It is bewildering to look back and remember that the third Ninja Gaiden game from 1991 would be the last in the series for over a decade. A handful of original entries based on the NES titles shortly followed, and the trilogy would see a combined release on the SNES, but a true fourth instalment never emanated until thirteen years later when the franchise entered the 3D realm with 2004’s Ninja Gaiden. Ensuring more of Ryu Hayabusa’s ventures are preserved on modern hardware, Hamster brings Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom to Nintendo Switch 2 as the latest in its Console Archives series.
Set between the first and second games, Episode III opens with one of the series’ trademark cinematic sequences, showcasing some of the finest pixel art and graphical capabilities seen at this point on the hardware. CIA agent Irene Lew, having previously encountered Ryu Hayabusa on his last mission, is investigating a secret laboratory that results in her death by a suspicious individual bearing a striking resemblance to the Dragon Ninja himself. Framed for the murder of the woman he had once saved, Ryu sets out to the lab Irene was probing, hoping to clear his name and uncover the dark secrets within.
Of the three NES games, The Ancient Ship of Doom is by far the most comfortable to play, with a fluid Hayabusa that is now more easily able to jump on top of platforms following a wall climb, and has the added ability of grabbing underneath pipes to move along and pull himself onto structures above. As a result of this refinement, Ninja Gaiden III immediately feels like an improvement over the past two entries, and the sci-fi setting featuring robotic enemies provides a freshness that invokes a Contra-like theme.
A hefty seven stages consisting of levels encompassing research labs, jungles, caverns, castle ruins, and more are plagued with hazards including moving platforms, sinking sands, rising lava, and gusty winds, and these must be contested while fending off the biomutants and mechanical foes that like to home in on the lone ninja. Every jump and slash count, as one mistake can be the reason a stage is failed, especially during intense platforming segments where just about every surface has an enemy to dodge or destroy.
Power-ups plastered throughout offer an additional means of attack, particularly when Ryu is hanging or clinging to a wall, where his sword cannot be used. Trying to keep enough energy in order to take advantage of these special abilities during boss fights is a challenge in itself, because they can be the most helpful means of clearing out pesky fiends, of which there are many. Bosses are a highlight of every stage that can be looked forward to, each with their own attack patterns that demand a careful approach.
Despite the appealing cutscenes that reward for the completion of each stage (albeit with a cheesy plot right out of the NES era), it takes a huge degree of effort to see them if playing the conventional way. The US version of Hayabusa’s third adventure is notorious for its increased difficulty over the original Japanese version, even though the range of Ryu’s sword swings were already reduced and required finding upgrades to boost the blade’s reach.
There have been various theories put forward as to why overseas releases were made harder back in the day, including encouraging players to buy guides or call tips hotlines, with another suggestion being that it was a way to combat the rental market by ensuring a game would last longer than a rental period, ultimately getting people to buy the game instead.
Tecmo arguably took the approach to the extreme, though, and messed with all sorts of aspects to create one of the toughest games on the NES. The password system was removed, continues were limited to five, and in addition to more enemies being placed in stages, they now dealt extra damage.
With the extremely helpful ninja clone ability being left out of Ninja Gaiden III already, which allowed up to two Ryu doppelgangers to fight alongside him in the previous title, along with an extremely strict time limit on each stage and the aforementioned shorter range of the Dragon Sword, it is debatable whether Tecmo was justified in such excessive modifications to what was already a challenging game.
Thankfully, this being a Console Archives release, save states and a rewind feature render the changes much more tolerable, even if it means a stop-start nature to proceedings. Rather gratuitously, too, the original Japanese Famicom version is included, so although the story scenes may not be fully understood if not a native speaker, this would be the recommended way to experience the game, especially if there is an inclination to avoid using the quality-of-life additions constantly. Unless, of course, you like suffering.
