Author Topic: Ninja Gaiden: PC Engine/NES differences (Read 562 times)

Ninja Spirit · « **on:** January 16, 2006, 08:05:47 AM »

I got my hands on the actual Hucard the other day (where I can ACTUALLY get past stage 1), but this port is too damn easy compared to the NES version....well for anyone who can fly through the stages in general, apparently Hudson heard the cries of frustrated Japanese gamers that had trouble with the Famicom version. After running out of ninja magic beating The Masked Devil/Ken Hayabusa I was able to beat Jaquio & the Demon statue with a straight sword.

For anyone who's played only the rom, I noticed a bit of differences:

>Of course we know about the code to change languages

>Collision detection

>You still gotta be cautious even with the fire wheel magic, you can still get bumped by *some* enemies. For instance after jumping those columns in the middle of level 2, the enemy that was under the ladder still bumped me to my death even though my fire wheel was still intact.

>In the final battles unlike the NES version that tests your endurance only giving you , your energy refills after every battle

>The Demon Statue's pattern is a bit different making him less frustrating. There's a lot of balls bouncing around, so you have to run through as many safe spots possible and find a good place to strike his weak spot. Hell the weak spot after knocking off the head, is around the same spot it was, not that hard to reach glowing ball that made him so hard on the NES.

Because I beat the final battles on my first run, I don't know whether the PC Engine version pulls off the groin kicker of starting you back at stage 6-1.

As far as music goes I was little disappointed by the soundtrack, only track I liked on it was the boss music.

rolins · « **Reply #1 on:** January 16, 2006, 11:43:51 AM »

Quote from: "Ninja Spirit"

Because I beat the final battles on my first run, I don't know whether the PC Engine version pulls off the groin kicker of starting you back at stage 6-1.

Yes, if you die in the final battle you're sent to the beginning of stage 6-1. Other differences are the name changes. Jaquio is known as the Devildoer and Ken Hayabusa is known as Joe Hayabusa.

I also played through the entire game and was disappointed with the two things: the difficulty and the music. The bosses are weaklings compared to the nes version, including Jaquio. Stage 5 + 6 are shorter and I was expecting to encounter more ninjas on jetpacks. The music could have been better. Some of the tunes I couldn't recognize as either remixes of the nes version or original tunes. Anyway none of them were memorable or catchy. But I still enjoyed this version very much, especially the redrawn cut scenes.

Keranu · « **Reply #2 on:** January 16, 2006, 04:30:46 PM »

Hmm, I'll have to play it again to see if it's any easier than the NES version, because the NES version is pretty easy until a point, I don't remember the PCE one being any harder. But from what I do remember though, I like the NES one more.

TR0N · « **Reply #3 on:** January 16, 2006, 04:54:15 PM »

Hmm, looks like i'll have to compare.. both version for myself to see the difference

That's untile i get a copy for my, Famicom&PCE.

akamichi · « **Reply #4 on:** January 17, 2006, 01:27:04 AM »

Personally, I didn't like the PCE version compared to the NES. The music on the NES is some of my favorite NES tunes and PCE's totally different tunes didn't impress me.

As for the difficulty, I thought stage 6 was harder in the PCE version, but then again, I played the NES version to death when it came out and was able to breeze through stage 6 w/o any problems at one point.

Maybe I thought the PCE ver was harder because it was like 3 or 4 years after the NES version came out. Lost all my skills by then. :oops:

Ninja Spirit · « **Reply #5 on:** January 17, 2006, 01:46:30 AM »

Or better yet, the PC Engine version came out a year after the NES/Famicom Ninja Gaiden Trilogy ended, kinda like Final Fantasy, made its debut in the US juuuust right after the series ended on the NES in Japan.

As bad as this port as people say it is, it's still a must-have.

esteban · « **Reply #6 on:** January 17, 2006, 10:45:07 PM »

I don't own the HuCard, but the little I played via emulation was very disappointing. I felt that this was a pale imitation of the NES version. However, since only played a few stages, I should reserve judgement until I play the game properly.

This should have been the KILLER version of Ninja Gaiden, don't you agree? They could have made it identical to the NES version, but with upgraded graphics and an embellished soundtrack. It's really sad ...

Keranu · « **Reply #7 on:** January 18, 2006, 04:01:52 PM »

Hell yeah, they could have made such a badass update to Ninja Gaiden for PCE. You know what, I was a little dissapointed with the Ninja Gaiden triology on SNES as well, it just didn't seem nearly as updated as it could have been.

Jammaniaclord · « **Reply #8 on:** January 19, 2006, 07:28:50 AM »

The scrolling/parralax was bass ackwards too....frustrating on the eyes.

GUTS · « **Reply #9 on:** January 19, 2006, 08:12:16 AM »

God the SNES one was shit, I bought that brand new back iwhen it first came out thinking "Oh man it's gonna be given the Super Mario All Stars treatment! This is gonna rule!". Needless to say I was pretty disappointed.

Ninja Spirit · « **Reply #10 on:** January 19, 2006, 09:19:11 AM »

Super NES Ninja Gaiden Trilogy was good for the first two games. But they f*cked up with 3 music wise cause they took out one of my favorite tunes and swapped. Oh man the real Act 3-2/6-1 music was freakin awesome.

http://vgmusic.com/music/console/nintendo/nes/ng3_3-2.mid

EDIT: Found another NES/PCE difference.

The stage 4 boss "Kelbeross", there is no false one, they take damage no matter what.

rolins · « **Reply #11 on:** January 19, 2006, 12:29:18 PM »

Quote from: "Ninja Spirit"

EDIT: Found another NES/PCE difference.

The stage 4 boss "Kelbeross", there is no false one, they take damage no matter what.

Doesn't this false kelberos only appear in NG2?

Ninja Spirit · « **Reply #12 on:** January 20, 2006, 03:41:33 AM »

No they're in all 3 NES Ninja Gaidens in fact.

What I was referring to was that one of the two doesn't take damage and you eliminate by killing it leaving the real one that takes damage by its life meter.

rolins · « **Reply #13 on:** January 20, 2006, 04:17:00 AM »

Quote from: "Ninja Spirit"

No they're in all 3 NES Ninja Gaidens in fact.

What I was referring to was that one of the two doesn't take damage and you eliminate by killing it leaving the real one that takes damage by its life meter.

I guess I never really bother to notice it in NG1 because I always killed the left most Kelbeross with the jump n' slash technique.

Which reminds me. The jump n' slash tech in NG1 used to kill bosses in one go, but in the pce version the jump n' slash is weaker. I can't use it to kill even the stage 1 boss with one jump.

Ninja Spirit · « **Reply #14 on:** January 20, 2006, 08:42:40 AM »

Heh I'd blame that on the horrendous frame speed of Ryu's somersaults.

Speaking of that, Hudson toned down one of my favorite enemies in NG the "Hurricane Kick Dude" that first appears in act 4-3. On the NES he would change the height and speed of his kicks.

Author Topic: Ninja Gaiden: PC Engine/NES differences (Read 562 times)

GUTS