Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword takes a flying leap to DS
Prepare your stylus for this martial arts slasher
The Ninja Gaiden series is synonymous with two things: top-of-the-range visuals and gameplay that's harder than a pit bull with a nailgun in its mouth.
So the announcement earlier this year that the game is being brought to DS was unexpected. And with Team Ninja and Ninja Gaiden series director Tomonobu Itagaki in charge of the project, very exciting, too.
Until recently, few facts were known about the DS game in the making, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword. We'd been told it would require the DS to be held vertically – like with Hotel Dusk: Room 215. Itagaki said this would enable the player to get a firm grip on the console and better carry out the complex and speedy stylus slashes on the touchscreen that make up the control method.
We also knew the game's story would take place six months after the conclusion of the original Ninja Gaiden and go into more depth about the mythology of the Vigoor Empire.
New information emerged from the Tokyo Game Show concerning that novel control method, with footage showing that main character Ryu Hayabusa seems to be controlled entirely with the stylus. For example, an upward flick initiates a jump, and a downward stroke performs a vertical sword slash. Later on, more complicated moves and combos were pulled off amid a range of special effects – moves like the Flying Swallow and Izuna Drop.
Distant enemies could be speedily taken care of by simply tapping them – this sends a spiky shuriken flying in their direction. And the game features numerous boss characters – the one shown at TGS was a winged dragon which was able to pick Ryu up in his mouth and shake him about, giving him all the dignity of a crash test dummy astride a galloping horse.
Frankly, the game looks like it has the potential be one of the best all-out action games yet seen on DS, always assuming the pace is well-matched to the responsiveness of the touchscreen, which is obviously slower than just pressing a button.
Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword is due to be released in the US sometime in 2007. Hopefully the UK release won't be too far behind, but realistically we'd expect a spring 2008 appearance.
