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[IJoel]

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/action/ninjagaidenblack/preview_6125660.html

As far as the unlockable content in the game goes, Ninja Gaiden Black offers deep, layered experiences of onionlike proportions. You'll be able to unlock Ryu's assorted costumes, a movie theater that lets you view all the cinematics from Ninja Gaiden, and a coming-attractions option that houses the E3 Dead or Alive 4 trailer. The biggest chunk of unlockable content comes in the form of a mission mode and the arcade version of Ninja Gaiden. The mission mode is a massive, and potentially soul-crushing, collection of challenges that have sprung from the minds of Itagaki and Team Ninja.

...

If you want an example of how painful things can get, we'll offer up any of the missions on the Fateful Confrontation level, which pit you against not one but two versions of Hayabusa, who come packing an arsenal of weapons and the skills to use them. Just about any of these missions guarantee a stomping of Godzilla-like proportions and are sure to humble many a player.

...

The new stages and foes seen in the mission mode all feature fresh designs that are in line with its predecessor's high standards. Some of the visual elements have been polished up some, such as special effects, but the game maintains its solid frame rate.

Black's audio remains basically unchanged and features a visceral mix of audio samples, weapon fire, and music that all suits the action. There have been a few tweaks over the original game's sound that we saw, namely the addition of speech. Ayame is the most significant addition to the mix we've seen so far, as she narrates the shuriken-delivered tips you'll come across as you play.

For the wusses:

If all of the above difficulties prove too overwhelming for you, Black will also offer a special, easier "ninja dog" difficulty. The mode will be accessible in much the same way that Devil May Cry 3's easier settings are accessible--you'll get the option to select it if you die a certain amount of times on the first stage. Once that happens, you'll be able to opt for ninja dog. The only catch is, since this is a Team Ninja game, the difficulty isn't quite the free ride you might think. A mildly humiliating cinematic with Ayane dissing on you is followed up with a running gag in this mode.

Once you return to the game after the cinematic, you'll gain an accessory, the band of power, which you'll be able to equip. The good news is that the wristband will enhance your melee attacks. However, the bad news is that it's an oh-so-cute shade of bright purple and looks more than a little out of place on a badass ninja. As you progress, you'll gain other bands, which sound as though they'll run through a rainbow of humiliating colors (which seems like a more than ample excuse to grow a pair and get better at the game).

ALL BOW TO MASTER ITAGAKI!

 

[C- Warrior]

...the player sucks so you humiliate them? My god that's so ID back in 1997 =p

 

[Ghost]

Once you return to the game after the cinematic, you'll gain an accessory, the band of power, which you'll be able to equip. The good news is that the wristband will enhance your melee attacks. However, the bad news is that it's an oh-so-cute shade of bright purple and looks more than a little out of place on a badass ninja. As you progress, you'll gain other bands, which sound as though they'll run through a rainbow of humiliating colors (which seems like a more than ample excuse to grow a pair and get better at the game).

:lol Thats awesome

Go Itagaki! Bustin' down casual gamers one ninja dog at a time.

 

[Wario64]

bring it on (the harder difficulties, not that ninja dog bs!)

 

[Solid]

i really wanted to like ninja gaiden. i was even ready to get this version, but if he's gonna humiliate me like that, then he can kiss my ass that i'm gonna buy it.

NO BUY!

 

[Chiggs]

...the player sucks so you humiliate them? My god that's so John Romero back in 1997 =p

Fixed.

 

[C- Warrior]

bring it on (the harder difficulties, not that ninja dog bs!)

Hopefully it's harder than DMC3's Dante Must Die mode (which was fan-tacularly hard), otherwise I won't feel the Itagaki challenge!1!!1

What was his stat? Only 1,000 gamers will be able to beat it or something? Crayaaazah :lol

 

[C- Warrior]

i really wanted to like ninja gaiden. i was even ready to get this version, but if he's gonna humiliate me like that, then he can kiss my ass that i'm gonna buy it.

NO BUY!

Weaksauce...go play God of War.

You're not welcomed in the "hardcore" gamer thread only.

:lol :lol *gets shot* by Jaffe...

 

[sangreal]

I cannot believe people find Ninja Giaden too hard. I wish all games had the level of challenge that NG offered.

 

[sly]

i really wanted to like ninja gaiden. i was even ready to get this version, but if he's gonna humiliate me like that, then he can kiss my ass that i'm gonna buy it.

NO BUY!

I wonder what DMC3 did to you :lol

 

[Attack You]

The masochist in me has a hard-on you wouldn't believe. This game better claim one of my arms or something.

 

[Mrbob]

Once you return to the game after the cinematic, you'll gain an accessory, the band of power, which you'll be able to equip. The good news is that the wristband will enhance your melee attacks. However, the bad news is that it's an oh-so-cute shade of bright purple and looks more than a little out of place on a badass ninja. As you progress, you'll gain other bands, which sound as though they'll run through a rainbow of humiliating colors (which seems like a more than ample excuse to grow a pair and get better at the game).

Oh you know this is the coolest shit to make into a game! :lol

I'll play through ninja dog mode just to see the humor spread throughout the game! :lol

 

[NintendosBooger]

Ninja Gaiden games have always been challenging, even in the NES days. I remember how classmates used to bitch and moan about how difficult it was.

God Bless Itagaki for maintaining that aspect of the series. Certain game developers **COUGHCOUGHsupermarioteamCOUGHCOUGH** should take note.

 

[C- Warrior]

I cannot believe people find Ninja Giaden too hard. I wish all games had the level of challenge that NG offered.

This calls for a summary post of hardcore-worthy hard games (that are actually good)

I expect every hardcore GAFer to have at least played the following games

Games for Elitist Hardcores:

Contra Shattered Soldier (the fuckin general of hardcore)
Ninja Gaiden [black]
Devil May Cry 3
Devil May Cry 1
Shinobi (look, it's not a super AAA game but it's still well-made, and it's really hard)
Kunoichi
fuck, that's all I got. Add to the list my fellow extremists.

 

[sly]

This calls for a summary post of hardcore-worthy hard games (that are actually good)

I expect every hardcore GAFer to have at least played the following games

Games for Elitist Hardcores:

Contra Shattered Soldier (the fuckin general of hardcore)
Ninja Gaiden [black]
Devil May Cry 3
Devil May Cry 1
Shinobi (look, it's not a super AAA game but it's still well-made, and it's really hard)
Kunoichi
fuck, that's all I got. Add to the list my fellow extremists.

I've played all except Kunoichi. What game is that?

 

[Mrbob]

Nightshade.

I didn't like Shinobi too much so I never played Nightshade.

 

[Gandara]

Kunoichi (JP) = Nightshade (US)

 

[Apharmd Battler]

This calls for a summary post of hardcore-worthy hard games (that are actually good)

I expect every hardcore GAFer to have at least played the following games

Games for Elitist Hardcores:

Contra Shattered Soldier (the fuckin general of hardcore)
Ninja Gaiden [black]
Devil May Cry 3
Devil May Cry 1
Shinobi (look, it's not a super AAA game but it's still well-made, and it's really hard)
Kunoichi
fuck, that's all I got. Add to the list my fellow extremists.

Gotcha covered, but let's go 16bit, if you want my respect you have to have finished:

Contra 3: Alien Wars
Alien Soldier
Contra Hard Corps. (all the endings with each character).

 

[Poody]

These games should come with coupon for a new controller.

 

[sly]

Ah Nightshade...I haven't played that one.

 

[Inumaru]

i really wanted to like ninja gaiden. i was even ready to get this version, but if he's gonna humiliate me like that, then he can kiss my ass that i'm gonna buy it.

NO BUY!

Waaaah! Waaaah! Somebody call the Wambulance!

"This game is hard! You're a bad man, Itagaki! I'm going home!"

Seriously, you should know better than to post something so weenie-ish and un-hardcore-sounding on GAF. You're just asking for it.

 

[Red Blaster]

The hardest part of Ninja Gaiden was the fucking platforming.

 

[black_13]

:lol Itagaki.

 

[Wario64]

The hardest part of Ninja Gaiden was the fucking platforming.

there's wasnt much platforming...the only part that i can recall actual platforming was the lava part

 

[Red Blaster]

there's wasnt much platforming...the only part that i can recall actual platforming was the lava part

That part alone just blew it for Ninja Gaiden. Up until that part I was like "WOW THIS IS GREAT." Afterwards it was "Dude, what the fuck was that? F U Itagaki."

 

[Sinatar]

That part alone just blew it for Ninja Gaiden. Up until that part I was like "WOW THIS IS GREAT." Afterwards it was "Dude, what the fuck was that? F U Itagaki."

*shrug* Um sure thing. There was a few very large platforms in the lava to jump to. Unless you are blind or have the reflexes of a sloth, that section is cake.

 

[Red Blaster]

*shrug* Um sure thing. There was a few very large platforms in the lava to jump to. Unless you are blind or have the reflexes of a sloth, that section is cake.

Shaddup. What gave me trouble was that you can't control the distance of Ryu's jumping. You can only do the quick double flip which is a fixed distance. And the controls were definately meant for combat only, as even a slight twitch on the stick will send Ryu off in the wrong direction.

I hated pretty much all the non combat "adventure" parts in the game. Especially the boulder rush ripped straight out of Crash Bandicoot and then the shitastic swimming part in Chapter 11.

 

[Comfort_Eagle]

I still need to pickup the first Ninja Gaiden on Xbox. Oh well, may as well wait a little more!

 

[Brannon]

The thing is, you don't need to pick it up. NGB is the regular NG with all the hurricane packs plus more, and you don't have to do any XBox Live wizardry to get it. Just hold off and buy the best version.

This game... it's mine.

 

[C- Warrior]

Shaddup. What gave me trouble was that you can't control the distance of Ryu's jumping. You can only do the quick double flip which is a fixed distance. And the controls were definately meant for combat only, as even a slight twitch on the stick will send Ryu off in the wrong direction.

I hated pretty much all the non combat "adventure" parts in the game. Especially the boulder rush ripped straight out of Crash Bandicoot and then the shitastic swimming part in Chapter 11.

You know, I do agree with your points. Although I think you do exaggerate on the totality of liking/hating NG because of that.

Yes, the controls seemed kind of "too reponsive" at the platforming parts. You press an analog stick direction to jump to a platform and instead Ryu would jump/cling to the wall right next to it (WTF?!)

Ninja Giaden 2--hopefully, becomes a fully fledged action game and not this genre breaker adventure bullshit with stupid as fuck platform puzzles. Give me enemies, give me bosses, give me a challenge, and give me balanced combos and chains. Start to Finish. 10/10 game right there. That's why I like DMC3 so much more than DMC1. And consequently can't stomach God of War.

 

[FirstInHell]

I always hear people saying that this game diid not perform too well sales wise. DIdn't it move something like 400,000 units? I suppose if it did not do well they would not be releasing a follow-up.

 

[Mrbob]

I always hear people saying that this game diid not perform too well sales wise. DIdn't it move something like 400,000 units? I suppose if it did not do well they would not be releasing a follow-up.

It is at about 540,000 in North America. About 60,000 in Japan and whatever it sold in Europe. I wish we could find Europe numbers. I'd say it did at least 100,000 in Europe. You would think it would do more in Europe than Japan. So 700,000 worldwide isn't bad at all.

 

[Mrbob]

Is it possible for Ninja Gaiden to be GoTY two years in a row?

 

[Oichi]

Itagaki laughed at me last night when I died to the first two ninjas in Master Ninja mode.

 

[drohne]

Is it possible for Ninja Gaiden to be GoTY two years in a row?

it would be if mgs3 wasn't being rereleased as well! it'll have to settle for second! 2004: kicking 2005's ass.

 

[Property of Jumpship]

These games should come with coupon for a new controller.

That's some funny shit.

Is this game still going to come out at 29.99? If so, I'll bite. I never played the regular one so this has me intrigued.

 

[.hacked]

w00t for ninja dog mode

 

[VariableTerry]

For me Nightshade couldn't stand up to shinobi. The level design wasn't as good and it some how just lost the magic.

 

[ArcadeStickMonk]

Gotcha covered, but let's go 16bit, if you want my respect you have to have finished:

Contra 3: Alien Wars
Alien Soldier
Contra Hard Corps. (all the endings with each character)

Uh, Metal Slug 3, hello?

Much harder than Contra to be sure, including Shattered Soldier.

 

[Kunai]

IGN Preview:

http://xbox.ign.com/articles/637/637856p1.html

But if you're really badass, you'll want to show your skills outside of Mission Mode. Ninja Gaiden Black also includes a new level of difficulty, Master Ninja mode. This fourth difficulty level (on top of normal, hard and very hard) is so tough that Itagaki shared with IGN that he believes only five people in all of Tokyo will be able to pass it. Only one tester at Tecmo was able to clear the mode (which makes us wonder... how in the world did they test the game?).

This is best illustrated (because it's as far as we were able to get in the top two difficulty modes) by Ryu's first two enemy encounters, prior to his entry into the fortress of the first stage. In Master Ninja mode, these two are called fire ninjas because when they slash Ryu, he gets set on fire. In Very Hard mode, the two are replaced by slightly easier versions who wield boomerangs. In either case, IGN's representative (our Swag Hunter from IGN Insider, who managed to get to level 7 of Very Hard mode in the original) died at most a minute after encountering these foes.

 

[TheDiave]

Itagaki is the fucking man!

 

[BuckRobotron]

Awesome game, can't wait to dig into some of the new mission modes.

 

[Kunai]

http://gameinformer.com/News/Story/200507/N05.0729.1723.45133.htm

Beginning the game in Normal mode, if you die, you’ll get the option to restart. If you die a few times, you’ll then get a new option, which says, “Do you choose to abandon the way of the Ninja?” If you choose yes it asks you, “Are you sure?” To demean you even more, it asks you one more time, “Are you really sure?” It hurts to admit it, but it’s time to succumb to the powers that be. You are then shown a cutscene where you are lying dead on the ground and Ayane is above you, and calls you a Young Ninja – not master Ninja – and that she seemed to greatly over estimated you, and that she’ll support you however she can. She then throws a kunai at the ground next to your corpse and walks away from you more or less in disgust. You are instructed to save, and then you officially begin Ninja Dog mode. When the game resumes, Ayane gives you a gift, and instructs you to wear it at all times. It’s a light purple arm band, and it’ll serve as a reminder that you’re not working with Ayane like you were before, but you’re working for her. You’re her man servant, or better yet, her bitch. Lovely.

http://1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3142446&did=1

Let it be known that you can basically not get hit in Master Ninja mode. At the very start you're assaulted by red ninjas, who throw explosive shurikens at you and can kill you in three simple hits -- which means you need to collect EVERY health elixir you find, use them all, and block like a maniac. While we haven't gotten as far as the bosses in this mode yet (even the first boss, Murai), it wouldn't be too crazy to think that they could one-shot-kill you. Team Ninja director Tomonobu Itagaki reckons that no more than a "couple hundred people will ever beat this mode." Thankfully, Team Ninja recognizes the fact that this mode is nearly unbeatable, and has implemented more frequent checkpoints for players who subject themselves to this. And while we can't give away the surprise yet, there is an interesting "bonus" at the end of the game, particularly for people who did well in the actual Master Ninja tournaments.

 

[Mrbob]

According to the 1up preview, the arcade version of Ninja Gaiden is unlocked right away. Are the NES games still included in Ninja Gaiden Black? Also, are they unlocked from the start, too? I would hope so!

 

[Amir0x]

This calls for a summary post of hardcore-worthy hard games (that are actually good)

I expect every hardcore GAFer to have at least played the following games

Games for Elitist Hardcores:

Contra Shattered Soldier (the fuckin general of hardcore)
Ninja Gaiden [black]
Devil May Cry 3
Devil May Cry 1
Shinobi (look, it's not a super AAA game but it's still well-made, and it's really hard)
Kunoichi
fuck, that's all I got. Add to the list my fellow extremists.

The hardest of the hardcore elites also played and mastered every single difficulty mode in F-Zero GX.

 

[Ironclad]

The hardest of the hardcore elites also played and mastered every single difficulty mode in F-Zero GX.

Absolutley, you can't talk about hardcore without mentioning F-Zero GX. May my wavebird rest in peace. :lol

Still managed to do it, and unlock the arcade tracks.

 

[TheQueen'sOwn]

The hardest of the hardcore elites also played and mastered every single difficulty mode in F-Zero GX.

Done. *feels proud* My wavebird also died... when I threw it out the window.. It got to points where I just knew I was going to lose and would restart... Everything had to be perfect to win :lol.

 

[Amir0x]

Absolutley, you can't talk about hardcore without mentioning F-Zero GX. May my wavebird rest in peace. :lol

Still managed to do it, and unlock the arcade tracks.

Seriously. F-Zero GX is so Godly. I love the fact that even at the most blazingly difficult modes, you never feel like it's bad design making you lose. You always feel like you're simply not exploiting that quarter of a second gain you could have by cutting that one corner right at 1900kmph. And you torture yourself so you may prove that no bitch ass computer is gonna take my victory!

I beat it all too, my God... most rewarding thing ever.

 

[Ironclad]

Seriously. F-Zero GX is so Godly. I love the fact that even at the most blazingly difficult modes, you never feel like it's bad design making you lose. You always feel like you're simply not exploiting that quarter of a second gain you could have by cutting that one corner right at 1900kmph. And you torture yourself so you may prove that no bitch ass computer is gonna take my victory!

I beat it all too, my God... most rewarding thing ever.

Oh, I agree completely. The game just keeps pushing you harder and harder because you know what you need to do gain the edge on those damn opponents. It demands perfection from you because you can easily drop from first to last in a blink of an eye. Damn, I love that game.

 

[Brannon]

In Master Ninja mode, these two are called fire ninjas because when they slash Ryu, he gets set on fire.

Itagaki - "You know, I'm just going to take Bungie's idea and run wild with it."

*bows to the lawd*