Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection

Genre: Compilation / Spectacle Fighter

Players: 1, Online Leaderboards

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Review:

Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection is a Compilation of the Spectacle Fighter games Ninja Gaiden Σ, Ninja Gaiden Σ2, and Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge. This is a series that revels in the mystical legend of ninjas while having players engage in challenging, ultra-violent combat.

For those unfamiliar with this series, each of these games has had multiple versions over the years, and Master Collection groups together the most recent versions of each of the included games. And when I say “included games”, it bears mention that this is far from a comprehensive collection of the Ninja Gaiden series, which dates all the way back to a 1988 arcade release and has seen roughly a dozen separate titles on various platforms. It’s unfortunately not even a comprehensive collection of the modern reboot of the franchise, as that would also include the Nintendo DS title Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword.

As for the games that are included here…

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Ninja Gaiden Σ

Ninja Gaiden Σ (AKA Ninja Gaiden Sigma) was originally released simply titled Ninja Gaiden on the original Xbox in 2004, updated with additional free DLC “Hurricane Packs” later that same year that added improved AI, new enemies, a manually-adjustable camera, a new “intercept” skill, and new areas. These packs and more features were included in the 2005 release Ninja Gaiden Black, which added even more new enemies, included different unlockable bonuses, and new easier and harder difficulty settings.

Ninja Gaiden was reworked again into the 2006 PlayStation 3 release Ninja Gaiden Σ, which updates the game’s visuals, adds additional selectable weapons and magic attacks, motion-control enhancements, the ability to play as the character Rachel, new chapters, new enemies, new bosses, new save points and shops, and some other story and gameplay alterations and additions. However, this version removed some of the content that was in Ninja Gaiden Black – it lost the difficulty modes and some of the bonus content. Also, many players of the series, as well as series creator Tomonobu Itagaki, see the creative changes made to this version as inferior to Ninja Gaiden Black.

This game was reworked again when it was ported to PlayStation Vita, with this release being called Ninja Gaiden Σ Plus, which works back into the game a version of the difficulty modes that were removed from Sigma, adds in new gyroscopic motion controls and touchscreen controls, and adds in a few additional equippable accessories. In the Nintendo Switch port of the game, it is this version that has been ported over, although the motion controls and touchscreen controls do not appear to be present in the Nintendo Switch version of the game.

Okay, so after all of that, how does Ninja Gaiden Σ fare on the Nintendo Switch? Mostly pretty good, although it has aged somewhat. Graphically, Ninja Gaiden Σ still looks quite excellent despite being based on a game that originally came out in 2004 – it has great character models, detailed textures, excellent animation, solid lighting effects, and even some nice subtle reflections. It also runs smooth as silk on Nintendo Switch, with excellent framerates and resolution.

As for the gameplay, this game is known for its fast, challenging action, and it delivers that in spades, with a focus on skillful blocking, dodging, and knowing when to attack and which attacks to use to avoid taking damage. It’s gameplay that still works well, and is still very distinct from other games in the genre like Devil May Cry and Bayonetta.

Having said that, it feels like at least some of that challenge here is due to the game’s atrociously terrible camera, which requires constant babysitting in order to be reasonably useful. Otherwise, players can opt to just leave it be to focus on the combat, and be stuck with whatever terrible camera angle the game throws at you.

Also, I can’t let it slide that this game doesn’t include the original Nintendo Entertainment System Ninja Gaiden games as bonuses, despite those being included with the original 2004 release, and the lack of the Vita version’s gyroscopic motion controls and touchscreen controls seems lazy given that the Nintendo Switch has both. Even if you’re in the camp that Ninja Gaiden Black isn’t the best version of this game, it’s disappointing that you’d still have to conclude that the Nintendo Switch version of the game is far from the definitive version.

Overall, this is a solid port of a solid Spectacle Fighter, but both the original game and its port suffer from frustrating issues. At this point, I don’t know that there even is a perfect version of Ninja Gaiden, but the Nintendo Switch version isn’t it, even if it’s still a perfectly decent version of the game and well worth playing.

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Ninja Gaiden Σ2

Ninja Gaiden II was originally released on the Xbox 360 in 2008, and ported to PlayStation 3 in 2009 as Ninja Gaiden Σ2, with new set piece bosses, online co-op gameplay with additional playable characters, a change in control scheme that allows both shuriken and bow to be equipped at the same time, reduced enemy count, and a lower amount of blood and gore. The blood and gore was restored in the 2013 PlayStation Vita port, Ninja Gaiden Σ2 Plus, but this port also suffered a noteworthy reduction in graphical quality, and stripped the online multiplayer features out of the game. Once again, I believe it is this version of the game that has been ported to the Nintendo Switch, although at the very least the graphics don’t seem to be nearly as problematic here as they were on Sony’s handheld.

Quite the contrary, actually – Ninja Gaiden Σ2 looks gorgeous on the Nintendo Switch. I have seen some reports of issues with slowdown, but I haven’t encountered slowdown noticeable enough for me to have registered it. Rather, I felt the framerate and resolution was smooth, and the environments even more impressive than the first game, with some nice expansive, detailed areas. The one caveat I would not here is that this game suffers some nasty aliasing issues and textures that can appear grainy at times.

However, I feel like this game’s gameplay has aged far more gracefully than Ninja Gaiden Σ’s gameplay did, thanks to some added combat options, as well as an excellent new combat system that incorporates dismemberment into battle strategy, where enemies can lose a limb and become desperate in battle, making for some tense moments if they decide to make a suicide run, but also giving players an added opportunity for a satisfying finishing move. The setpiece battles here are also quite excellent, and overall I felt like this was a game that did a fantastic job building on the first game.

Having said that, yes, the Nintendo Switch version of the game is still sadly missing the online co-op play. And while the camera in this game is better than the camera in the first Ninja Gaiden, it’s still pretty terrible. However, despite its flaws, Ninja Gaiden Σ2 is still a game that stands tall in the Spectacle Fighter genre.

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Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge

Ninja Gaiden 3, released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012, and marked the first game in the series without its creator, Tomonobu Itagaki. And wow, was his absence felt here. The game was absolutely hated for its dumbed-down mechanics and dumber enemy AI. Once again, a re-release was in order, this time not to port the game to new hardware, but to try to salvage what many saw as an absolute train wreck of a game. As such, we received Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge on Wii U in 2012, and on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2013. This re-release added touchscreen controls (on the Wii U version, at least), tried to add in more gameplay elements from Ninja Gaiden II and discard some of the less-liked elements added in Ninja Gaiden 3, and added in new weapons, new playable characters, and new areas. In the end, Razor’s Edge was generally seen as a much-improved version of what was unquestionably the worst game in the series.

As for how well it holds up today, 9 years later… not so great. It doesn’t help that once again the online features have been stripped out of this version of the game, as have the touchscreen controls. And the terrible aliasing issue and camera problems once again rear their ugly head. But even if these issues weren’t present, the core gameplay in this game would still be vastly inferior compared to the game’s predecessor, with gameplay that often seems to reward button-mashing more than skillful fighting. Despite all the years each of these games have been subjected to, and despite that Razor’s Edge is the only game in this compilation universally agreed to be the best version of the game it’s based on (well, the prior version of Razor’s Edge, at least), the third Ninja Gaiden game is still not only the worst game out of the original trilogy, it is far, far inferior to the prior two games.

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Master Collection

So then the question becomes, how much value do these three games have as a collection? You have one game that’s a classic that shows its age, one game that still stands as one of the best games of its kind, and one game that’s still a terrible entry in the series that’s even more clearly a failure when paired with its two predecessors. And aside from the aforementioned changes (most of them stripping features out of the games rather than adding any), there’s not much that has been added to this Compilation… at least not unless you pony up the extra $10 for the Deluxe Edition. While that seems remarkably stingy, it’s hard to complain too much when the trio of games is priced at $40, which is a pretty good price for two of the most noteworthy Spectacle Fighters ever made (and also Ninja Gaiden 3, I guess).

While Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection is a mixed bag, it is still noteworthy for being the first time Ninja Gaiden and Ninja Gaiden 2 have made the trip to a Nintendo platform, and both are in fine form here, even if they’re both missing a few features from other earlier versions of the game. And while I agree with the consensus that Ninja Gaiden 3 is a massive failure for the series, I’m sure this game has its fans too, and they’ll be happy to see it made the trip to Nintendo Switch mostly intact too. And while I could sit here complaining about all the things this Compilation is missing and all the ways that it could be better, this is still one good Spectacle Fighter, one truly great one… and one bad one… all together at a pretty reasonable price. On the whole, I think Nintendo Switch owners and fans of the genre should be pleased with this release.

tl;dr – Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection is a Compilation of the Spectacle Fighter games Ninja Gaiden Σ, Ninja Gaiden Σ2, and Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge. The first game is still good but has aged somewhat, the second game is still one of the greats of the genre even if it has a few flaws, and the third game is… well, not very good. As a Compilation, the Nintendo Switch versions of these games are all missing features that were in earlier versions of the games, but they all run well and are being sold at a pretty reasonable price. If you’re a fan of Spectacle Fighters looking for solid portable versions of these games, I think you’ll be satisfied.

Grade: B

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