REVIEW - PS2 - Samurai/Ninja Showdown

During my time off last week, I abused my free rental privileges at Hollywood Video and rented every game I could find involving ninjas or samurais. Due to the current selection they had in stock and in order to keep the number of ninja titles vs. samurai titles even, this showdown will encompass four games. On the ninja side, we have Shinobi and Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven. Fighting for the samurai, we have Way of the Samurai and Kengo: Master of Bushido. I will review each of these titles individually and then compare the results, and the age old question as to which of these two mighty warriors holds superiority will finally be answered. Well, at least when it comes to playing one on a PS2, anyways.

NINJA

Shinobi -- I was not impressed with this game at all. It was amusing for the first level or two, but got really old really fast. If you are a big fan of old school games like Ninja Gaiden, then you will definitely find this game amusing, as it really holds onto that old style of gaming. It's the same style of running through levels and bashing stuff up, objects you destroy flicker and then disappear, and level bosses are ridiculously difficult. There isn't a lot of skill involved with this game, it's all about zipping and jumping around and mashing the attack button, and you'll still die all the time. Also amusing is the "Use Ninjitsu" button, which engulfs Shinobi in a fiery ball of death, killing anything within its radius. Wow. If ninjitsu really did that I'd so learn it. All in all, an amusing game for the first few levels, particularly if you're an old school gamer, but it wears out quickly.

Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven -- Definitely a better game than Shinobi, with added replay value with multiplayer mode. Multiplayer is unfortunately very limited however, with only a single level available initially, and a pretty boring one at that. The most strikingly annoying thing about this game are the cheesy sound effects, with cartoon-ish "ping!" noises when sword fighting and the like. The added element of stealth also makes the game more interesting, and a wide selection of weapons and items you can pick up along the way also add to the fun. Aside from the wider array of weapons though, the game is still quite basic. You are either sneaking around, or mashing an attack button. I'd say it is a fairly good game, but it didn't require much skill.

SAMURAI

Way of the Samurai -- I'll be perfectly honest. I never heard of this game before I picked it up off the shelf. In my search for ninja and samurai related games, it certainly stuck out with a title like that, so I decided to give it a try. And I am SO glad I did. Out of all the titles I picked up last week, this one was definitely my favorite. The game itself is really quite short, but there are half a dozen different endings to it. Your actions in the game determine the direction the plot will go, each to a different ending. This makes for excellent replay value, as you will find yourself playing it over and over again and trying out different things to see what ending you can reach next. On top of that, there are a huge number of swords in the game, each with different styles and attacks. Even after completing all of the endings, which will take quite some time as it is, you will find yourself still playing it over and over again in your search for those cool rare swords. You also gain points for each time you beat it, unlocking additional options and settings, which will also keep you playing. Plus, you can carry over your swords from one game to the next, so you don't lose those cool blades. This game also has the most sophisticated battle system out of any of the games in this review. If you like button mashers, you will be slaughtered in this game. You have to carefully balance style, timing, attacking, blocking, parrying, and dodging in order to be successful. Yet even with all this, the controls remain simple and intuitive. The sound effects are also quite good, adding to the intensity of your battles. I do have one complaint about this game. The learning curve is fairly steep, particularly in comparison to the rest of the games in this roundup. You will die often in the beginning, and it will not be until a good three or four attempts after the tutorial that you really get the hang of it. It can be rather frustrating in the beginning, as you have to start all over again if you die, and you lose any blades you were carrying at the time. This will not be as great of a concern once you get the hang of the fighting controls and learn where all the food is located so you can regain your health. There is also a multiplayer feature, in a classic fighting game style, which is somewhat amusing and a good way to hone your skills, but not nearly as entertaining as single player.

Kengo: Master of Bushido -- Another title I had never really heard of, but picked up anyways. Again, I'm glad I did. It's something of a fighting game with RPG elements. You start out as a student living at a dojo to learn the ways of the samurai. You go through various training exercises and practice matches to increase your stats and hone your skills. Once you have successfully mastered the exercises at your dojo, you can then go on to compete against other schools, raising your stats and earning new attacks and swords. You can eventually compete in an Imperial tournament, defeat your own master, and become head of the dojo yourself, defending your honor against challenging students such as you once were. The real beauty of this game comes in customizing your attack styles. As you play, you will learn new moves, which you can then piece together into your own custom attacks to use in battle. Also, each sword you pick up has a different special attack, so you can spend quite some time collecting and experimenting with them as well. This game also has the best multiplayer support out of all the titles in this roundup. If you and a friend each have a character developed in single player mode, you can face off against each other in multiplayer, or just play with one of the other characters from the game using their predefined styles and forgoing the customized attacks. This game also is not without its faults though. There is a total lack of music, which some might find disappointing, however I felt it added to the atmosphere. The thing that did bug me though, were some really cheesy sound effects. The blades clashing and slashing sounded solid, but the vocalizations of the warriors were rather weak, and there are some horrendously annoying background sounds on some of the levels. Also, you have to repetitively practice the same training exercises over and over in order to raise your stats until they eventually max out, which can get rather monotonous.

Graphics: 8/10 OVERALL Sound: 5/10 Gameplay: 3/10 Ingenuity: 2/10 Replay Value: 2/10 Ninja Skill Level: 2/10 2/10

Graphics: 8/10 OVERALL Sound: 3/10 Gameplay: 6/10 Ingenuity: 6/10 Replay Value: 3/10 Ninja Skill Level: 4/10 4/10

Graphics: 8/10 OVERALL Sound: 7/10 Gameplay: 9/10 Ingenuity: 9/10 Replay Value: 9/10 Samurai Skill Level: 10/10 9/10

Graphics: 8/10 OVERALL Sound: 3/10 Gameplay: 8/10 Ingenuity: 7/10 Replay Value: 8/10 Samurai Skill Level: 8/10 8/10

The score is plainly obvious. Ninjas: 0, Samurais: 2. But you don't have to take my word for it. Check them out for yourself. You too will soon find the obvious superiority of the Samurai.