Difficulty:

Easy

Time Spent:

10 Hours or Less

The Bottom Line:

"Too short"

Hot:
• Awesome pre-rendered environments
• Smooth animation and next to no frame rate issues
• Great music
• Combat is fast and fun

Cold:
• Stylus-based control scheme occasionally slips up
• Very short
• Flow of new content stops about two-thirds into the game

For anyone who has played a Ninja Gaiden game before, especially the series reboot on the Xbox, Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword should feel familiar. There are still hordes of enemy beasts to vanquish, shuriken to throw, and an evil villain to overthrow. What sets Dragon Sword apart from its predecessors is not located in the plot, which is a standard save-the-girl affair with a few twists thrown in for good measure. Without any spoilers given, it's safe to say that Ryu Hayabusa returns again to wield the Dragon Sword and save the world. There's nothing complex here, the comic-like scenes conveying the story are excellently drawn and compelling enough to serve an action game of this sort perfectly well.

The gameplay of Ninja Gaiden DS is standard for the 3D iterations of the series-and that's a good thing. Given the lesser power of the DS system, Ryu does not have the same breadth of moves available in the Xbox and PlayStation 3 games. The game does, however, present an adequate number of maneuvers that each has its place in a given scenario.

And the scenarios are certainly varied, even if the levels are a little bit short. From quiet villages to mountain passes to dank caves to haunted monasteries, Ninja Gaiden DS never fails to produce some incredible fights for Ryu to wade into. At first only the Dragon Sword can be used to slash enemies apart, but by gathering the money orbs dropped by defeated baddies, it can be upgraded for more damage and longer combos. Ninjutsu magic can also be purchased, adding in some crazily powerful spells that can quickly clear a room of enemies.

Most levels are accessed from a hub world, and each is an absolute blast to play through. Defeating enemies and navigating the world all falls to the touch screen, and interestingly, the game is played holding the DS sideways like a book. This allows for larger character models, and given the vertical orientation of several locations, suits the game perfectly.

The chief delight in playing Dragon Sword is in the flowing nature of combat. The stylus controls all action, allowing for combos to be quickly linked together. As enemies die, they expel orbs, which either restore health, Ninjutsu magic, or money. The catch is that the orbs are not collected until Ryu stops moving and slashing, and that a powerful Ultimate Attack can be charged more quickly by absorbing them. Enemies killed by a Ultimate Attacks drop much larger amounts of money orbs, making strategic absorption choices key to quickly increasing your coffers.

And while there are a lot of quick decisions to be made in the heat of battle, the roster of moves does occasionally feel a little small. More actions can be purchased from a shopkeeper throughout the game's various Chapters, but at about two thirds of the way through the game the supply of new content dries up, making money rather useless. It would have been nicer to buy some additional weapons or more magic, but the only late-game weapons are the final upgrade to the Dragon Sword (obtained by defeating a boss) and an explosive arrow (granted by some villagers).

The stubby moves-list is probably due to the stylus controls, in order to preserve accuracy in input. Despite this, there are a few trip-ups, such as when Ryu jumps instead of running 'up' the screen, but the controls actually work very well – players will be pleasantly surprised, and it is extremely friendly to inexperienced gamers. There are even a few moments when the DS's microphone must be used. Each level has a few 'Sea Sparrows' hidden in it, invisible, that must be located by following their sound and then either tossing projectile weapons at the sound or blowing into the microphone to flush them out of hiding. Once slain, a Sea Sparrow drops a wooden tablet that opens up bonus content after the game. The multiple difficulty settings each have their own sets of Sea Sparrows, so to unlock all the bonuses the game must be replayed.

Locating the Sparrows is made quite easy by the game's incredible sound design. The music is uniformly atmospheric, with not a single song detracting from the level it plays in. Enemies all have a frightening array of vicious growls and burbles that makes it less complicated to identify what sort of baddy awaits in the next room. During battles, music mounts to a crescendo and weapons clang and shriek realistically-the audio generally manages to make the player feel like a badass at every opportunity. It's one of the best parts of the game.

Then again, the audio presentation is rivaled only by the graphical beauty presented here. Character models are large and well-detailed, with flapping scarves and animations surprisingly fluid for the DS. Watching Ryu dodge and flip around the screen while locked in combat with a massive boss monster without any hints of slowdown is easily the best-looking view to be had on Nintendo's modest handheld. The levels are all pre-rendered as well, meaning they look gorgeous, if a little grainy in a few spots. Repetitive enemies aside, this is one of the best-looking DS games, and one of the best-playing.

In fact, Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword's chief flaw is that it ends very soon. A run through on the default difficulty will only take between 5-6 hours depending on whether or not the player bothers to look for Sea Sparrows. Bosses are disappointingly simple to defeat as well, and seldom provide a substantial roadblock (though they all look awesome). Each level can probably be beaten in less than thirty minutes, and save points abound. While this is great for a handheld game, the abundant save points and short levels make the game far too easy. Ninja Gaiden veterans can probably blow through it in 4 hours, as it is likely they will be able to complete it without dying more than twice. Thankfully, when beaten it unlocks the 'hard' difficulty, which poses a respectable challenge.

Dragon Sword is a gorgeous DS game with high production values, intuitive gameplay, and great design, which is only brought down by its ease and short length. Still, some players will see these latter traits as the perfect invitation to crank up the difficulty and plunge in again; and the vibrant, atmospheric world of Ninja Gaiden will welcome them in with open arms and naked steel.