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[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

I bought it for $39.99

Totally worth it =P

I was gone to a conference where there was supposed to be free meal. Instead they have $10 gift card to a shitty mall. I ended up with $70 in gift cards since no one wanted to eat there. After walking for half an hr, I finally made it to the mall. Yep, shitty mall. Luckily, it had a small game store. Got $40 worth of PSN Card and NGS+ for $15...

 

[MCD]

Crossposts from another forum:

Gotta love Twin Blades. Not only they have a broken Flying Swallow against Alma but they even get you off the map.

For some reason, unlocked customs have pros and cons now, take a look:

Relevant to the topic.

 

[Lord Error]

I was really impressed when I saw direct feed pictures of this. KInda seems unfair to rag on technical aspects of a game that in some ways is one of the best looking games on platform? Image quality is ridiculous in this one, and framerate locked to 30 from what I've seen.

I wish it had a demo because I'm not too interested in the game, but can't deny how impressively it's put together.

 

[yankeehater]

It is such a great game. It has barely left my Vita since I got it. The only real complaint is the bow being hard to use. The new missions are fantastic though, it is worth the price just for them. Adding trophies is also so good, I have had a blast going through and unlocking them. It is so perfect having this on the go with me, I can knock out a few missions during my lunch break at work and such. I hope we get a Sigma 2+ at some point as well.

 

[MCD]

And one thing not mentioned in the OP. No option for Japanese voices.

 

[sixteen-bit]

another fun bullet point:

--Ryu's reverse wind jump now homes in on dead bodies - this is super annoying. In the others, if you kill a guy, he won't auto jump towards them after the last hit. In this one, you have to wait for the enemy to disappear or else you'll jump at his dead body on the ground. Supremely annoying when you're fighting 5 enemies at once.

Wow. how do they miss something like this?

 

[MDSLKTR]

First game I tried on the vita and I'm just happy I'm playing ninja gaiden again in my hands and I don't regret my purchase. Even tough I agree the port is really really bad. 30fps is inexcusable for a 8yo game (and the framerate dares to go below in the later chapters) but it's still very impressive and has one of the cleanest IQ out there. Motions controls and touch functions are the worst gimmick I ever experienced so far on the vita.... Almost worth of the shittiest apps you can find on an itouch.

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

I was really impressed when I saw direct feed pictures of this. KInda seems unfair to rag on technical aspects of a game that in some ways is one of the best looking games on platform? Image quality is ridiculous in this one, and framerate locked to 30 from what I've seen.

I wish it had a demo because I'm not too interested in the game, but can't deny how impressively it's put together.

Ninja gaiden made its name as one of the greatest action games of all time not on it's visuals buts It's GAMEPLAY.

If you want pretty graphics and cool cutscenes, play uncharted.

A ninja gaiden game should never compromise on the action, both in delivery and depth. This is something that hayashi and team ninja dog still have failed to grasp.

added an "Overall" section to clear up what I'm saying...

I think you have been more than fair but I would suggest you explain the information you have provided is for veterans of the series and that's why it may come across as negative to newbies and people who only have flirted with the previous games.

 

[Seraphinianus]

added an "Overall" section to clear up what I'm saying...

Overall: Ninja Gaiden 1 was awesome, Ninja Gaiden Black is one of my top games of all time. Sigma was a back step, Sigma Plus is a further back step. But these are back steps from my favorite game of all time, so I'd call it merely a pretty good game, though the worst in the series of NG1 with a bunch of WTF decisions thrown in.

 

[∀ Narayan]

--unstable 30 FPS - usually smooth, but goes unstable on harder difficulties with more enemies on screen and when there are explosions. Also, you will need some time to adjust if you've played the others extensively.

another fun bullet point:

--Ryu's reverse wind jump now homes in on dead bodies - this is super annoying. In the others, if you kill a guy, he won't auto jump towards them after the last hit. In this one, you have to wait for the enemy to disappear or else you'll jump at his dead body on the ground. Supremely annoying when you're fighting 5 enemies at once.

Good god.

Why did anyone even bother with the creation of this port? Such a waste.

 

[MuddyDonut]

Perfect OT, actually informative.

 

[SublimeO12]

can someone explain why sigma is considered a step back from NGB? I never played Sigma, but I've heard something along the lines of it being easier? It seems like it couldn't possibly be that different gameplay wise, and with better graphics/framerate, I'd think it would be a good improvement.

 

[Skilletor]

can someone explain why sigma is considered a step back from NGB? I never played Sigma, but I've heard something along the lines of it being easier? It seems like it couldn't possibly be that different gameplay wise, and with better graphics/framerate, I'd think it would be a good improvement.

Sigma has a worse framerate than black which was a solid 60fps most of the time.

 

[SublimeO12]

Sigma has a worse framerate than black which was a solid 60fps most of the time.

is that it, just framerate issues?

 

[glaurung]

Jesus Christ at reading the OP here. This is some grim-ass news for me as a die-hard Ninja Gaiden fanatic.

To think I held the game box in my hand about 20 minutes ago...

I was soooo close to buying Vita from a local Sony shop, but I decided against it. As it stands, the machine has no games that I want. At the moment.

 

[Xander51]

Great thread, learned more about the game reading through it in the last few minutes than I have from any of the reviews.

 

[Skilletor]

is that it, just framerate issues?

Part of it. They made the game easier, they added Rachel who isn't very fun to play.

I'm not a hardcore NG player, so I thought it was a good game. Super in depth changes to the system went over my head.

 

[nHDR]

I'll be getting this when I get the Vita. But I won't pay more than $15 for it. Would be awesome to get trophies, as I was a high-ranked Black player back in the day.

 

[Seraphinianus]

can someone explain why sigma is considered a step back from NGB? I never played Sigma, but I've heard something along the lines of it being easier? It seems like it couldn't possibly be that different gameplay wise, and with better graphics/framerate, I'd think it would be a good improvement.

There's a pretty big thing that's objectively worse-- Lots of new loading times. There's a "hub" in the game (not really a hub, just a big open area you revisit while going back and forth) and it has a lot of little invisible lines that bring up a loading screen overlay when you pass them. Some fights take place right on this line, so if you go over it during the fight, the action pauses, the loading overlay pops up, then the fight just resumes abruptly. Chests have loading times too. Framerate drops and screen tearing are annoying too, when NGBlack was almost technically perfect.

the rest is subjective, I think--
--Rachel missions feel a bit tacked on and she is like 1/3 the character Ryu is, in terms of combat.
--Easier difficulty

The only thing I really like that Sigma added was streamlined puzzles, which were just busy work in between combat. It also added the twin katana swords, which are a neat weapon.

 

[glaurung]

Part of it. They made the game easier, they added Rachel who isn't very fun to play.

I'm not a hardcore NG player, so I thought it was a good game. Super in depth changes to the system went over my head.

Rachel was more fun than most guys could fit in their hands.

She just sucked as a playable character.

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

can someone explain why sigma is considered a step back from NGB? I never played Sigma, but I've heard something along the lines of it being easier? It seems like it couldn't possibly be that different gameplay wise, and with better graphics/framerate, I'd think it would be a good improvement.

Well compared to NG2 and Sigma 2 the differences are way more subtle for the most part but the mani things are

• Slightly easier combat and difficulties in sigma with more health Essence drops
• Removal of costumes and the dark dragon blade in the main game in sigma
• no tedious Rachel sections in black
• Addition of dragon claw and tiger fang in sigma.. Weapons that are most made redundant by the dragon sword
• Removal of theatre mode and the intro movie in sigma
• Addition of loading times when opening item chests in sigma

I think there are couple of other ones but those are main ones I've noticed.

Edit: addition of mission mode in sigma. I personally thought this was a good thing.

 

[thekonamicode]

Is it just me, or does this game only have 8-way directional movement?

 

[MjFrancis]

Great thread, learned more about the game reading through it in the last few minutes than I have from any of the reviews.

A fine OP that actually provides serviceable information. It also goes to show how poor the print and major internet reviewers are in comparison, which is a depressing reminder at best.

Even the removed leaderboards were puzzling enough to merit a mention, and I don't recall many - if any - reviewer making note of such a change for the Vita port.

 

[Seraphinianus]

Well compared to NG2 and Sigma 2 the differences are way more subtle for the most part but the man things are

• Slightly easier combat in sigma with more health Essence drops
• Removal of costumes and the dark dragon blade in the main game in sigma
• no tedious Rachel sections in black
• Addition of dragon claw and tiger fang in sigma.. Weapons that are most made redundant by the dragon sword
• Removal of theatre mode and the intro movie in sigma
• Addition of loading times when opening item chests in sigma

I think there are couple of other ones but those are main ones I've noticed.

Edit: addition of mission mode in sigma.

mission mode was in black...that was the big feature to get us to double dip. Not to minimize, NGB is an expansion/rerelease done right-- budget price and basically a different game within the original framework and more than double the content with 50 missions.

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

mission mode was in black...that was the big feature to get us to double dip. Not to minimize, NGB is an expansion/rerelease done right-- budget price and basically a different game within the original framework and more than double the content with 50 missions.

Was it? Too be honest, I haven't got round to completing black. That is something to look forward to when I do.

Even the original hurricane packs (which black was a extension of) was DLC done right. How time has changed.

Come to think of it, isn't the karma system busted in sigma as well? I know in sigma 2 they basically removed it entirely, but I remember someone mentioning that sigma was a step backwards for karma runs too.

 

[Seraphinianus]

Was it? Too be honest, I haven't got round to completing black. That is something to look forward to when I do.

Even the original hurricane packs (which black was a extension of) was DLC done right. How time has changed.

yeah, the hurricane packs are fucking awesome. They basically make a third version of the game, since they overwrite everything on the disc. They even have things that didn't make into Black, like the Intercept move (which ended up being a bit broken, but a lot of fun.)

I was pissed when my 360 died, after I had downloaded the hurricane packs, and after Xbox 1 Live went off the air. They're gone forever and I haven't seen any alternate ways to get them, particularly since they're copy-protected...you always to redownload them.

Come to think of it, isn't the karma system busted in sigma as well? I know in sigma 2 they basically removed it entirely, but I remember someone mentioning that sigma was a step backwards for karma runs too.

I don't think it's busted in Sigma 1, but I haven't checked the leaderboards in a while...if someone posted a screen of the top 20, I could see if there's a huge exploit that was found (since there's a max score possible in the game.) I didn't like it for karma runs because of the shitty in-battle loading in Tairon and occasional slowdown. To be fair, there were exploits in Black too, though I don't think they were widespread, but a couple top scores were bullshit.


The karma system in NG2 sucked ass and yeah, hayashi just took it out of Sigma 2 altogether.



edit: and after all my negativity, I'd still put the worst NGB port head and shoulders higher than Sigma 2.

 

[dark10x]

Sigma has a worse framerate than black which was a solid 60fps most of the time.

Actually, this could be somewhat solved simply by forcing the game into 720p. Same deal with Sigma 2. By default, they upscale to 1080p and the image quality and performance both suffer.

 

[IdreamofHIME]

Strangest and most awesome OT I've ever seen.

This was one of the game I wanted to get for the vita as well
Loved NG, NGB and NGB.

 

[Seraphinianus]

Actually, this could be somewhat solved simply by forcing the game into 720p. Same deal with Sigma 2. By default, they upscale to 1080p and the image quality and performance both suffer.

nah, even in 720p, you start getting framedrops on harder difficulties when there's more shit on the screen and explosions/lighting effects from advanced enemies. Once again, you won't really see this on Normal and maybe not even on Hard. It's more apparent on very hard, master ninja, and the missions. It's another Sigma problem that made it to Sigma Plus.

 

[ss_lemonade]

So basically, if I've already beaten NG and Black multiple times on the Xbox, my money would be better spent on something else?

 

[Skilletor]

Actually, this could be somewhat solved simply by forcing the game into 720p. Same deal with Sigma 2. By default, they upscale to 1080p and the image quality and performance both suffer.

Really? I didn't know this. I'll try it out with Sigma 2.

 

[Seraphinianus]

So basically, if I've already beaten NG and Black multiple times on the Xbox, my money would be better spent on something else?

yes, but if ninja gaiden on the go sounds good or if you just want another version of the game, then I'd say $19.99 is fine.

oh, and I guess it's worth mentioning that this is the only version of NG1 that you can get trophies/achievements in. An experienced could platinum the hell out of it quickly if they use the Enhancement items to break the game.

 

[dark10x]

nah, even in 720p, you start getting framedrops on harder difficulties when there's more shit on the screen and explosions/lighting effects from advanced enemies. Once again, you won't really see this on Normal and maybe not even on Hard. It's more apparent on very hard, master ninja, and the missions. It's another Sigma problem that made it to Sigma Plus.

Ah, well, I'm not hardcore enough into NG to enjoy the hardest difficulties so it hasn't been an issue for me.

The problem reared it's head constantly when using 1080p upscaling, however, so it's definitely an improvement.

 

[rockman zx]

I'm having a blast playing, but as a hardcore NG fan I had to lower my demands with this game because they got too many things wrong, it's great despite all but when you are a experinced NG player that tasted that amazing piece of software called NGB, this port falls under his own weight because the inability of Team NINJA to understand what makes NG/NGB one of the best action or the best action game of all time.

Team NINJA is still Team NINJA dog till they prove me wrong with NG3 or DOA5. I'm very exctied with DOA5, better be good.

 

[Seraphinianus]

Ah, well, I'm not hardcore enough into NG to enjoy the hardest difficulties so it hasn't been an issue for me.

The problem reared it's head constantly when using 1080p upscaling, however, so it's definitely an improvement.

yeah, going by your tag, you'd get a little sick seeing it at higher difficulties. and the slowdown is not like "crawl to a halt" but it can screw you up. and one mistake on Very Hard, MNM, or some of the harder missions = insta-death.

 

[dark10x]

I'm having a blast playing, but as a hardcore NG fan I had to lower my demands with this game because they got too many things wrong, it's great despite all but when you are a experinced NG player that tasted that amazing piece of software called NGB, this port falls under his own weight because the inability of Team NINJA to understand what makes NG/NGB one of the best action or the best action game of all time.

Team NINJA is still Team NINJA dog till they prove me wrong with NG3 or DOA5. I'm very exctied with DOA5, better be good.

Oh yeah, I'm sure the current state of the team is one of the reasons the game turned out like this. Team Ninja 2004 would never have let this game slip through without hitting 60 fps even if it meant delays.

 

[Seraphinianus]

I'm having a blast playing, but as a hardcore NG fan I had to lower my demands with this game because they got too many things wrong, it's great despite all but when you are a experinced NG player that tasted that amazing piece of software called NGB, this port falls under his own weight because the inability of Team NINJA to understand what makes NG/NGB one of the best action or the best action game of all time.

Team NINJA is still Team NINJA dog till they prove me wrong with NG3 or DOA5. I'm very exctied with DOA5, better be good.

fair assessment. totally agree.

once you go Black, you never go back! and i'm not even just talking about NG games...that game set a high watermark for all of gaming on so many different levels imo.


I have zero hope for NG3. Zero. I am more excited for DmC. DOA5 looks great though and the fact that they're consulting the DOA community is a huge plus and 1up on Itagaki (who consulted the community, but didn't implement their suggestions.)

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

yeah, the hurricane packs are fucking awesome. They basically make a third version of the game, since they overwrite everything on the disc. They even have things that didn't make into Black, like the Intercept move (which ended up being a bit broken, but a lot of fun.)

I was pissed when my 360 died, after I had downloaded the hurricane packs, and after Xbox 1 Live went off the air. They're gone forever and I haven't seen any alternate ways to get them, particularly since they're copy-protected...you always to redownload them.

This sucks. I was always under the impression that black was basically everything from the hurricane packs. I had no idea there was even more content.

edit: and after all my negativity, I'd still put the worst NGB port head and shoulders higher than Sigma 2.

Sigma 2 fucking offended me. I bought my first PS3 solely on the strength of playing 20mins of sigma. I had sold it off by the time sigma 2 came around and I wasn't gaming in general, although I had completed the first two difficulties of NG2.

Even as someone who hadn't really put any real energy into NG2, sigma 2 was a fucking insult. I still to this day can't beleive I bought a brand new console for that game. NG3 is just a continuation of hayashi flushing the series down the toilet.


Edit: I forgot to mention, someone on here once pointed out that the Programmer that was responsible for NG's flawless autolockon (that still is unmatched 8 years later) left with itakagi. Maybe that's why the reverse wind problem is in this port.

 

[Seraphinianus]

This sucks. I was always under the impression that black was basically everything from the hurricane packs. I had no idea there was even more content.



Sigma 2 fucking offended me. I bought my first PS3 solely on the strength of playing 20mins of sigma. I had sold it off by the time sigma 2 came around and I wasn't gaming in general, although I had completed the first two difficulties of NG2.

Even as someone who hadn't really put any real energy into NG2, sigma 2 was a fucking insult. I still to this day can't beleive I bought a brand new console for that game. NG3 is just a continuation of hayashi flushing the series down the toilet.


Edit: I forgot to mention, someone on here once pointed out that the Programmer that was responsible for NG's flawless autolockon (that still is unmatched 8 years later) left with itakagi. Maybe that's why the reverse wind problem is in this port.

Yeah, it was a bit confusing at the time too because Itagaki was talking about how they were gonna put the HPs on disc, then quietly, it kind of became a whole new game.

Black is like a refined version of the HPs. The first one added the intercept move, new enemies/remixed fights, the lunar staff, the intercept move and I think it added Master Ninja difficulty. The 2nd pack was basically a huge, fucking difficult level with new bosses (Nicchae and Nitros or something, forget their names, basically tougher versions of Alma.)

Then Black took out intercept, improved the graphics more, and that huge level became the final mission in mission mode, with all the other HP changes + more added. I think they realized that a disc only marketed to people without live wouldn't do as well as different version that everyone can enjoy, so they extended the dev time.


and yes, don't get me started on Sigma 2. I could write a novel about how much that game sucks.

 

[Lord Error]

Ninja gaiden made its name as one of the greatest action games of all time not on it's visuals buts It's GAMEPLAY.

I get that, but I still don't see where the negativity about the technical aspects of the game comes from. The bulletpoints he brought actually start with technical aspects.

--Mixed bag of PS3 visuals and Xbox visuals - I recommend turning down the gamma a bit and bumping the contrast a bit to save your eyes. It also takes away the hazy look of the game.

The way this reads is like the game will gouge your eyes out with how bad it looks. But in fact it has some of the best IQ I've seen on the platform.

 

[Seraphinianus]

I get that, but I still don't see where the negativity about the technical aspects of the game comes from. The bulletpoints he brought actually start with technical aspects.


The way this reads is like the game will gouge your eyes out with how bad it looks. But in fact it has some of the best IQ I've seen on the platform.

yeah, i see people praising the IQ, but I found it to be off. I adjusted the gamma and contrast and find a lot better.

and 30fps alone is a huge technical hit for an 8 year old game. I started with that obvious stuff, then went on to the finer details of how the gameplay is worse.

 

[quinntendopower]

I bought it after being assured it's a sharp port and was not disappointed. Nope, I don't care about 30fps because: 1 - it's damn smooth, locked, and 2 - this is NOT an 8 year old game.

please remove your arthur avatar. you don't have the right to bear him anymore. not hardcore enough.

does this have the challenge modes? perfect OT by the way, richard dunn is right and is telling it how it is, god fucking forbid.

Ishtaro vs Alma on Master Ninja was a nightmare

 

[Seraphinianus]

please remove your arthur avatar. you don't have the right to bear him anymore. not hardcore enough.

does this have the challenge modes? perfect OT by the way, tells it how it is.

Ishtaro vs Alma on Master Ninja was a nightmare

it has missions. I think they're a bit remixed, but i'm not sure when I'll get back around to this game. just not really worth my time after finding all this crap wrong with it.

the bow stuff probably doesn't look like a huge deal, but damn was it ever a roadblock for the fights that needed it and is probably the biggest contributing factor of making me want to speak out about the game.


edit: and i'm out for the day. it has been fun talking NG shop again

 

[Skilletor]

I love Sigma 2. I think it's an amazing game.

 

[dark10x]

yeah, i see people praising the IQ, but I found it to be off. I adjusted the gamma and contrast and find a lot better.

and 30fps alone is a huge technical hit for an 8 year old game. I started with that obvious stuff, then went on to the finer details of how the gameplay is worse.

They're praising the image quality based on the high DPI of the Vita screen when running native resolution. NGS doesn't have a lot of complex shaders to cause aliasing so it looks remarkably clean.

30 fps is a huge hit, but this IS a port to a new platform on which they have little experience. The visuals being presented are still more complex and at a much higher resolution than what the XBOX could have handled at 60 fps.

the bow stuff probably doesn't look like a huge deal, but damn was it ever a roadblock for the fights that needed it and is probably the biggest contributing factor of making me want to speak out about the game.

This is a really odd point as I found the gyro aiming to make for much easier bow usage. The bow is a clunky piece of shit in all versions of the game, I've always felt, and this was probably the best handling of it yet (for me).

 

[nHDR]

Anyone got a pic of all the costumes? Are there more than there were in NGB and NGS1?

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

Well one good thing has come out of this thread. I'm going to fire up sigma again and start a new save.

It's amazing that my oldest ps3 game is still the one that I play the most. I never get bored of playing Ninja gaiden sigma and I would play black but I don't currently have a Xbox to hand. Nearly 5 years in and its still amazing. This is what the "cinematic" and "make the game accessible" bandwagons don't seem to get. If you give a game enough depth through tight gameplay, it becomes timeless and can be replayed over and over and over again. "experience" games will only give you so much enjoyment before you get bored of them and they are never touched again. I doubt many people will play something like Asuras wrath or Enslaved more than twice.

 

[CadetMahoney]

once you go Black, you never go back!

yep, better than the other NG's and this one included, but that's only to be expected.

 

[Skilletor]

Well one good thing has come out of this thread. I'm going to fire up sigma again and start a new save.

It's amazing that my oldest ps3 game is still the one that I play the most. I never get bored of playing Ninja gaiden sigma and I would play black but I don't currently have a Xbox to hand. Nearly 5 years in and its still amazing. This is what the "cinematic" and "make the game accessible" bandwagons don't seem to get. If you give a game enough depth through tight gameplay, it becomes timeless and can be replayed over and over and over again. "experience" games will only give you so much enjoyment before you get bored of them and they are never touched again. I doubt many people will play something like Asuras wrath or Enslaved more than twice.

It had been years since I played Sigma, so I was expecting to think it would feel clunky on Vita. I was surprised that it still played so well to this day. It is an amazing game still.

 

[TheSeks]

edit: and after all my negativity, I'd still put the worst NGB port head and shoulders higher than Sigma 2.

Don't tell me you're one of those people... that whine about lack of gore?

Hayashi's rebalance of Sigma 2 on higher difficulties far outweighs the bad, IMO. But Team Mission Mode was bullshit on the Master Ninja level (TWIRL TWIRL TWIRL EXPLOIT TO GOLD!), yeah.