Boys like ninjas.  What's not to like?  They know karate, they wear cool black costumes, they use a variety of deadly weapons, and they don't take any guff from anyone.  As a child, I always gravitated towards ninja games and ninja movies (anyone remember Gymkata?), and the original release of Ninja Gaiden in arcades in the mid 80s was a defining moment in my childhood.  I knew this would be the beginning of something special.  Through the years and across different consoles, Ninja Gaiden and its sequels were released with fair regularity.  The most recent iteration of Ninja Gaiden was released for the Xbox, and it proves to be the best one yet.

Ninja Gaiden is a 3D action adventure game where you play as a young Ryu Hayabusa on a quest to recover the Dark Dragon Blade and avenge the massacre of the Hayabusa clan.  I'm the rare gamer that actually pays attention to the story of a game, and to be honest, the story of Ninja Gaiden is lacking.  Basically, Ryu just needs to cut a swath of vengeance through all the demons and evil ninjas in his way until he can fight the main bad guy that stole the sword.  These games are not about story; they are about playing as a ninja and dealing out the damage to your foes.  Ninja Gaiden is more action than adventure, and there is a lot of fighting.  This is not a stealth game a la Metal Gear Solid or Splinter Cell.  This is a game where when you see a bad guy, you make every attempt to put your sword in him before he puts his in you.  How you do it is up to you.

Speaking of swords and hitting people with them, there is a lot of that kind of thing in this game.  Ninja Gaiden is a bloody game and carries an ESRB rating of M (Mature) for blood, gore, and violence.  Ryu's attacks on his enemies leave arcs of blood and the bodies disappear in a foaming red fountain.  With some practice, you can learn to kill your enemies quickly by decapitation.  Moms, this one is not for the youngsters.  However, your husbands might love it!  The graphics and game play make this one of if not the best Xbox release thus far.  The animation on Ryu as he cartwheels and flips around the screen is near perfect, and the game controls are so intuitive that you'll be performing your own ballet of death before you reach the third stage. 

Now, like any good game, Ninja Gaiden is easy to learn and very difficult to master.  It is being called the most difficult game to be released in many years and will raise the bar for what game developers can expect and demand of their gamers.  If you expect to beat Ninja Gaiden, expect to spend a lot of time doing it, and expect to use a lot of obscenity.  This is not to say that the game is not fun, but there are a few points where you might find yourself replaying areas of the game over and over again.  The good news is that Ryu does not take damage from falling (as long as there is ground below him) so the jumping puzzles are a tad more forgiving.  However, despite the Xbox having a hard drive, Ninja Gaiden features save points, and they can be few and far between just when you need one.

So, if you have adult gamers in the house, I can't recommend Ninja Gaiden enough.  However, if the ninja fans in your house are of the younger variety, try to talk them into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (also available for Xbox).