When conversations of notoriously difficult Nintendo games come up, one that's generally on the tip of the tongue is Tecmo's action slash-fest Ninja Gaiden. Whereas I find its sequels much more brutal (I have no idea how anyone is supposed to feasibly beat The Ancient Ship of Doom, it's nearly impossible), the first one still holds some merit and is no slouch. I generally revisit Ninja Gaiden at least once every year to gauge any deterioration in my reflexes and muscle memory.

Known as Shadow Warriors in European regions and developed by Tecmo and Hudson Soft, Ninja Gaiden was released on the NES in 1989 in the United States. Having this be my only experience with the original game growing up, I was unaware of the arcade version, which is not even close to being the same game. The arcade Ninja Gaiden was a Double Dragon styled brawler, while the NES was a lightning quick, perilous action platformer. 

I often like to place Ninja Gaiden on the opposite end of the spectrum of difficult Nintendo titles from the likes of Castlevania and Mega Man. In those games, awareness of your surroundings is key to progression. Taking a second to survey the area and finding the best means to proceed is essential.

In Ninja Gaiden, any time I stop and second guess any decision, it's like asking to have someone chuck a mallet at your face. With enemies designed to deter your attention, enemies that rush right at you, and enemies with oblong wavy patterns, Ninja Gaiden is a practitioner of tactical misdirection. Hesitating or backtracking will trigger respawning of anything on the screen. It starts to become fighting against a strong river current, any attempt to fight against it can cause potentially more pain, anguish, and an exhaustion of your resources. With some practice, it's far more effective to stay moving, timing your strikes to dispatch anything that stands in your way while avoiding things you don't have to worry about. Ryu Hayabusa is armed with various alt weapons, some more effective than others, to help clear paths. Just don't let some obstacles mislead you into questioning your judgement.

The controls are very responsive, not intentionally stiff like previously mentioned vampire slayer games. Clinging to walls is a skill that's a must to master. I've inadvertently fallen off ladders while transitioning screens and plummeted to my death due to trigger finger. Ninja Gaiden also has one of the most aggravating cases of knockback damage that leads to more loses of life than a depleted health bar. Even thinking I'm facing away from a cliff or edge, getting struck seems to vacuum pull Ryu backwards pitfall hazards. 

Ninja Gaiden has unlimited continues, so there is an incentive to keep trying. When you reach the final stage, Act 6. If you fail and restart, it takes you back to 6-1 at the beginning of every continue, which is brutal, since this is one of those games where you start to play on tilt. All of the skill you've gained can slowly start to erode as frustration kicks in. 

I also think that one of the drives to this game is the music. Tecmo is underrated when it comes to classic OST for games throughout the 8-bit era, I believe they're up there with Konami, Capcom, and Sunsoft. When I produce videos, I'm inclined to use some tunes from Ninja Gaiden as BGM, and montage music. 

The first Ninja Gaiden is one of the solid pillars of the NES library. Renown for its challenge, solid gameplay, and anime style story cutscenes, which wasn't seen at the time, it's always worth a play to reaffirm oneself with the grand obstacles placed before us on nights when it was time to rent a game and plug away the weekend playing it. I didn't beat Ninja Gaiden until I was 21. A hard game, and still more fun to play than Battletoads, which I've had a near 30 year beef with. That took years off my life. Now I feel I have to beat the other two, or at least II. Where's a monkey's paw when I need it?

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