I was first introduced to the Ninja Gaiden series with Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos, and I played it relentlessly with my neighbor as we would pass the controller around after the other died. We were engrossed in the story, and the fact that it was like a movie – never mind that it was the first game ever to use actual cinematics. The NES was graced with three Ninja Gaidens, each progressing into a deeper amalgamation of traditional Japaneseness (submitting this word to Websters – ED), Gothica, and Modernity – culminating with Ninja Gaiden III involving a healthy dose of machina as its setting. The series has laid dormant until now, as Tecmo has seen fit to revive the series that started the blurring of game and movie, and have successfully brought about a new standard of realism and presentation in their Xbox rendition of Ninja Gaiden.

Unfortunately, for those looking for a continued storyline – Irene is nowhere to be found. Ninja Gaiden stands alone within the Hayabusa universe. The Hayabusa Clan, the Dragon Sword, its evil twin the Dark Dragon Sword, and the Shadow Clan (although seemingly friendly now) are all present. Ryu is left with the charge of caring for the Dragon Sword while his father is away in the forest, but all is not peaceful as his village is attacked by Doku, the lord of Fiends. This brings the story around to the good ole 'revenge' scenario – but do we really need a reason to run around as a ninja and assassinate people? The story, while told through fantastical CG and in-engine cinematic moments, gets rather confusing and leaves the notion of Ryu going after 'blind revenge' in pursuit of Doku, the Fiends, and the Vigoor Empire (the punks who burnt your village). But forget the revenge story – how exactly are we exacting revenge? That is where the good stuff lies.

A ninja's life is all about serenity and peace with the world surrounding them…except Ryu is a different sort of ninja – one that uses extreme force to make sure nobody is left alive. The aptly named Ryu Hayabusa (dragon, in Japanese) equips the Dragon Sword as his main blood spilling device. To aid him in more versatile fighting are shuriken which help to pause enemies who may not heed to the code of melee combat (ie. shoot at you). Along the way nunchaku, bow and arrows, and the big shuriken are just a few of the other weapons to modify Ryu's arsenal – although the Dragon Sword works the best in most situations. I mean – if you can block bullets with a sword…why switch? There are also armor items that will boost Ryu's strength and defense that can be purchased at various locations. Not just one to ignore the paranormal, Ryu also makes use of Ninpo which is the magical art of fighting. In previous games Ryu would have an unlimited supply of different magical attacks when he collected the icon from a fallen enemy; the Xbox version of Ninja Gaiden uses magic points in the form of little flames under the health bar, and Ninpo scrolls are purchased, not taken from fallen enemies. Once they are, just select the scroll of choice from the menu and it can be executed for as long as the little flames are filled. The classic Fire Wheel returns, in addition to new magics like Inferno (forward blast of fire), Ice Storm (icy whirlwind), and Inazuma (lightning).

Along the way, besides weapons and magics, Ryu will, in RPG fashion, gain new abilities by finding technique scrolls. These will allow Ryu to kill in more efficient and bloodier fashions. To also aid in the task at hand, enemies when killed will spew forth an essence that will give Ryu either currency (yellow), increase his health (blue), or increase his Ninpo magic ability (red). The game is pretty good about awarding the player with the color essence that is most needed, so if Ryu is low on health, don't worry about dieing because all you can manage to collect is red essence. Essence has another use however, and that is to charge up attacks. If Ryu absorbs essence in an attack he can execute much stronger and brutal attacks, which will cause the enemies to release greater amounts of essence. The more essence the better of course, as it allows more items to be bought, more health to be replenished, and more points to be awarded and turned into karma which you build up to achieve higher rating levels: Ninja Dog, Lesser Ninja, Greater Ninja, Head Ninja, and Master Ninja respectively. Stringing combos of attacks together also yields essence in greater amounts. The ratings don't seem to affect the single-player game other than to give those who want to play it over and over a visual readout of their increased skill – but it is assumed this will be the gauge of greatness during the Master Ninja Tournament on Xbox Live.

Since we are talking about one of the young masters in the Dragon Clan lineage, running and jumping around do not a hero make. Ryu has, in Prince of Persia fashion, a wealth of human-agility defying moves. Ryu can run up walls, pull off flying bird jumps, and easily commit himself to off-the-wall attacks to round out his acrobatic prowess perfectly. He can even one-up his Arabian brethren in that he can continually run along walls and jump from wall to wall to reach greater heights as if they were spiral stair cases – and he can run across water! (Try that Mr. Gibson! – ED) The most Ryu's sandy opposition could muster was to drink the stuff. This nimble constitution is handy in battle as well – Ryu can slash one foe, bounce on the head of another, run along the wall, and come back down to behead another. Blocking and dodging play an integral part to survival as well, however I find that rolling around and staying in the air is more beneficial than blocking if more than two enemies are upon you at once. If an enemy is in front and you block, and an enemy is behind – the enemy in back will strike you. Not to mention while blocking, enemies can grab Ryu and slit his throat. It's a ninja kill ninja world out there – be careful! If only Ryu could slow down time I would argue that this was how PoP combat was supposed to be…but as it is, this is how Eastern Ninjas fight – and no other game has it this good.

Graphically I haven't seen anything on the Xbox that comes close, save maybe Fable and BC – but those aren't out yet. The CG movies are breathtakingly spectacular, but the engine is powerful enough that if there were no CG, I wouldn't be complaining. Just the opening level alone treats you visually to a camera roll through a shrine-turned-ninja-fortress at sunset in autumn with leaves falling, birds in the distance, a sun flare in the orange-pink sky with Mount Fuji in the background…the game is breathtaking in every respect. Personally I just wish there was more focus on natural environments instead of the city/tech mood – but all evil empires build their territory with brick and mortar, so it can't be helped. The EA COO recently discussed the next-generation of consoles being able to display realistic looking eyes…I don't know if he's looked at Team Ninja lately but they have come about as far as one can in my opinion. Characters are up there in detail with the likes of Blizzard and Square-Enix, and are varied and interesting. The only complaint I have is sometimes people seem to be 'rubbery' – but that only happens in certain lighting situations with certain clothing. The screenshots simply do not do this game justice. This is quite possibly the best realism in an action game that I've seen to date!

The audio doesn't slouch either; most importantly Tecmo included the Japanese voices which honestly, even if you don't understand Japanese and need to resort to subtitles, add so much more to the atmosphere of the game. The characters just look as if they should be speaking Japanese, especially with the storyline – and the narrator specifically sounds like an age old master telling the story of the Dragon swords, whereas the English narrator sounds like, well, some commercial announcer. The music changes from level to level and matches each scene perfectly. From the rustic Hayabusa village, to the technical airships, to the European Vigoor Empire, the music moves accordingly and is extraordinarily pleasant. Sword slashes, shuriken throws, and bullets also 'shake their FX thang.' I find it commonplace to not really compliment sound when it is done correctly, but berate it when it is done poorly. Here, the sound is just exceptional, and the sound crew deserves several pats on the back.

To return to when I said the game just 'feels right' with the Japanese voices, the presentation is very ninjaesque – which of course holds in Ninja Gaiden's favor. Anyone who played Lament of Innocence or Devil May Cry will feel a bit at home with the presentation and menus. Items are all presented in a similar fashion to these games, which for lack of a better stylistic term, I'll just refer to as 'cool style.' Every aspect of the game seeps ninja action, Japanese tradition with a twist, a Ninja Gaiden for the 21^st century. The only complaint is that the game is hard, which isn't so much a complaint because it pays due homage to the NES games which were also at times, unbearably frustrating. Anyone who is in the 'today's games are too easy' camp will be refreshed to play situations over and over to see if they can manage to come away unscathed. The good part is that because killing enemies is so stylish and fun, playing sections over doesn't become annoying. The one flaw that the game suffers is the camera, and I know it is hard to make a camera that is always in the perfect position for a character as dynamic in place as Ryu – it does get in the way more times than I'd like. Since Team Ninja managed to do a pretty good job instead of a horrible job, it just makes me wish that they spent the extra few weeks to get the camera 100%. I also wish that the classic Ninja Gaiden were more easily gotten – as it is you are going to have to work hard at finding some secrets in order to unlock these 20^th century gems.

Ninja Gaiden is a long awaited sequel to one of my favorite franchises. Ninjas are right up there with Immortals, Wizards, and other super beings that we will forever be in awe. And, the game will be complimented by content downloads via Xbox Live, and the upcoming Master Ninja Tournament that will find the best Ninja in the world starting with E3 this year. I really hope Tecmo and Team Ninja keep Ryu close by, because despite the past 13 years being good to the Hayabusa Clan – it is a wait not many of us want to repeat! I recommend every Xbox owner get a copy of this game, it is a sad time when games are phenomenally executed and not picked up by the general public *cough* Eternal Darkness and Prince of Persia *cough* - so please, reward Team Ninja and Tecmo for an outstanding game by at least giving it a look – you wouldn't be disappointed if you bought this game just so you could look at it – let alone play it!!