Ninja Gaiden - Xbox's Post-KOTOR Killer App?

Thanks to IGN Xbox for their hands-on feature on Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden, claiming that Star Wars:Knights Of The Old Republic "...has some competition for game of the year" on Xbox. According to the effusive preview, "While the original Devil May Cry made it fun to juggle enemies with your gun and then slice them in half with your sword, Ninja Gaiden one-ups Capcom's classic with a combat system that is more free-flowing and naturalistic than any 3D action game I can remember." The game, a sequel to the classic NES title, is "...tentatively set to ship Holiday 2003."

Re:Naturalistic?

[muirhead]

Natural: Present in or produced by nature.
Naturalistic: Imitating or producing the effect or appearance of nature.

AFAIK neither word accurately describles the ability, to run up walls, unless your a spider.

Summary of the article:
The game is good, but you can't buy it now, and you probably can't buy it this year either.

Re:Naturalistic?

[coj]

Learn something new every day. thanks!

Re:Naturalistic?

[Leynos]

November.

Re:Naturalistic?

[the_riaa]

AFAIK neither word accurately describles the ability, to run up walls, unless your a spider.

For a syntax nazi, you should at least know the difference between:

your: a word used for showing posession
you're: a contraction of the words "you are"

Tsk.

Uhm...

[M3wThr33]

THREE NES Ninja Gaiden titles were made. So which one is it a sequel to?

Re:Uhm...

[KirkH]

Probably the last one, I would assume.

Does that reviewer need a little ego boost?

[mithras the prophet]

Those with less imagination might have stood around slowing chopping away at the seemingly endless horde of ninjas coming at them in the first level of Tecmo's demo, but not me. I was running along walls, flinging shurikens, dashing across the floor tagging enemies with 20-hit combos and then unloading a half-dozen shurikens...

Ummmm, okay. Is this a review or a confidence-builder?

Re:haha

[bigman2003]

For me, Knights of the Old Republic was a huge disappointment. The lack of 'real' (videogame style) combat was a killer. I've already sold my copy back, before I got too far.

This game looks much better, just in the fact that you get to control your character during combat. But, can it be compared to Dead or Alive? Is it the same type of kill-only game?

For game of the year, since the EA titles are usually out- Otogi looks like a possiblity, at least from the demo.

Re:haha

[Mike Hawk]

Who told you the combat in KoToR was "videogame style"? (whatever that means...real time?) KoToR was a d20 game. That means dungeons and dragons. I don't see how you could have been disappointed by that unless you were misled into thinking it was something else. In that case you should really blame the person who lied to you.

Personally, I think KoToR is the best console RPG in the post-cartridge era. I hate cutscenes; KoToR lets me play the game and have choices that effect the outcome. Heh, I got ba

Re:haha

[kc78]

this game and KoToR may very well convince me to buy an xbox, oh yeah, add in halo2 as well. Three amazing looking games.

Re:haha

[bigman2003]

Mike-

Nobody 'told' me much about KOTOR, except that it was a great game. In fact, I never thought I needed to blame anyone, because potentially the game is great- if you like that type of game.

My point was that *I* was disappointed. I did not present any judgment, except for my own disappointment. I did not say the game sucked, or anything else. I just wanted to express my own dissatisfaction.

So, you think the game is one of the "best console RPG in the post-cartridge era." I just plain didn't like

Re:haha

[crazyphilman]

I think that playing through Jedi Knight II, with its first-person and third-person modes, and then playing through the third-person Obi Wan, both of which had great combat and lightsaber battles, DEFINITELY gives you the impression that the Star Wars franchise is based on first and third person shooters, although they do have role playing elements. And, if you look at the commercials for KOTOR, they show lots, and lots, of combat. But, they do NOT explain that this combat is all based on dice rolls, and th

Re:haha

[bigman2003]

Crazyphilman-

I agree with you wholeheartedly. Run, rush, and shoot people (with blood and gore) on your way to your local gamestore. They will pay big bucks for this game right now (I got a whopping $28 for it) sell it quick, before everyone else who was totally disappointed goes in to sell their copy.

I predict this game will fill the 'used game' shelves by Christmas.

I hope that Crimson Skies is not a similar disappointment...

Re:haha

[crazyphilman]

I keep hearing about a new version of Perfect Dark coming out, but I never see it in the store... I hope it comes out soon. Joanna Dark! Yum!

Re:haha

[crazyphilman]

I agree. I don't think the KOTOR box was at all honest about how the combat system worked -- I had the impression, buying it after wildly enjoying Jedi Knight II and Obi-Wan, that I'd be having lightsaber battles, mixing it up with groups of sith, etc... Instead, the manual tells me that "combat is automatic" and it's all based on some weirdo D+D type dice roll paradigm. WTF??? Then I end up spending almost all time in-game jawboning with every other character in the game! I think the most annoying was hitt

Hmmm...

[gamgee5273]

I'm not sure if this will go over. Let's be honest: Enter the Matrix was supposed to deliver much the same type of "revolutionary gameplay." All it did was deliver less than 13 hours of mediocre, buggy gameplay.

I'll wait until the hype has passed and actual, extensive hands-on reviews have been made.

Re:Hmmm...

[KirkH]

I agree that you should look past the hype, but at least Tecmo has an excellent track record and this game doesn't have to deal with the "movie tie-in curse".

Re:

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