GOTD 7/23/2016: Ninja Gaiden III: Ancient Ship of Doom (NES)

[bb_hood]

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The three original Ninja Gaiden games comprise one of the best trilogy of games on the NES. All three are very similar yet slightly different. They are fast-paced ninja games that feature cutscenes between stages. These games are notorious for their high difficulty and are really fun to play.

Ninja Gaiden III is the most polished game out of the three. The graphics are a little more detailed and nicely animated than in the previous two games. Ninja Gaiden III also has a more 'balanced' feel to it. Ryu moves a little slower and the enemies do not regenerate if you kill them then scroll the screen back. This was a large complaint with the first two Ninja Gaiden games and is responsible for much of their difficulty. In Ninja Gaiden III, when you kill a bird it stays dead.

Ninja Gaiden III is probably the easiest Ninja Gaiden game. With a little practice you can just run through most of the levels. The game wants you to utilize the sub-weapons frequently and doing so makes this game much simpler. Bosses in Ninja Gaiden III are all very easy. They all have very noticable patters and never really pose a threat. Ninja Gaiden III features the Dragon Sword upgrade, which is very powerful. The Japanese famicom version is a little easier than the NES version. The NES version has a limited number of continues and the Famicom version has a password feature.

Ninja Gaiden III is an awesome game. It looks great and it plays great. Ninja Gaiden III is a game that may seem very hard at first, but with some practice it becomes very easy.

[Mr Mort]

Ninja Gaiden III is probably the easiest Ninja Gaiden game. With a little practice you can just run through most of the levels. The game wants you to utilize the sub-weapons frequently and doing so makes this game much simpler. Bosses in Ninja Gaiden III are all very easy. They all have very noticable patters and never really pose a threat. Ninja Gaiden III features the Dragon Sword upgrade, which is very powerful. The Japanese famicom version is a little easier than the NES version. The NES version has a limited number of continues and the Famicom version has a password feature.

Ninja Gaiden III is an awesome game. It looks great and it plays great. Ninja Gaiden III is a game that may seem very hard at first, but with some practice it becomes very easy.


Dude, that is crazy talk. This game is insanely difficult. Im calling bullshit on this one. I'm a pretty big Ninja Gaiden fan. I've beat all 3 NES games (North American versions, no cheats), and the third game is without a doubt the hardest. It also happens to be my least favorite.

As far as the difficulty goes, Tecmo made some big changes to the game when they localized it. Compared to its Japanese counterpart, the North American version is brutal. For one, they doubled the amount of damage enemies inflict. The minimum damage you take is 2 bars of health. They also did away with unlimited continues, and capped it at 5. They also tweaked enemy placement to make platforming more difficult, and to increase the overall difficulty. This was likely the result of a fear of the rental industry. It was common for games to be made harder in order to make sure you couldn't beat a game just by renting it.

I've beat the fist 2 games dozens of times, but I've only beat the third game once, and I recorded it on VHS at the time. I never want to beat it again. It's beyond maddeningly difficult. Cheap enemy placement is the worst part of it all. It's a frustrating game, and unfairly difficult. The first one is a breeze in comparison. Seriously.

Have you actually played through and beat the North American version, or is your opinion based on a casual playthrough?

[bb_hood]

Have you actually played through and beat the North American version, or is your opinion based on a casual playthrough?

Im very serious. Ive played Ninja Gaiden III alot, probably more than most. I can easily get to the final level without dying. Ive beaten both the US and Famicom versions multiple times.

[celerystalker]

I got this one in a trade with a friend back around 2002, where I traded a pair of rare Star Wars CCG cards for video games. He got my spare Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker and Emperor Palpatine from Death Star II, and I got his Ninja Gaiden III, NES Joe & Mac, 7th Saga, Breath of Fire II, and Ogre Battle (SNES). I'd do that trade every day of the week.

For me, the Ninja Gaiden franchise got progressively worse. I loved the first, liked the second a lot, liked the third a little, and really didn't enjoy the Team Ninja stuff. The reason I liked III less than the other NES games was that it just felt so different than the first two. The difficulty doesn't really bug me, as with a little practice, most games are very doable, this being no exception. I just went into it expecting a feel closer to the first two games, which were extremely similar, and it all just felt different enough to throw me off a bit, and I've never totally gotten past that.

Great looking boxed copy!

[Garry Silljo]

I'll vote for this being the easiest Ninja Gaiden as well. The only thing that makes it difficult is the limiting of continues. As a kid the other Ninja Gaidens took me weeks, to months to finish. This one lasted a weekend at most. Still great fun and I revisit it often, but easily the easiest.

[FoxNtd]

Difficulty assessment is more or less right on. Some troublesome spots at first but after a few runs this game gets 1CC'd almost consistently. My main issue is the level late in the game where the timer is very tight, making it artificially harder to pass without dying.

[retroman]

I have beat the first two games and have never beat this one. I thought the first one was not that hard. The second one turned it up a bit, and this I just got frustrated with, and after only a few goes at it, have never returned to try again. Which I may do tomorrow after reading this.

[jperryss]

It's funny how many different opinions there are on the difficulty of this trilogy. For me, II was the easiest (by far) and III was the most difficult (US version I mean), with I right behind it. The limited continues and floaty physics made this one feel like a different game at times, but the play control still felt nearly perfect and the sword upgrade was a nice touch. That run on the last level is the only time in any of these games that I've ever died due to running out of time.

All three of the original NG games had great music and the opening scene of III is one of my favorites, but overall I like the story and cutscenes of II the most.

[bb_hood]

Personally I find the 1st Ninja Gaiden game to be the hardest, but it is also the one I have played the least. The final stages in the first game are brutal.

In Ninja Gaiden 3 the final boss has 3 forms. The first 2 forms will remain defeated if you beat them and then use a continue. So regarding the limited continues, it is kinda fair because you dont have to beat the level and all 3 bosses at once.

[jperryss]

Personally I find the 1st Ninja Gaiden game to be the hardest, but it is also the one I have played the least. The final stages in the first game are brutal.

In Ninja Gaiden 3 the final boss has 3 forms. The first 2 forms will remain defeated if you beat them and then use a continue. So regarding the limited continues, it is kinda fair because you dont have to beat the level and all 3 bosses at once.

All three NG games had three parts to the final boss and let you skip the first two parts once you defeated them once.

The last level of NGI is definitely the worst.

[kainemaxwell]

Worst sin of this one is the limited continues.

[jperryss]

I just played through this one (SNES Trilogy version) and wanted to share a few comments.

-First off, check out these two glitches I encountered.
5-1B - This happened after a couple minutes of struggling to make the climb.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/433791/VIDEO0054.mp4

6-2A - This one is easily repeatable even on the NES version. Also includes a surprise cat.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/433791/VIDEO0060.mp4

-NG1 level 6-2 may be the ultimate in cheap deaths, but NG3 comes close a few times. It may not be instant death, but the climbing part of 5-1B (where the above glitch occurred) feels way cheaper. Also, NG1 6-2 is pretty easy if you have jump-and-slash.

-NG3 introduced some neat stuff but overall just feels a bit less polished than the first two. Maybe it's only the SNES version, but the hit detection/timing is just a bit off on NG3 and the enemies bursting when you hit them isn't quite as satisfying.

-I hate how they used the NG1 Malth music for most of the bosses in the Trilogy remake. Also, slowdown every time you respawn. Also the ending credits got chopped on all three games. Overall this trilogy is kind of a stinker and feels like it could've been so much better.

[bb_hood]

6-2A - This one is easily repeatable even on the NES version. Also includes a surprise cat.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/433791/VIDEO0060.mp4



Kitty!!