![]() If you lose focus for even a second, you will be combo’d by the most basic of enemies, and probably blown up for good measure. Almost all enemies are dangerous from every distance thanks to robust melee and ranged options, making every encounter feel different. Ryu will go toe-to-toe with ninja, samurai, soldiers, demons, dragons, helicopters, tanks, and almost-literally-Satan. This is only augmented by the sheer variety of enemies. It’s oodles of fun and incredibly addictive. Dipping in and out of combat, using your environment to your advantage, and engaging when it is safe to do so. Your enemies relentlessly pursue you, and you go down like a sack of potatoes. What this all amounts to is a hyperactive game of cat and mouse. He even has access to several incredibly potent aerial attacks, such as the Flying Swallow, or the legendarily satisfying Izuna Drop, letting Ryu take to the skies and deal damage from any position. A simple guard button turns into a multi-directional dodge roll or flips too, making Ryu one of the most mobile action protagonists in video gaming. Jump at a wall from an angle, and he will run across the wall, opening up more combat options. Jumping towards a wall will have him run up it, backflip off and allow for some sweet aerial dunking. Mashing buttons will only get you so far, so mastering not only Ryu’s intricate combo game but his unique mobility options is vital for success. You are a skilled combatant, sure, but so are all of your human foes. Your enemies will be running around, jumping off walls, and attacking you from all angles. Attacks come out lightning fast, can be delayed – or even canceled – similar to a fighting game. ![]() What makes it so good, however, is the speed of it all, the depth of the mechanics, and the difficulty and aggression of your enemies. Ryu also has access to Ninpo, making him temporarily invulnerable and allowing him to unleash powerful magic attacks in a pinch. As the game goes on, more combos unlock allowing for even cooler feats of ninja-ism. ![]() Combine light and heavy attacks to get a fancier combo. Mash the light attack to perform a basic combo. Ryu has access to a basic light attack and heavy attack, as well as a handy-dandy jump and a multi-purpose ranged attack that defaults as the ‘shuriken button’. Combat is where the majority of the Ninja Gaiden Sigma’s appeal comes from. Whilst the story is forgettable and nonsensical, the gameplay that exists within that thin plot is top-notch – age be damned. What’s here is tongue-in-cheek over-the-top cheese. The game has a world, it has excuses to travel around said world, and it populates itself with all manner of gribblies to keep it interesting. Ninja Gaiden Sigma doesn’t take itself seriously. So, he goes off on a grand adventure through futuristic sky fortresses, city streets, Egyptian tombs, and hell itself to uncover the mystery of a plot that I forgot about roughly 10 minutes in. Things go from bad to worse, but a couple of fatal stab wounds aren’t enough to keep Ryu down. Things start getting crazy when a mysterious band of samurai-looking dudes backed by fiery demons and wizards actually invade your village kickstarting the rest of the game. Ninjas are running amok, a dude with nunchucks tries to kill you, and tea and biscuits are had shortly after. The game opens up with a seemingly-true-but-actually-fake-but-still-lethal invasion of your home village. You play as the endlessly stoic, hard-as-nails dragon ninja, Ryu Hyabusa. Thanks to the Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection, players of all ages can finally experience Ninja Gaiden Sigma HD – an HD remaster of a 14-year-old PS3 remix, of a 16-year-old directors cut, of the 17-year-old Xbox original…with additional features from the 9-year-old Vita port. Where Devil May Cry had a quantifiable style and a mouthy protagonist, Ninja Gaiden brought speed, grace, and nut-busting difficulty. ![]() It’s been so long that it’s easy to forget that, at one point, it was the pinnacle of the Character Action genre. As a series, Ninja Gaiden has mostly lay dormant for the last decade or so.
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