Developer: Cream Publisher: Nihon Bussan Co. Released: December 10, 1993 Genre: Action
The end of the PC Engine’s life in Japan saw something of a ninja action renaissance. Ninja Spirit was an excellent arcade port early on but there wasn’t much else in the genre for long time fans. Strider was hailed as the best version of the game but in reality is very bad. Kaze Kiri had the mechanics to be one of the best games in the genre but came up short in level design and fun. Iga Ninden Gaiou is the most interesting of the late generation bunch. It certainly has its flaws but is an otherwise solid game on a system that could use a few more.
The Koga and Iga ninja clans are at war. One day the Iga princess Mayuri is kidnapped for her amulet, sparking the Koga to send the ninja Gaiou to rescue her. He is accompanied by various allies who will help in his quest along the way. There is an extensive amount of story in the game, with cutscenes between levels and long dialogue before each boss battle. Unfortunately foreigners will not be able to appreciate it.
Iga Ninden Gaiou impresses with its long intro. While there is little animation it is in line with most CD titles on the platform. The frequent cutscenes and voice acting are why this is a CD title next to the excellent soundtrack. The graphics in the game are uneven. Although the game seems to take place in the feudal era it is actually modern day. The art direction mixes traditional Japanese villages and forests with high tech cities and flying fortresses. Occasionally some of the environments are impressive from an art standpoint. But the following level can be bland in comparison. While I hate to bring it up the lack of any scrolling is blatant and could have made the game special. It’s a missed opportunity at the least.
This is a simple game at heart. Gaiou has a sword attack and can charge up throw shuriken. You start with a super jump and will eventually learn the upward stab and downward thrust attack. Throughout the course of the game you will earn various ninja spells. You begin with lightning but eventually earn the phoenix flame, brief invincibility, temporary shuriken throwing without charging, and an explosion attack that sacrifices a life to deal damage. Spells are not free; you need to collect the requisite number of scrolls to cast each spell. During the course of the game you will gain new swords, more powerful shuriken and armor. While it calls to mind the inventory of an RPG there is never any need to avoid using the most recent weapon as it is the most powerful.
Iga Ninden Gaiou lacks the impressive array of techniques of Kaze Kiri but bests it in level design. While most levels are straightforward they become interesting by virtue of varying up the enemy types. The game has a very large roster of enemies with each new level and location introducing more. Even though you will generally only face two or three in a given segment enemy placement is good enough that they are a threat. There is some light platforming but nothing that will make you break a sweat. What holds the game back level design wise is their length. The stages drag on twice as long as they should which means you will see all their tricks early and simply go through the motions. Had they chopped the levels in half and maybe eased off the respawning enemies and this would have been great.
The difficulty of Iga Ninden Gaiou is near perfect. On paper it should be broken; the game does not refill your health between levels and enemies are reasonably strong. However it is very generous with life restoring hearts and extra lives. Since enemies infinitely respawn you can linger in one area to refill your health since there is no timer. The levels themselves have a few tricky moments but nothing that is too frustrating. The boss battles stand out as their patterns are easily recognizable but long as they can take a lot of punishment. In terms of the challenge presented I enjoyed this as much as Shinobi III which is high praise.
In Closing
Iga Ninden Gaiou is an unassuming yet all around solid action title and one of the better ones for the system. It lacks that one special element that would have put it over the top in my opinion. I really enjoyed this one as I did not know what to expect. My time was rewarded with a solid adventure.
