The Ninja Gaiden Master Collection is a strong compilation of some of the most challenging and fun action games around. Some features of the games haven’t held up well with age, but for the most part, these remastered brutal classics are worth revisiting if you’re looking for a bloody good time.
Ninja Gaiden Master Collection
Developer: Team Ninja
Price: $40
Platforms: PS4 (reviewed), Xbox One, Switch, and PC
MonsterVine was provided with a PS4 code for review
Few series have the sort of reputation that Ninja Gaiden has. From the original NES titles to the 3D entries, it’s pretty universally agreed upon that there are few action games as hard as Ninja Gaiden. This difficulty, combined with the inability to play these games on modern consoles, makes the series inaccessible to some– a problem that Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo are rectifying with the Master Collection. Containing all three of the mainline 3D Ninja Gaiden games (Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge,) the Master Collection seeks to make this iconic action franchise available to all, and in my opinion, it does so with impressive results.
In this review, I’m going to discuss the three games in their remastered forms, then discuss the package itself. Starting with:
Ninja Gaiden Sigma
I have fond memories of being a kid and watching my brother play the first game in the series and thinking it looked like the hardest game ever. I’m glad to report that it still is an insanely hard game, though at times it strikes me as more unfair than challenging, as a result of some outdated systems. Still, even with a few small problems, Ninja Gaiden Sigma is one of the best action games ever.
You play as Ryu Hayabusa, a ninja whose village has been destroyed by villains who seek to take the Dark Dragon Blade. You go on a quest to retrieve the blade from the powerful forces that stole it. The straightforward story makes Sigma feel like a classic action movie; a tone that perfectly complements the game itself. It’s just interesting enough to drive you forward without ever distracting you from the gameplay. It’s the perfect action-game story.
Gameplay-wise, Ninja Gaiden Sigma holds up surprisingly well. The camera can be a bit wonky and get stuck behind objects at times, but combat still feels remarkably smooth. Every enemy can (and possibly will) kill you, so you have to be on your toes at all times. You have two attack buttons, a shuriken button, and a magical nin-po attack. Stringing together attacks allows you to do various combos that can be learned as the game goes on and your weapons are upgraded, making the whole game feel like a constant quest to get stronger. There You can mix up your playstyle with a number of alternate weapons, which all give Ryu unique new combos. Plus, there are chapters that let you play as Rachel, who has a completely different playstyle to Ryu both in mobility and combat There’s a surprising amount of diversity in the ways you can play, which is much appreciated.
Combos are satisfying to pull off, and boss fights are tough spectacles that go from feeling insurmountable to beatable as you keep trying. The lack of checkpoints outside of sparse save points makes some sections feel needlessly repetitive, but that’s definitely a relic of its time. Ninja Gaiden Sigma also looks quite nice for a game that came out in 2007, which is impressive given it’s been 14 years since the original release. Overall, while it has a few bumps in the road, Ninja Gaiden Sigma is an excellent action game that has been remastered very well.
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2
Though less challenging than its predecessor, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is by no means an easy game. It takes a lot of Sigma’s concepts and improves upon them while refining some of the issues that the previous game had. Essentially, it’s a fantastic sequel and yet another brilliant action game.
This time, Ryu has to save the world after the Black Spider Ninja Clan sets out to resurrect the dreaded Archfiend. It’s another simple story that carries on Sigma’s plotline and gives Ryu a new big-bad to fight. The characters are memorably hammy and, once again, the story never takes away from the gameplay by being too serious or lasting too long.
Gameplay has been cleaned up a bit in Sigma 2, which makes movement feel more fluid and responsive. The camera is still a bit of an issue but has been improved upon from the previous game. The new dismemberment feature, which is always welcome in bloody action games, adds a visceral sense of awe to combat, as you hack away at enemies and watch their various limbs come flying off with spurts of blood. The different weapons feel a bit better to use this time around, as the upgradeable weapons are drastically different from one another. One minute you’ll be whipping around a kusari-gama chain, and the next you’re using the lunar staff to wail on anyone in your path. Sigma 2 just feels smoother than any other game in the collection.
Because it was released on the PS3-era of consoles, Sigma 2 already looks alright. The remaster sharpened up the visuals, making it look pretty with a very nice 60fps. It helps that there are a lot of creative locales in Sigma 2, from freaky underworlds to the streets of New York. All-in-all, Sigma 2 is a grand follow-up to Sigma, and it holds up brilliantly.
Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge
I’d say that Razor’s Edge is the roughest of the Ninja Gaiden games. It streamlines some things for the better, but has some rough design patches and overly simplified mechanics.
The concept behind the narrative of Razor’s Edge is actually pretty interesting. A mysterious enemy called the Regent of the Mask seeks to reinvent the world with the mysterious Lords of Alchemy group. When Ryu first encounters him, the Regent curses his right arm. To atone for the countless lives Ryu has taken across the series, Ryu’s body is being overcome by the curse that devours his sword and rots him from the inside. Ryu has to save the world and himself, while coming to terms with his history as a killer. It’s a genuinely fascinating concept for a game that revolves around brutally slaying hordes of enemies, and one of the better parts of Razor’s Edge.
The gameplay is more mixed, on the other hand. Combat is sharp and fast-paced, but there are a lot of frustrating areas that feel poorly designed. Often, Razor’s Edge will challenge you to fight off a horde of aggressive enemies while rockets are being fired at you from above. To take down the rocket shooters, you need to stop, pull out your bow, and fire at them. While fighting a lot of enemies, you don’t normally have the luxury to do this, which means you’ll spend a lot of time hitting a couple of times, then blocking or scurrying away from a rocket, every five or so seconds. It can get pretty annoying, especially in one boss fight that ups these frustrations to 11. There are some fun playable Ayane sections thrown in, where you play as the young kunoichi as she has her own adventure at the same time as Ryu’s, which diversifies the gameplay and keeps the game feeling fresh.
Otherwise, the way that skills and upgrades have been simplified is alright, though it feels a bit generic as far as action games go. You can now upgrade Ryu using karma gained from battles, which can give you new combos, costumes, nin-po upgrades, and stat boosts. This, combined with the lack of healing items and the one-off savepoints make Razor’s Edge feel simpler than previous titles, which weren’t especially complicated to begin with. The visuals are excellent though, partially due to the game’s more recent release and partially due to the glow-up from remastering the game. I’d say it’s still a fun game for the most part, but it’s definitely the weakest in the trilogy.
The Master Collection
So how does The Master Collection fare? It takes these three games to modern consoles while making them look rather sharp given their original release dates, with snazzy framerates to boot. There’s a ton of content in the collection, as each game has various difficulty modes, extra content like costumes and additional chapters from the Sigma releases, and vastly different playstyles.
None of the games are perfect, but they hold up well for the most part and are still incredibly fun to play. The Master Collection makes it possible for a new generation to give these classics a go, and it does so with style. Keep in mind that there are easier difficulties for each game included, so if the difficulty has you concerned, there are alternative ways to play the game while still experiencing Ninja Gaiden as a whole.
The Final Word
The Ninja Gaiden Master Collection is a stellar remaster of one of the best action game series in the business. The games look great, run smoothly, and for the most part, play incredibly well to this day. If you’re looking for a hard-as-nails action experience unlike any other, look no further than the Ninja Gaiden Master Collection.
MonsterVine Rating: 4.5 out of 5 – Great
