Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom
1991
- platform
- hack and slash/beat 'em up
- adventure
- arcade
- action
- single player
The story
Thrilling new cinema screen! Follow the story of Ryu's epic adventure through Tecmo's movie-like Cinema Screen Animation. As you complete each level, a new part of the story unfolds. Exciting new powers and weapons! Over the years Ninja Ryu's fighting skills have improved to include fantastic new powers and weapons. Action-packed Ninja adventure! Can you get Ryu through his most challenging adventure as he battles the hideous ancient forces of darkness to save mankind? The Ultimate Ninja Challenge!
What it’s like
Chunky pixel sprites move across dark, saturated backdrops of jungle greens, icy blues and smoky industrial reds, in the hard-edged palette of an early-nineties console. The side-scrolling stages are tight and often vertical, so the camera simply follows Ryu as he leaps, climbs and slashes. Between levels, cartoon cutscenes unfold in comic-panel framing with bold, blocky colour, like a serialized action picture. The soundtrack is a driving chiptune score of sharp synth stabs and pulsing bass, with sword hits and explosions cracking through in bright little pops. Violence is stylized rather than gory: enemies vanish in flashes, and instant kills and deaths come fast and often. Bosses are multi-phase set pieces that reward patient pattern-learning. The mood is sharp, punishing and nostalgic arcade energy with a short fuse. It suits a focused evening of retro challenge, and it is for players who want a high-score chase with a comic-book sheen and don't mind dying and retrying many times.
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