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The Ninja Gaiden (Tecmo) Empire
[B][I]Ninja Gaiden[/I][/B] is a series of video games by [COLOR="#A52A2A"]Tecmo[/COLOR] featuring the ninja [COLOR="#000080"]Ryu Hayabusa[/COLOR] as its protagonist. The series was originally known as Ninja Ryukenden ("Legend of the Ninja Dragon Sword") in Japan. The word "gaiden" in the North American Ninja Gaiden title means "side-story" in Japanese, even though the Ninja Gaiden series is not a spinoff of a previous series. The original arcade version, first two NES games and Game Boy game were released as Shadow Warriors in PAL regions.
The series gained popularity on the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) for its tight action-platform gameplay, catchy music and, according to G4's X-Play, for being the first console game to have the story presented in cinematic cutscenes (source of information from top: Wikipedia).
The arcade version of Ninja Gaiden (released in 1988, in Japan, North America, and Europe) was a [B]Double Dragon[/B]-style beat 'em up, in which the player controls a nameless blue ninja as he travels to various regions of the United States (such as San Francisco, New York City and Las Vegas) to defeat an evil cult led by a fictional descendant of [I]Nostradamus[/I], who is trying to personally fulfill his ancestor's prophecy of the rise of an evil king in 1999. The player has a variety of techniques, such as a flying neck throw and a back-flip. The player can obtain power-ups by throwing enemies into background objects, such as street lights and dumpsters. The player fights primarily with his bare hands, although a sword can also be used for a limited time as a power-up; he can also use environmental objects as a prop from which he can deliver more powerful kicking attacks (source of information: Wikipedia).
A ninja was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, and open combat in certain situations. Their covert methods of waging war contrasted the ninja with the samurai, who observed strict rules about honor and combat (source of information: Wikipedia).
Because the ninja warrior is a character import from the Orient, the marketing of [B]Ninja Gaiden[/B] in the West represents video game investments in culture action-adventure as well as explorations of the intricacies of games focused on role-playing fighting.
The empire has resurfaced in recent years and gained in popularity with the release of a series of handsome games for platforms such as the X-Box.
The story of the 2004 release of [I]Ninja Gaiden[/I] and its sequels have been established as a prequel, taking place before the original NES trilogy. The main story of the game involves Ryu Hayabusa setting out on a quest to retrieve the [COLOR="#2F4F4F"]Dark Dragon Blade[/COLOR] from the hands of evil after most of his clan was wiped out (source of information: Wikipedia).
The [I]Ninja Gaiden[/I] empire is comparable to the [I]Shinobi[/I] (Sega), [I]Strider[/I] (Capcom), and [I]Double Dragon[/I] (Technos Japan/Taito) video game franchises, but its clearer focus on character experience makes it stand out as a video game symbol of action-adventure creativity.
It's fun to think/talk about the graphic and storyboard aspects of the [I]Ninja Gaiden[/I] empire.
:eek:
[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja_Gaiden"]Ninja Gaiden[/URL]
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