An old man with a cane stands by a grave. "I'm sorry I took so long to finally come and visit." He's Muramasa, visiting Kureha. "You and Ryu were inseparable." Ryu! Finally a name I recognize!

0:05 Cut to the foot of a waterfall, where our protagonist, Ryu, is training with Momiji, a white-clad ninja girl. Suddenly I'm in control of Momiji, for some reason. I tap the screen to make her run around, blocking Ryu's attacks automatically as they come. I try to slash the sword with a quick slash of the stylus (as I've seen in trailers) but I can't get a sword in edgewise. HA! Suddenly the training is over and we bow to each other. If that was the tutorial, I'm not impressed.

0:06 Chapter 1, "Forest of Shadows." Momiji tells Ryu to head back to the village, which he does. Momiji picks flowers and the sky turns red. "I sense something... something inhuman!"

0:07 Here's the real tutorial, telling me how to run and attack using the stylus. Many of my attack motions accidentally make Momiji jump, but otherwise the system works pretty well. Fast and responsive.

0:08 The pre-rendered 3-D environs remind me a lot of the nature scenes in Final Fantasy VII with a slightly lower resolution.

0:10 The intentional jumping takes some getting used to. I want to jump forward, onto a nearby platform, but most of the time I go straight up instead. Tapping enemies to throw shurikens is much easier.

0:11 Holding down any button makes me block. Seems a bit too easy -- I can just wait out any attack with no fear. We'll see how it plays out.

0:12 Hitting some targets near the save point releases blue orbs, but I have no idea what they're for. The game couldn't be bothered to explain?

0:13 I really like the Ninja Gaiden twist on health regeneration. Getting hit in battle lowers your maximum health, but if you don't completely die that lowered health will fill up when the battle's done. It's a good way to balance out mercy with skill.

0:15 "This is called the continuous flying bird flip," says the tutorial. Where I'm from they call it a wall jump, but whatever.

0:17 A spider web that's "strong as steel" blocks my progress in one direction. Just picturing this in my mind makes me shudder.

0:19 "I sense evil in the air..." thinks Moiji. I sense a boss battle, thinks me. "Here it comes!" And so it does -- a red dragon flies into the field. I easily jump over its predictable fire breath, but it grabs me in its powerful jaws when I lower my guard. A few bites and I'm toast. I don't get a game over screen, though. Instead, Momiji lies in the field. "A field? Is that what this is?" she asks no one in particular. I apparently cleared the level. I guess I was supposed to lose that fight? So I really won? ALL RIGHT!

0:22 A between-chapters interlude tells the backstory of the Dark Dragon, whose bones were used to make the Dark Dragon Blade. It was stolen by evil beings. "And once again the world faced the threat of eternal darkness." Ryu took up the Dragon Sword to face the threat and shattered the Dark Dragon Sword. Good to know, I guess.

0:23 Chapter 2: "Hayabusa Village." It's just been rebuilt after the Dark Dragon incident. A dramatic manga-style image of Ryu jumps into view. "Ninjas of the Black Spider Clan! You come knowingly into Hayabusa territory? You invite your own deaths!" I'll RSVP with my sword!

0:26 So far, except for that dragon, the battles have been way too easy. The controls are almost too nice -- taking out whole screens worth of enemies is just a matter of scratching the screen. On one hand, this makes me feel like a bad-ass ninja that has no trouble dispatching bad guys. On the other hand, where's the challenge?

0:28 The "Village Ninja" apologizes for not defending the city better. Is he like the Village Idiot? And hey, why aren't I the Village Ninja? I mean, the village IS named after me, and I am a ninja.

0:29 A village kid tells me Muramasa's been surrounded at the graveyard. "You've got to help him! Please... at this rate? he'll be in trouble." I'm pretty sure something about that last sentence got lost in the translation.

0:31 Upon my saving him, Muramasa gives me a scroll on The Art of the Inferno. This lets me create a ball of flame that I can guide with the stylus to take out enemies! NICE! Thanks, old man!

0:32 I'm forced to double back when I run into a giant boulder in my path. MY super-duper sword can't slice through rock? Or maybe my super-strength can lift it? No such luck, apparently.

0:33 That "strong as steel" spider web is no match for my new super fire spell. Onward!

0:36 New enemy alert! Red guys with swords. They're not nearly as afraid to attack and block as their grey-suited brethren I actually take some damage and have to block a bit myself! There's the challenge I was looking for!

0:37 I find Obaba's secret message on the ground: "Take from them the eye of the dragon." This triggers more boring backstory about this curved jewel, which makes the Dragon Sword reveal its true form. It's protected by shrine maidens and blah blah blah, can we get back to the killing, PLEASE?!

0:39 Dodging boulders, la dee da.

0:41 The handy on-screen counter shows I just connected with 89 hits in a row without being touched once myself. These jumping attacks are way too powerful. The enemies never jump, they just stand there, waiting for death from above. Not too satisfying, in the long run.

0:42 Red Dragon battle, part II. "Cursed monster. Where have you taken Momiji?" Um, dude, it's a dragon. It doesn't speak English. Or maybe it does in this universe, what do I know?

0:43 My new flame attack takes out about half the dragon's life in one fell swoop. The Dragon answers back, grabbing me in its teeth and draining my life relatively quickly. This time it IS a Game Over screen.

0:45 Looks like I have to take out that mess of dozens of enemies again before I face the boss again. Joy.

0:47 This time around, I focus on jumping to keep away from the Dragon's jaws. It works and he goes down pretty fast. "Momiji... Where is she?" OK, now he's a DEAD dragon, so I'm absolutely sure he's not going to answer, Ryu.

0:48 161 enemies defeated gives me a "karma" of 215,996 for Level 2, whatever that means. I'm "Head Ninja." I damn well better be! It's my game!

0:49 Chapter 3: "Monastery Illusion." Ryu's looking for clues to Momiji's whereabouts. "Momiji, forgive me. I never should have left you alone." He's gonna need some psychiatric therapy to get over this thing.

0:52 Wandering through the town, a lot of people tell me to save Momiji. It's all adding to the psychological baggage, until one day, he'll just snap and destroy the whole town. Mark my words.

@@

0:54 Muramasa's sleeping on the bridge, and he won't wake up until I literally scream into the DS microphone. I'm glad I'm not playing this game on a train or something.

0:55 Muramasa gives me another magic spell, the Art of the Inazuma, which he says will let me destroy that pesky boulder. That's great, but why didn't he give this to me the first time we talked? I'm trying to defeat unspeakable evil here, why are you being so stingy with the magic scrolls?

0:56 Finally, I can spend some of the thousands of yellow essence orbs I've earned by killing dudes. I increase the strength of my weapon a bit. Booyah!

0:57 That new magic scroll uses bolts of lightning to destroy boulders. Are rocks especially susceptible to electricity?

0:58 I jump though the hole under the boulder to the Vigor Monastery. "But it was destroyed. How can this be?" Ryu asks himself. Hey, Dragons are extinct, too, but you didn't bat an eye when you killed that red one, did you?

1:00 New enemy alert -- a floating, disembodied eye that can only be hurt when it opens its eyelid to attack. Only problem is it's constantly floating off screen, where it can hit me but I can't see it. Grumble.

Would I play this game for more than an hour? No.

Why? The touch-screen controls are beginning to feel a bit imprecise for me. Give me a dual-stick setup any day.

This column was based on a retail copy of the game rented from GameFly.

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