Ninja Gaiden is great primarily because it was made by people that know the intricacies of fighting games, but put them into an action-adventure game without requiring the time and complexity of a fighting game. So you get a lot of the depth of a fighting game, and a lot of the amazing mechanics, but made simpler to perform and it's all in a really well-balanced, nice package.

I'm looking forward to watching this video later! 2004 Ninja Gaiden/NG Black is one of my absolute favorite games ever!

These game mechanics influenced Darksouls, Doom Eternal, blue fire, god of war, Sekiro, the later RE games , and so many more. Very underrated in retrospective.

It was cinematic and like a fighting game with hundreds of moves, you could throw enemies, had tons of mobility and the enemies were just as capable as Ryu and the victories felt earned

LETS GOOO, good to see you back, the king has finally come back 🦀

The NES trilogy are some of my favorite games. Started the 3D games for the first time on the collection and they're great beyond the difficulty. Mechanically they're solid and have great style

You only need to play it to know. Ninja Gaiden Black was so incredible at the time. I hope we get more of a return to fast paced action/adventure without it being filtered through souls-esque gameplay...seems like I'll be waiting forever at this point. *I also think many of your points are fair, but some are definitely a consequence of the time the games were made in (even in terms of characterization). Playing on the higher difficulties (Black) is definitely essential for great/more balanced experience (at least to me).

The gameplay was incredible! I played Ninja Gaiden Black on the OG Xbox as a kid, and Sigma later on PS3 and Ps Vita. The weapon variety, ninpos, challenging enemies, and stages were pretty amazing! The doppelganger fights were the best in my opinion. And one cheesy stray that you can do regarding ultimate techniques, is that enemies killed with one, will give you more valuable yellow orbs, and in certain areas, you can get to 99 999 orbs pretty easily, and get stacked for the rest of the game

O_O Where did this come from?? What a wonderful surprise! While I have absolutely no experience with the Ninja Gaiden franchise, I will always drop everything for a new Quickies Don't Cut It!

I would love to point out Ryu had emotional damage because not only his village was ambushed but the girl was his Bestfriend “childhood friend” more or less but he wanted to truly avenge her but once he got it he didn’t feel “better” about it but the doku curse that coursed through him was about how let vengeance take him to do all this. Which is reflected through 2-3 trust I thought there was no character depth till later i looked a bit deeper😭 Ryu isn’t a “mindless killer” but his doppelgänger is supposed to show what he would become allowing himself to be consumed through killing without “purpose”

Wow... I got a blast from the past watching this. Not because it was Ninja Gaiden. But because it was a kind of video from you I haven't seen in a LONG time. I'm glad to see you're still here, and not just livestreaming. I love it when people still do stuff like this, among other things.

Just as a reminder but NG Black and NG2 are backwards compatible with the Xbox Series X/S and have HDR and are in 4k.

awesome video! i am actually a fan of ET/UT charging, as it rewards a player who is really good at positioning and timing in a way most games don't. being able to chain UTs requires a lot of skill and environmental awareness so i think it is a great addition to the game.

The minions added to bosses I think adds a lot. First a lot of bosses have closerange and longrange patterns (like dynamo shooting lasers at long range). With minions you have to learn to avoid those long range attacks while dealing with the minions, while otherwise you can just rush them and never have to deal with that. They also prevent you from just wailing on a boss nonstop because they spawn every at 25% health. Like with your clip against paz zuu, you shouldve heard them spawn when you hit him below 25% health and fall back, rather than just keep hitting him until you got sniped. Its true the camera can suck with a boss+minions though. Awakened alma starts tracking you with her fireball volley. You can avoid that by either rolljumping at a slightly inward curve (try to follow the circle thats in the middle of the arena) or roll one way and then jump the other way.

Glad to see you’re back!!! Your long form reviews were always the best!

So weird seeing a reboot so different from it's precursors, and yet it's well loved because of those differences. Rare to see that

Holy crap! I was not expecting to see a new video from you... I still watch your channel regularly because your reviews are just THAT GOOD but this made my day. (I know I should wait to the end of the vid to comment but I'm just too excited).

I love how I can watch your videos while doing something totally different. You helped me get through a tough day!! Ninja gaiden is my favorite series. Im lit to play the first and second one tonight. This video gave me the excitement I needed to finally try a master ninja run on both. Haven’t touched either game in almost half a decade but the muscle memory shouldn’t let me down lol.

Glad to see you back your reviews have always been some of the best on KZfaq.

I'm absolutely obsessed with these games so I am super happy to have found some new videos about these beautiful games. I look forward to devouring all 3 of them and possibly more on your channel. Cheers!

hands down the best game ever made imo

I just found your channel and I think you deserve more subs. Been watching them while at work, please continue to make more.

I didn't even know you uploaded. Your videos by far are some of the most underrated. I'm glad to see you back again. Also despite how well the 3d ninja gaiden games are I feel as if it'd also pretty underrated as not many people talk about.

Great to see you back. Your videos are so good.

This is a great video. Love how you went into every aspect of the game, the level design and the soundtrack. Love the comparison with Devil May Cry 3 at the end, and one could make a case for any of them being the best action game of the generation. Very impressed with the video and look forward to watching the next parts of this retrospective.

Great video as always, keep up the awesome work man.

You haven't missed a beat, sir. Great to see your content in the subscriptions box again. Awesome video on an awesome game.

Seeing this on my home page was so unexpected, but hey, I’m not complaining. It’s a nice surprise

Followed the development process of this video on your twitter, glad you finally released it! The time and effort put in was definitely worth it, good job RZ!

Greatly appreciate seeing this in 2021. I agree, this game is legendary and doesn't get enough attention from people seeking good action. To this day, I find many of its enemies to be the most brilliantly designed in gaming. They are ruthlessly smart and I have many stories about that, but I also think in general, they're well-planned. The game is constantly throwing enemies at you that mess with what you've learned to rely on so far. After the first stage of leaning just to hit when you see an opening, you get hit by samurai who block nearly everything and are accompanied by teleporting enemies with ranged fireball magic. Then you get counterattacks, and the following stage throws in enemies that can grab you if you sit there trying to guard so you can use it over and over. You have to learn to leave your guard down and watch for an enemy to go for a physical attack before putting up your guard to intercept it. Enemies can be evil, but I love them because of how they require such distinct approaches, and the higher level ones that only appear on higher settings are genuinely smarter and more deadly than their weaker counterparts. They are the perfect example of a 're-rigged' enemy done right. Audio and visual cues are also excellent. I can often read enemies' moves with either one of two things, 1 being sounds, the other being how they approach me. Certain behaviors go along with certain attacks, and catching these changes in movement often signal oncoming attacks with almost prophetic accuracy. Commenting on a couple of things that came up in the video. Working with enemy groups and avoiding those instant grabs tends to require careful consideration for the entire group. Group enemies fight in a way that's designed to close off blind spots, and you have to take some advice from Ruroni Kenshin and move around to separate them and break up their formations to get good windows to attack, always forcing them to move or turn if they want to attack you. This can make tighter areas a bit more frustrating as it's harder to do of course. As for Awakened Alma, Shinobire made great video for a strategy you can use in Ninja Gaiden Sigma, but it does NOT work in Black. On Master Ninja, I'd say she's the hardest boss to deal with in the game, and I've only found ONE true hole in her defenses on Very Hard/Master Ninja. When she's on the ground, strafe around her at mid-range and watch for her insane barrage of laser blasts to start. When she does this, use Flying Swallow. You won't hit, you'll actually glance off her armor, but you'll land behind her and throw off her laser blasts at first. When you land, tap Y /(Heavy Atk button) to do the Haze Slash and partially stun her. Then dodge to the side, because her lasers will start to catch up, and use another Flying Swallow to knock her down fully. That's the only real weak spot I've found in Black apart from the Spear Gun trick. :D (Also, the reason it doesn't work on lower difficulties is because she doesn't fire as many blasts off. You need the time interval of all 3 waves for this strategy. XD )

Really happy to see a new review from you. After this, I'm definitely considering getting the Master Collection.

I've been binging your content for weeks, glad to see you back!

Definitely your best video yet. I'm liking the improvements you keep making to the script and delivery. Keep it up.

A great review, you pretty much reflect my thoughts and criticisms, very well done!

Glad to see another retrospective from you after a hiatus. I always get super pumped to watch these! I still praise your analytical abilities as better than that of most, larger KZfaq critics. Keep up the good work!

_Spits out coffee_ THE BOI IS BACK! :D

What a great video!! I really enjoy your work. Thanks for the entertainment!!

He's back! Can't wait to see more reviews from you!

Ahh hadn't seen this yet. Nice to see you back! :D

Damn, just find out this channel and ima fan of NG since ite came out till the day, and this video was very good and bring back memories. Great content man, keep it up, i know im a random but you earned my sub

Damm, I rewatched this video dozens of times since it came out and it is the best review for this legendary title in the internet. Truly a fanatic work.

Got to see ya back buddy, keep up the good work :)

Damn, It's nice to hear from you again. Hope everything is fine during these crazy times. Cheers

this is actually a really good review. Also love the fact it went in depth on the difficulty changes

Glad to see you're back!

as far as I'm concerned, this is the best review of ninja gaiden 1

This game runs surprisingly well on Xbox One. They not only added backwards compatibility, but the resolution and anti-aliasing make it smooth and crisp to play, only downside is I have to insert my original xbox disc each time. Great way for the game to live on!

I'm glad you're back! I usually look you channel every two months or so, and today I got lucky!

Beautifully done RZ 🙂 and fun fact ryu hayabusa, along with the likes of kasumi, ayane and even Rachel are all in dead or alive, a fighting game series that is also done by koei tecmo and team ninja, 🙂

damn good old days playing this game and is still one of the best game i ever played ... miss this kind of adventure hack and slash games

Still worth playing today, as a kid I played this aswell.

Are you going to cover the second and third 3D ninja gaiden games?

>Soft lock-on sometimes not accurate >Hard lock-on wouldn't always be sensible with the amount of enemies and speed of combat ... darn it, where's my "Why don't we have both?" meme...? I swear I put it here _somewhere..._

YO a new Retropolis Zone video! Heck yeah! I've had this game for a while, and now that I have an Xbox One X, I really need to buckle down and play it all the way through

Wow, I thought that your next YT project was going to be Castlevania related. Anyways good to have you back!

Mr Michael Hardeman! Nice to see you back with “quickies don’t cut it” and with one of my favourite sagas ever! Take your like good man

You're back!

So glad u are back

@Retropolis Zone, I watched the video till the end, not only did your earn the twitch following but also a subscription on this channel.... This was very good, looking to see if you did NG2 & NG3 as well

Where have you been? It was a while since you have posted a video. Great to see a new video from you.

Love the intro. It really shows the evolution of the series.

Ayyy, the boi is back!

Lol i somehow completely missed this upload, even though i clicked the bell. Can't wait to get through this vid!

Little tip for the god-forsaken ghost fish: don't use the flail. They can still get in potshots which can fuck you over like nothing else. Instead spam light jumping attacks with the dragon sword. They can rarely, if ever, get in attacks this way.

This is the game that inspired a lineage of games to hold block then dodge. I'm surprised at how far that mechanic has survived. It's in Team Ninja's lastest games like Nioh and even in Soleil's own games. It's even in Team Ninja Dissidia.

Hey Retropolis - Shout out to your structured videos, vocabulary, and extraordinary progress speaking English. I went back to your early videos and your accent is super obvious. This is only after watching your recent NG videos and thinking your first language was English. Subbed and excited for your future content.

Excellent work, incredibly extensive!

If we get Ninja Gaiden 4, they need to go back and establish a few things about the story to make us care more.

Ninjs Gaiden is THE O.G. of action games, its non forgiving and full of varied gameplay...truly a modern classic ❤ great video!

Awesome video as usual! More soon please?

I’m in love with this series. I have the original trilogy and the Master Collection, and remember the NES series fondly. I really hope it gets revived soon.

The themes of the story are interesting. In NG people predisposed to kill fiends like the hayabusa clan are likely to turn into fiends themselves because the blood of fiends is effective against fiends, so Ryu might have a part of fiend in him (that's why his skin turns blue) and in NG3 Momiji and Joe Hayabusa says the grip of murder curse, caused by alchemy and a research to create gods, has been an enemy to the hayabusa clan from long before, the power of god is the enemy of the Hayabusa clan

He's back!

This is probably one of the Best Reviews i ever seen. Altough i think You get to the game so Fast. Maybe a development history or how You met it would be better a better start

"being operated by a drunk horse" You can tell this guy has partied hard in his life.

33:11 the lack of music in that sequence is part of what gives players the sense their immersed within the real deal.

It's been a long time, but this game should at least get a soft reboot or a remake so that they could flesh out all the issues presented in this video. I'm a huge fan and I'm just disappointed by the lack of Ninja gaiden content we have these days

Play this game all the time like it came out yesterday, timeless game. Im #9 on true dragon sword survival (varick da great)

After watching this I'll be getting the Master collection. This series looks awesome!

Holy shit, RZ's back!!!

I'm glad I came across this. I'm currently in progress on my own Hack N' Slash that's trying to capture the spirit of Ninja Gaiden and your commentary/complaints/critiques are something I'm keeping in mind. For example, I refuse to have any sort of water level lol

Nice to see you again RZ . RZ have you played Shinobi for ps2 ?

Been playing NGB since 2005, only ever beat it on normal. Bought the Master Collection and finally beat it on hard (took me literally 6 months) Tried very hard but couldn't get passed the first chapter lol. Still one of my favorite games ever.

*I really wished that Tomonobu Itagaki was or would be Executive Director of Ninja Gaiden 4. It is very unfortunate that Team Ninja passed down Ninja Gaiden 4 Project to other Studios most of us Hardcore Ninja Gaiden fans never heard of or seen !*

I love ninja gaiden sigma 1 and 2. good video mate

He's back!!!!

“Sure you’ll want to rip off your pubic hair with a roll of duct tape.” I am so dead. 💀 😂😂😂😂

Nice review. I might get the Master collection just to play this one, sad that Black is only on Xbox.

RETROPOLIS! your new reviewer skills are showing. better diction, clearer voice, faster more condensed explanations. welcome back.....i miss you saying "AVENTURES" but you are above that now.

If you want to see what high level Ninja Gaiden Black could look like I would recommend checking out TheGodfatherDictator. He's held records for speedrunning and also did various challenge runs for the game.

21:36 Devil May Cry solved that issue by allowing you to escape grabs by using Devil Trigger, wish same was done with Ninpo

And this, my son, is what I call a "high quality video".

> makes a video for his 5th channel anniversary > disappears > becomes a rad twitch streamer > comes back with a review on Ninja Gaiden > doesn't eloberate further Welcome back RZ!

Nimpo gives you invulnerability while casting. It's probably it's best use. That's how I counter bosses that have bullshit moves like Awakened Alma.

16:16 I screamed laughed cried and finally accepted that wall run pit.

Your take on UT's pretty much sums up how we ended up with the shit show that is Ninja Gaiden 3. I appreciate that you have a preference and I guess this style of game just isn't for you, because there is no doubt that the entire game was built around using this mechanic frequently. I feel like NG2 realized that people would be getting a bit bored killing with either UT's, Flying Swallows and Izuna Drops constantly for a sequel and that's why they added stylish finishers but even in that game the UT mechanic is extremely prominent.

got around to finally beating it over break since the original was a little beyond 10 year old me. i ended up falling in love with the entire series and beat the trilogy. one of my favorite games of all time now!

Man this is a criminally underrated vid

This vid is legendary I would like it 100 time if I could. Such great commentary, I agreed with so many of your points.

Wish we got ninja gaiden black remastered but they lost the code for that so instead we got sigma in which my opinion it's alright but they took away some graphics for the og