Ninja Gaiden Master Collection (Computer)
Official GBAtemp Review
Product Information:
- Release Date (NA): June 10, 2021
- Publisher: Koei Tecmo
- Also For: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Game Features:
They’re Just Ports. Yay?
Did you like the Ninja Gaiden reboot in 2004 and its sequels? Do you wish you could play those games on modern consoles or PC without having to resort to emulation? Well congratulations, now you can thanks to the Ninja Gaiden Master Collection from Team Ninja Studios! But is the collection any good?
Well...yes and no. First I want to start off by saying that I was kind of expecting this to be a “Remastered” collection of games, but that’s not really what is offered here. None of the games are remastered or changed at all beyond being ported to new platforms; there are no QoL changes, no fancy “HD” textures or even lazy upscaled textures, nothing has been changed whatsoever. So if you were expecting to enjoy the three Ninja Gaiden games in a nice, moderately good looking package you’ll probably be disappointed. Secondly, if you’re planning on getting the PC version, I’ll just stop you right there and say “yeah don’t,” because the PC port especially is extraordinarily awful so just don’t bother. These games are such straight ports from their original console releases that they didn’t even bother offering any kind of in-game graphical options whatsoever. Want to change your resolution? You have to use launch options on Steam, and can only use 720p, 1080p, and 4k. Want the game to start in full screen? Too bad, it doesn’t, you have to hit the maximize button every single startup. Want KB/M controls for some reason? Well too bad, you literally cannot use KB/M in the game whatsoever (you can’t even Alt+F4). It’s such a console-like experience that you really might as well just buy the console version instead, or emulate them in RPCS3. But what about the games themselves, how well do they hold up? The next few sections will deal with some quick reviews on the games themselves since these are just ports of games that have been around for years now, starting off with Ninja Gaiden Sigma.
Ninja Gaiden Sigma originally released as a PS3 exclusive back in 2007, as a “sort of remaster/sort of remake” of the original Xbox version of Ninja Gaiden Black (which was basically a “GOTY'' edition of the original with some extra features). Hailed as one of the more difficult games of the era, the Ninja Gaiden reboot is a third person action/hack-n-slash game inspired by the original, also very difficult Ninja Gaiden series on the NES. The reboot follows the story of Ryu Hayabusa and his quest to retrieve the Dark Dragon Blade that was stolen during a raid of the Hayabusa clan’s village. The story isn’t particularly amazing these days and mostly exists to get you moving through levels, but given the era it’s about as good as you might expect. Where Ninja Gaiden Sigma really shines is its gameplay, which I find still holds up today. You’ve got your usual light and heavy attacks, you’ve got upgradeable weapons which can be purchased with Karma that you collect from enemies, you’ve got your dodge and your block to avoid damage, and you’ve got ranged attacks in the form of throwing weapons/Ninpo (AKA magic). For the most part, this is basically what you’d expect from any modern action hack-n-slash, and yet despite being some 14 years old at this point, it still holds up really well today! Combat has a nice fast-paced fluidity to it, you’ve got fancy combo attacks that look really cool, and combining all this with the wall-run ability makes playing Ninja Gaiden Sigma still so much fun. And boy is this game still just as hard as I remember it being way back when, especially with some of the latter Mission Mode missions. All in all, if you’re a fan of both hack-n-slash games and a steep difficulty curve, you’ll certainly love Ninja Gaiden Sigma.
Next we have Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, again following our favorite protagonist Ryu Hayabusa, this time as he works to stop the resurrection of the “Archfiend”...and again, not a particularly compelling story (and to be honest I found it fairly confusing at times). But as before, it really only exists as a mechanism to shove you into more enemies and bosses. Combat-wise Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is much the same as its predecessor, still maintaining that fast-paced fluidity that felt so good in the original...but also ended up feeling fairly repetitive, especially when playing this game right after the first (as you might do with a collection like this), as Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 doesn’t seem to improve upon much which is kind of a shame. Difficulty-wise, however, is where Sigma 2 ramps it up. Where the prior game tended to be more “difficult, but fair”, Sigma 2 unfortunately straddles that “unfair and unfun” line more often than not. Levels have so many more enemies in them (even with the “enemy reduction” the Sigma release originally saw), and they tend to gang up on you in much larger groups compared to the previous game. The combat also requires a lot more focus on combos than the “you could probably mash buttons and finish it” style that the first game had, which isn’t so bad but will certainly turn away any casuals/newcomers to the series just looking for a nice hack-n-slash to relax with. I can’t necessarily complain, since I personally love ball breaking difficulty like this, but there were certainly times I had to quit the game because of some of the more bullshit normal encounters. There’s also the rather unfortunate “censorship” the Sigma version of Ninja Gaiden 2 received, with blood effects being mostly replaced with a “purple mist” and some cinematics were changed to remove dismemberment and other blood effects. Some may applaud these changes, but given that they were re-added in the PS Vita port of the game I find it fairly silly they didn’t bother doing so here...but again, these seem to be more lazy ports than anything proper. Overall, it’s an ok sequel but I personally enjoyed Ninja Gaiden Sigma much more than two.
And finally, there’s Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge. Once again we follow Ryu Hayabusa in another wacky zany adventure, this time to stop a terrorist group led by the spooky Regent of the Mask, who attacks and kills the...British Prime Minister? Yeah, again, just kind of ignore the story and slashy cutty the bad guys. Gameplay mechanics this time takes the same, usual hack-n-slash combat and refines it down to a tighter experience, and adds quite a few new mechanics like the Steel on Bone technique, which (in the Razor’s Edge version of the game), acts as a kind of counter for enemy grab moves that you can then chain to other enemies to quickly take them out. There’s also Bloody Rage, which acts as a Karma multiplier that activates after killing enemies in quick succession that rewards you with an Ultimate Technique. But once again, the difficulty of the game gets a major change, however this time in the opposite direction: instead of being ball breakingly difficult, the developers opted to design the game for a more casual audience. Even accounting for the improved AI that was upgraded in the Razor’s Edge release, I found the game way easier on Normal mode than it was in either games. Again, not necessarily a bad thing (and, to be honest, I kind of appreciated it after going through Sigma 2), keep in mind you should probably up the difficulty in this particular title if you’re looking for that ball busting time the previous two games provided.
So should you buy the Ninja Gaiden Master Collection? If you’re on PC, honestly just don’t bother. You’d be better off emulating the originals, because you’ll manage to get more graphical options here than you do on the PC side. If you’re on any other platform this is releasing on (which are PS4, Xbox One, or Switch), then I think the Master Collection is absolutely worth buying if you’re a fan of the Ninja Gaiden reboot, or if you’re looking for a new action hack-n-slash that will make you rage quit but still manages to be fun.
Verdict
- All three Ninja Gaiden games in one decently priced package.
- All three games still hold up fairly today.
- Difficult games are fun <3
- Basic game ports, no enhancements or "de-censorship" of NGS2.
- Awful PC port, emulate them or buy it on console.