Ninja Gaiden is one of those IPs that have been around for literally over thirty years, but has been largely neglected since 2013’s release of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. That span of time encompasses the infamously great 1988 release on Nintendo, several sequels, as well as the timeless classic Ninja Gaiden (or Ninja Gaiden Black, the even better version released a year later) that first debuted in 2004 on the Xbox. Lets not forget about the DS release in 2008, Dragon Sword, that was quite good, too. Anyway, KOEI TECMO America has just released the Master Collection, which includes Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, and Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge.
The first game is one of the greatest third person action games of all time, whether you play the 2004, 2005, or Sigma from 2007. My first introduction to it I believe was Ninja Gaiden Black, which I enjoyed playing through on my Xbox in 2005. The sequel was excellent, and a Xbox exclusive for several years as well — but, it’s not quite as good as the first game and its story and characters are even crazier (which make it less appealing to me). And then there’s the third game, which was a major letdown in multiple ways.
Over the years, I have reviewed these games, and since this Master Collection is just a simple re-release with little to no effort put in, I’ll just point to my original reviews in a moment. Actually, multiplayer elements were removed from NG2 and NG3, which is unfortunate, but likely a cost-savings decision. That said, my original reviews are found here, here, and here.
So what do players actually get with the Collection besides these three versions of these three games? Not much — quicker load times probably just from advances in the hardware. There’s also the benefit of 4K resolution that maintains a steady 60fps if you’re running on a PS4 Pro or PS5, and that’s great given that the combat in these games in blistering fast by design anyway. Having all three of these games readily available on modern systems is nice, although on PS you have to download all three individually and switch games via the XMB, which is kind of sloppy and not ideal. And sure, it’s great to reprise the role of one of my favorite videogame characters, Ryu Hyabusa again.
That said, we’re so far removed from NG2, the last great game of the franchise, that a whole new experience is absolutely warranted. This Collection is a decent tip of the hat to games of old, though it’s a shame that NG3 is still as bad as it is. The Master Collection is also priced fairly at $40, but it’s too bad that these games did not get more love on this release — the Master Collection is about as barebones as you can get for a compilation release. Still, if this is maybe an indication that the door to a whole new NG adventure is forthcoming, one that embraces the design of the first two, then that’s great news. Anyway — speculation aside — if you’re looking to relive these games or want to get into the franchise for the first time, this is very good way to do it.
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