The original xbox just had a unique vibe and aesthetic that bled into all the games on the console that made it have a feeling unlike anything else. Blacks OST just screams Xbox along with the environments
I love all the sixth gen consoles but definitely OG Xbox is one of my favourite vibes - even the mid-tier games just had such a cool look and feel to them
The ninja Gaiden series is basically the Yang to DOA's Ying, While DOA is full sexyness, Ninja Gaiden on the contrary is full gorefest, Mr Itagaki did a very good job on giving to their fans two different franchises that please them in different ways. Nice video mate! :3
I absolutely love the city of Tairon in this game. It's so moody and atmospheric with an eclectic blend of different architectures. I love how unsettling it can feel in contrast with this high octane action. I miss the darker aesthetics of action games from yesteryear. Great video, dude.
Thank you! Yeah totally agree Tairon has such a unique vibe - sometimes kind of chill and fun but then the catacombs and aqueduct are genuinely spooky!
The master collection has a series of fan mods that convert the sigma games to black and 2, respectively. As close as you can get without the original hardware!
Are you sure? What about the backwards compatibility support on Xbox One onwards? Those backwards compatible releases when played on a One X or newer feel like honorary remasters given all the enhancements and performance improvements. Even the 360 could play Black, too (and vanilla 2 natively, but obviously with lower performance)
@@DreamcastEnjoyer fair! But can I tempt you lol? (I'm assuming you're UK based?) You can grab a used VHS style original Xbox One from a local Cash Convertors or their website for about £50 nowadays. And the much better One X can consistently be found in store or online for under £100, sometimes with a controller (and you can use Xbox Series controllers with zero issues). If you're prepared to dismantle and redo the thermal paste, they can run even more super quiet. Upgrading the internal hard drive for SSD is apparently not too difficult if you want to go all in I've heard. The disc based Xbox One/Series systems also support physical copies of Ninja Gaiden Black (not vanilla sadly), Ninja Gaiden 2 (vanilla), and Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge (not 3 vanilla)... ie the fanbase's favourite versions. Ideal if you already have them lying around, but if not the UK prices for Black and 2 are still surprisingly affordable (or you can just buy digitally). Got my One X about 3 years ago as a cheaper entry point for cross gen games having skipped PS4 and Xbox One entirely until that point. But since grabbing my PS5 a few months ago, my One X has become my zero headaches/zero tweaks Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive machine. Apparently the PC version of master collection and its mods had a few teething issues which I'm hoping have been ironed out. Sadly you'll need an original Xbox to play the arcade or NES version of Ninja Gaiden in the little arcade machine in the Tairon nightclub. The backwards compatibility programmes on 360 and Xbox One onwards removed these unfortunately.
One thing I like about this game is that you kill mostly humans who have similar ninja skills like you. The swordplay really feels great when you are cutting and fitting. Other hack and slash games have you fighting only sandbag monsters or demons. Another thing is because it's not just a air combo mad simulator.
That's a great point actually! Totally agree that one of the reasons it feels great is because you're fighting with humans who are the same size and have the same skills - I always like that more in action games 😊
Yeah, Ninja Gaiden Black is a vibe. One of my favorite games of that generation, its' quality is as good as legendary games such as Resident Evil 4 or Metroid Prime. And it looked so amazing on the OG Xbox, like a glimpse into the future. It still holds up visually and I agree it is because of the strong art direction.. and amazing animation! And the gameplay is so satisfying when you get into the flow. It's really sad there is nothing like it today, at least nothing that scratches this particular itch. Same for Ninja Gaiden 2, which is pretty different actually with focus 110% of fights but I also really got into it the last few years. Thanks for that video, I hope at some point, the series will return.
@@DreamcastEnjoyer NG2 ditched the methodical and defense focused gameplay and adventure aspects of Black in favor of faster paced action but those traits are what made Black stand out from other action games
This. And I really like that it had the balls to be difficult. In a genre of 3D action games often seen as button mashers this one very explicitly tells you you'll learn to play or be punished.
I’ve been wanting to play the ninja gaiden games real bad, and it’ll probably have to be the collection sadly. I really appreciate how you focus on things like the environment and puzzles, they’re such an underrated part of action games, and when they’re not there I really miss them (looking at you DMC 5)
The collection is well worth a purchase - Sigma is still a great game, just not quite as perfect as Black. Glad you enjoyed the video - yeah, I think puzzles and interesting locations are so important to this kind of game
This game on a series console looks and plays better than all AAA games. it really made an impact on how i purchase a game or not since this masterpiece only 9.99
Have you played any fromsoft games? I haven't played Ninja Gaiden but the way you describe the game sounds like it actually really inspired the fromsoft Dark Souls/Sekiro gameplay, especially Seki
Yea, dude, I really love Demon Souls and some of the Dark Souls games. The difficulty is similar but in a different way - it's hard to describe. I think if you like those later FromSoft games though, you will like this! I still need to play Sekiro...
Did you know that FROM had its own pretty blatant Ninja Gaiden knock-off? It's called Ninja Blade, developed for Xbox 360, and it used to be available on Windows Steam. It's sort of hilarious in its audacity and it has some jank and some smart and unique game design both, maybe worth a look.
In terms of action games, have you ever heard of the Dishwasher series by Ska Studios? Feels like one of the closest things to Ninja Gaiden to my understanding, if in 2D perspective rather than 3D. For other action games, that are already out, have a demo or have yet to release, these ones may be intersting: - Cookie Cutter - Decline's Drops - Soulstice - Immortal: And the Death that Follows - Magenta Horizon - No Straight Roads - Genokids - Enenra Daemon Core - Iron Corbo - Lost in Random
@@DreamcastEnjoyer Yooo, sweet to see someone else who knows of Decline's Drops! That game has quite a bit more planned for it in 2025, just like Cookie Cutter. That one's one of my favourites and the lead dev wants to add a lot more in terms of story beats, areas, NPCs, weapons, bosses etc. until the full story is told. I completely forgot to mention Clash: Artifacts of Chaos too! Alongside Cookie Cutter, No Straight Roads and Soulstice, they are some of my favourites. Wish you a lot of fun on all these games, on their ups and downs and everything in-between. :) There's a lot more i could mention, such as My Familiar, Pillory, Zet Zillions, Blud and Kraino Rebirth, but i'll keep it at this. 'ave a good one!
I think the only thing holding Black back as the best action game of all time for me might be the janky SLOW camera and any weapon mechanics that relied on its use (ie bow and arrow), especially for certain set pieces and bosses. The military fortress level is the worst level in the game for this reason imo. Eff the twin tanks, eff the radio tower, and eff that stupid Apache helicopter.
Yea, I will say the jumping bow-shot thing they added in Sigma was definitely an improvement. I don't think the janky aiming ruins the game but definitely agree it takes some getting used to
For the NG enjoyers. What exactly happen between Black and Sigma? I know the later came out with more missions/playable segments, but I see everyone saying it plays worse, look worse and that all the additions actually make the "flow" of the the game well, worse. From a player perspective how do you feel that? And if you guys now, what happen on the dev part that made it so?
I think the devs were trying to add more content, more missions, but it makes the story feel a bit drawn out. Also the visual changes aren't huge, just stuff like water and lighting, but they look less pleasing to me (I talk about it near the end of the video)
They actually did remaster it as Ninja Gaiden Sigma- or did you mean would I play an exact remaster of this without the Sigma tweaks? If so, yes I would 😊
Ninja Gaiden Black on Xbox Series X looks great but obviously the Master Collection looks ten times better but Ninja Gaiden 2 on Series X is 4k 60fps and even if the Master Collection looks better the feel and Aesthetic of OG Ninja Gaiden 2 was different and the only games were you play as Ryu Hayabusa or feel similar to Ninja Gaiden is Nioh 2 and Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate both made by Koei Tecmo which own Team Ninja
When Ryu said to Rachel “My strength comes from my training. Not from some curse in my blood.” He became my favorite fictional character of all time.
Yea I thought that part went pretty hard too 😊
Didn't he turn out to be cursed?
Beating this game when I was like 15/16 during the summer hols is still one of my crowning achievements.
I can respect it - a very good summer if you ask me!
The original xbox just had a unique vibe and aesthetic that bled into all the games on the console that made it have a feeling unlike anything else. Blacks OST just screams Xbox along with the environments
I love all the sixth gen consoles but definitely OG Xbox is one of my favourite vibes - even the mid-tier games just had such a cool look and feel to them
The ninja Gaiden series is basically the Yang to DOA's Ying, While DOA is full sexyness, Ninja Gaiden on the contrary is full gorefest, Mr Itagaki did a very good job on giving to their fans two different franchises that please them in different ways.
Nice video mate! :3
Thank you kindly!
I totally agree too - DoA is very slick and flashy... might have to cover some of those games soon
I absolutely love the city of Tairon in this game. It's so moody and atmospheric with an eclectic blend of different architectures. I love how unsettling it can feel in contrast with this high octane action. I miss the darker aesthetics of action games from yesteryear. Great video, dude.
Thank you! Yeah totally agree Tairon has such a unique vibe - sometimes kind of chill and fun but then the catacombs and aqueduct are genuinely spooky!
The master collection has a series of fan mods that convert the sigma games to black and 2, respectively. As close as you can get without the original hardware!
Oh I had no idea! That's very cool 😎
Are you sure? What about the backwards compatibility support on Xbox One onwards? Those backwards compatible releases when played on a One X or newer feel like honorary remasters given all the enhancements and performance improvements.
Even the 360 could play Black, too (and vanilla 2 natively, but obviously with lower performance)
@@naliboi93 I had totally forgotten about that, probably better than the PC mods if you can just run it straight off the Xbox.
@naliboi93 oh yea the newest Xbox can definitely play it and give it a nice upscale... I just don't own one 😅
@@DreamcastEnjoyer fair! But can I tempt you lol?
(I'm assuming you're UK based?)
You can grab a used VHS style original Xbox One from a local Cash Convertors or their website for about £50 nowadays. And the much better One X can consistently be found in store or online for under £100, sometimes with a controller (and you can use Xbox Series controllers with zero issues). If you're prepared to dismantle and redo the thermal paste, they can run even more super quiet. Upgrading the internal hard drive for SSD is apparently not too difficult if you want to go all in I've heard. The disc based Xbox One/Series systems also support physical copies of Ninja Gaiden Black (not vanilla sadly), Ninja Gaiden 2 (vanilla), and Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge (not 3 vanilla)... ie the fanbase's favourite versions. Ideal if you already have them lying around, but if not the UK prices for Black and 2 are still surprisingly affordable (or you can just buy digitally).
Got my One X about 3 years ago as a cheaper entry point for cross gen games having skipped PS4 and Xbox One entirely until that point. But since grabbing my PS5 a few months ago, my One X has become my zero headaches/zero tweaks Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive machine. Apparently the PC version of master collection and its mods had a few teething issues which I'm hoping have been ironed out.
Sadly you'll need an original Xbox to play the arcade or NES version of Ninja Gaiden in the little arcade machine in the Tairon nightclub. The backwards compatibility programmes on 360 and Xbox One onwards removed these unfortunately.
One thing I like about this game is that you kill mostly humans who have similar ninja skills like you. The swordplay really feels great when you are cutting and fitting. Other hack and slash games have you fighting only sandbag monsters or demons.
Another thing is because it's not just a air combo mad simulator.
That's a great point actually! Totally agree that one of the reasons it feels great is because you're fighting with humans who are the same size and have the same skills - I always like that more in action games 😊
@@DreamcastEnjoyer Metal Gear Rising has a similar feeling too imo.
@morkgin2459 oh definitely - I love that game so much. Just remembered I still need to play the DLC for it
Ninja Gaiden is so rad, really wish they would bring it back to modern consoles!
You can play the sigma versions on modern consoles with the Master Collection 😊
But yeah it would be nice to get a new entry - day one purchase for me
@@DreamcastEnjoyer Wait, there's already a modern collection available?? I legit did not know about this, awesome!!
That wall run is mighty smooth and looks so freaking nice on the eyes! Also, chopping off heads never gets old!
Couldn't agree more - the wall run here is maybe the snappiest move in gaming!
I never got to play NGB since I owned an PS2 so shinobi was the ninja game I got. I wish I owned an xbox just to play Black
Shinobi PS2 is an incredible game too. Totally different vibe though despite both being ninja action games
Yeah, Ninja Gaiden Black is a vibe. One of my favorite games of that generation, its' quality is as good as legendary games such as Resident Evil 4 or Metroid Prime. And it looked so amazing on the OG Xbox, like a glimpse into the future. It still holds up visually and I agree it is because of the strong art direction.. and amazing animation! And the gameplay is so satisfying when you get into the flow. It's really sad there is nothing like it today, at least nothing that scratches this particular itch. Same for Ninja Gaiden 2, which is pretty different actually with focus 110% of fights but I also really got into it the last few years. Thanks for that video, I hope at some point, the series will return.
Glad you liked it, dude - yeah, this game is one of a kind.
I like NG2 a lot, but it's so much more action and less vibey
@@DreamcastEnjoyer NG2 ditched the methodical and defense focused gameplay and adventure aspects of Black in favor of faster paced action but those traits are what made Black stand out from other action games
This. And I really like that it had the balls to be difficult. In a genre of 3D action games often seen as button mashers this one very explicitly tells you you'll learn to play or be punished.
I’ve been wanting to play the ninja gaiden games real bad, and it’ll probably have to be the collection sadly. I really appreciate how you focus on things like the environment and puzzles, they’re such an underrated part of action games, and when they’re not there I really miss them (looking at you DMC 5)
The collection is well worth a purchase - Sigma is still a great game, just not quite as perfect as Black.
Glad you enjoyed the video - yeah, I think puzzles and interesting locations are so important to this kind of game
This game on a series console looks and plays better than all AAA games. it really made an impact on how i purchase a game or not since this masterpiece only 9.99
Totally agree - I played it at my friend's house upscaled on X Series and it looked absolutely incredible. Gameplay is 10/10 no doubt
I never beat the original because I got my ass handed to me so many times. But the original Xbox created so many good memories
This game consistently kicked my ass throughout high school 😅
But now I can play it with some success haha
@@DreamcastEnjoyer
We can try where we fail. There's only two ways about it 😂
Let's get it!
Have you played any fromsoft games? I haven't played Ninja Gaiden but the way you describe the game sounds like it actually really inspired the fromsoft Dark Souls/Sekiro gameplay, especially Seki
Yea, dude, I really love Demon Souls and some of the Dark Souls games.
The difficulty is similar but in a different way - it's hard to describe. I think if you like those later FromSoft games though, you will like this!
I still need to play Sekiro...
Did you know that FROM had its own pretty blatant Ninja Gaiden knock-off? It's called Ninja Blade, developed for Xbox 360, and it used to be available on Windows Steam.
It's sort of hilarious in its audacity and it has some jank and some smart and unique game design both, maybe worth a look.
@@SianaGearz I actually like that game - janky though it be!
In terms of action games, have you ever heard of the Dishwasher series by Ska Studios? Feels like one of the closest things to Ninja Gaiden to my understanding, if in 2D perspective rather than 3D.
For other action games, that are already out, have a demo or have yet to release, these ones may be intersting:
- Cookie Cutter
- Decline's Drops
- Soulstice
- Immortal: And the Death that Follows
- Magenta Horizon
- No Straight Roads
- Genokids
- Enenra Daemon Core
- Iron Corbo
- Lost in Random
I love Decline's Drops but I've straight up never heard of the others, so you've given me a great list to check out there😊
@@DreamcastEnjoyer Yooo, sweet to see someone else who knows of Decline's Drops! That game has quite a bit more planned for it in 2025, just like Cookie Cutter. That one's one of my favourites and the lead dev wants to add a lot more in terms of story beats, areas, NPCs, weapons, bosses etc. until the full story is told.
I completely forgot to mention Clash: Artifacts of Chaos too! Alongside Cookie Cutter, No Straight Roads and Soulstice, they are some of my favourites.
Wish you a lot of fun on all these games, on their ups and downs and everything in-between. :)
There's a lot more i could mention, such as My Familiar, Pillory, Zet Zillions, Blud and Kraino Rebirth, but i'll keep it at this. 'ave a good one!
I think the only thing holding Black back as the best action game of all time for me might be the janky SLOW camera and any weapon mechanics that relied on its use (ie bow and arrow), especially for certain set pieces and bosses. The military fortress level is the worst level in the game for this reason imo. Eff the twin tanks, eff the radio tower, and eff that stupid Apache helicopter.
Yea, I will say the jumping bow-shot thing they added in Sigma was definitely an improvement.
I don't think the janky aiming ruins the game but definitely agree it takes some getting used to
For the NG enjoyers. What exactly happen between Black and Sigma? I know the later came out with more missions/playable segments, but I see everyone saying it plays worse, look worse and that all the additions actually make the "flow" of the the game well, worse. From a player perspective how do you feel that? And if you guys now, what happen on the dev part that made it so?
I think the devs were trying to add more content, more missions, but it makes the story feel a bit drawn out.
Also the visual changes aren't huge, just stuff like water and lighting, but they look less pleasing to me (I talk about it near the end of the video)
Black has better colours, better costumes, less Rachel which IS good, better watter effects, No ugly staying blood splatters
Totally agree there!
I've nothing against Rachel, but the extra missions with her suck
@DreamcastEnjoyer i also mean Just the Missions 🙂
Hmmm I guess it's like how some prefer the PS2 GTA games over the Xbox and PC ports.
Imo ninja gaiden 2 is the goat
It's a banger, no doubt!
This made me want to rip my Black disc and emulate it.
Excellent! Replaying this is always the correct choice
I was about to resume watching another video i was in the middle of but luckily I saw this new video before I made such a horrific mistake.
That's kind of you 😊
Nore og xbox content 🙏🏼
I definitely got some more in me :)
Would you get a remaster of this game if they made it?
They actually did remaster it as Ninja Gaiden Sigma- or did you mean would I play an exact remaster of this without the Sigma tweaks? If so, yes I would 😊
No way bro
To each their own, friend
Yoooo Ninja Gaiden is my favorite action game from that gen!
It takes some beating, that's for sure!
Game is bad and combat have nothing to do with it. Everything around is bad.
Hey, we all have our likes and dislikes
4:28/9:30 Rachel is one of my favorite babes in the Ninja Gaiden series and Dead or Alive series. She is the blonde bombshell of both franchises.
I like her too - I just wish the missions they gave her in Sigma were better
Ninja Gaiden Black on Xbox Series X looks great but obviously the Master Collection looks ten times better but Ninja Gaiden 2 on Series X is 4k 60fps and even if the Master Collection looks better the feel and Aesthetic of OG Ninja Gaiden 2 was different and the only games were you play as Ryu Hayabusa or feel similar to Ninja Gaiden is Nioh 2 and Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate both made by Koei Tecmo which own Team Ninja
I'll have to check out Nioh 2 for sure!