Ninja Gaiden: No Concessions, No Mercy

Whenever I bemoan the mollifying effects of mainstream popularity on video games, I like to remember the Ninja Gaiden series as one of the last remaining bastions of the so-called "hardcore" gamer.

From its humble beginnings as a coin-op to its rise to fame on the original Nintendo 8-bit console, Ninja Gaiden has always stood out in my mind as the prototypical gamer's game: unforgiving, with a steep learning curve and very little hand-holding for the uninitiated.

The series has moved gracefully into the current generation of console, namely the Xbox 360 and the latest addition is set for release in only a week. Ninja Gaiden 2 will continue the adventures of Ryu Hayabusa, the last of his ninja clan, on his quest to... do something or other. The plots behind these games never did make a lick of sense, either due to cultural differences in storytelling, poor localization, confused writers or more likely, a little bit of everything.

In preparation for the new game, I've popped the Xbox original back into the tray to mentally prepare myself for what is sure to be many frustrating sessions of bloody death... my own death, that is. In a grudging bid to perhaps gain a larger slice of the gaming audience, the sequel will feature 4 difficulty levels, the latter 2 will be unlocked only after you've completed the game on one of the default levels. This time around, the lowest difficult setting will indeed be a bonfide "easy" mode in stark contrast to the first Gaiden's "Normal" and "Hard". (And in case you haven't played it, Normal difficulty was a devilish challenge: certainly no cake walk)

Still a gamer with some sense of pride, I won't be planning to begin my Ninja Gaiden 2 adventures on the lowest setting. No, I would rather cut my teeth on the original and get myself properly warmed up. I will jump into the new game on the Normal setting, with every intention of getting my rear end served to me on a plate. But wouldn't any self-respecting gamer do the same?

And here is the rest of it.