Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword Hands-On Preview

We’ve known since around the time of the Nintendo DS’s release that famed game designer Tomonobu Itagaki (known for series such as Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive, and more) would be making a game for the platform. It wasn’t until about a year ago, however, that he gave full details on what his game was. To say the least, we were beyond surprised with what he showed off, we were extremely impressed. Since then, Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword, exclusively for the Nintendo DS, has received a delay to early 2008. We recently had the opportunity to go hands-on with the game, and once again we left impressed.

The demo starts you off with a quick tutorial in what is assumed to be Hayabusa Village. You hold your Nintendo DS sideways Brain Age style while playing, and use the stylus to control just about every mechanic in the game. To jump, you simulate an upwards swipe on the touch screen, to slash someone to bits with your sword you simply draw a light downwards slash over your enemy, and to throw your shuriken you merely tap your enemy. Really, it’s quite simple, in a good way. Everything feels precise, and you never get the impresson that the touch screen controls were a second thought for development of the game. Everything revolves around the touch screen in some way including ninpo attacks, special abilities Ryu obtains throughout the game.

As the demo continued, we were required to take down a horde of enemies, some small and largely not-so-intimidating, and others more fierce and challenging. Particularly, archers can be a pain to take down, due to their tendency to stay a farther distance away from Ryu and the fact that your shurikens just don’t do enough damage to take them down quickly and efficiently. Once all of the enemies are struck down, a boss swoops in just in time to take revenge on his fallen comrades.

The boss, a beastly gargantuas dragon, is a large and fear instilling creature, but more or less a bit of a cakewalk. With a few slashes of your sword and some swift dodging, the dragon is taken down in a matter of seconds, therefore ending the demo. As a whole, the boss battle was largely unsatisfying, but it can only be assumed that battles will get not only more difficult, but more intense and varied as the game progresses.

From what we’ve seen, Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword is just about everything that you’d expect it to be for a portable Ninja Gaiden adventure. The graphics are gorgeous, sometimes making you forget that the Nintendo DS is a technically limited 3D platform, and the audio is more than satisfactory. Tecmo has done a fantastic job thus far of making this new Ninja Gaiden entry top notch and quality-centric. Be sure to check back in the coming months for more information on this game as it nears its March 20th release date.

Screenshots added January 16, 2008