I can remember bringing this game home from the rental place, popping it in and expecting a crazy platformer with insane difficulty. It didn't disappoint me in the slightest, to be sure, but NOTHING prepared me for the intro of the game. To my 9-year-old eyes, I was watching a feature length movie unfold in front of me. My adrenaline was wound so tight after those final flashes of lightning I was TOTALLY immersed. I was going to take Ryu to this guy, and hurt him... badly. It is SO rare to see that level of work in a game these days. Sure they're out there, but not nearly enough.
I see that you like a ninja game too...I never really got around to this title but, I have played Shinobi kinda similar an action and platforming genre.. Also Tenchu...another stealth ninja game
I've played both and Shinobi was always one of my favorites. You should give Shadow Dancer on the Sega Genesis a try. It's Shinobi's spiritual successor and a great game. As for Tenchu, I loved the first one, 2 was horrible, and I never really played Wrath of Heaven but heard it was good. Tenchu Z is okay, but not quite as spectacular.
Shawn Jackson Cool bro! you played Shinobi too...do you remember the name of the company that made shinobi? I couldn't even remember for what console it was..It's been almost 25 years... since I played it..
ramilo holter Shinobi was actually a Sega game, made by their own Team Shinobi. I believe the Sega Master System got it in 1988. I always played in the arcade, though.
Shawn Jackson oh wow! you even schooled me back about Shinobi cuz, I didn't even know it had arcade version back then too..I bet you played Samurai Showdown on the arcade too huh! that I do remember..though!
dude.. it took me so long to beat the Jacquio on the first Ninja Gaiden that when I got to the end of NG2 and the Jacquio was resurrected, all of my bros and I just got up and walked out of the room, lol
I'm a retired gamer, but there are games out there that if remade, would awaken me from my dormancy. This is one of them. One of those games that while great, due to memory constraints could not live up to their true potential. Games like that need to be remade. The works include an elaborated story and plot, graphics shaped to meet the true visions, badass antagonists made even more badass, and of course a fully remastered soundtrack starting with this intro.
+DukeOnkled some things are better left alone, i also was expecting some nice remake but they made those reimaging of the whole franchise, i havent even touched those.
This is my dream also, to play Ninja Gaiden 2 The Dark Sword Of Chaos in ps3 or ps4 :') and this game's all soundtracks are badass and match with each and every scenario in the game...so they don't need to be altered.
It's raining now, dark clouds and windy scenario, perfect timing to watch this Intro and then feel from the bottom of my heart that I'm alongside with Ryu Hayabusa as an ally and beat these monsters and ghouls from the dark eternal world of Chaos....
I agree. The music, the bad guy overseeing the world from a cliff, the way bad and good guys relate to each other, everything is as japanese as it gets. This was a really cool game.
I remember when i first got this game.... i played it at night!! Even my mom wanted to watch me play cause it was so much like a movie!! She was like Do you have part 1? I wanna see that!! LOL!!!
The clean and superfast two-voice (or three-voice?) parts at @1:21 and @1:34 are just epic. A little masterpiece in its own right, those guys at Tecmo knew what they were doing.
Every time I play ninja gaiden 2 I always watch the cut scenes I remember when this came out in 1990 and begged my parents to get it for me and they did This game is a treasure to me
This has to be one of the best intros to a NES game ever! Not only does the lightning make it more epic, but it's just like a movie and the music rocks! I am glad to still own this game! =D
This intro gives me chills every time. Amazing game hard as hell but so gratifying when finishing it. Great music not only at the intro but also some stages had some great tunes.
I would rewatch the intro time and time again everytime I turned the thing on, did this for at least 5-10 minutes each time before I even bothered playing the awesome game. It was such an awesome intro, was always getting goose pumps from it as a kid, kept humming the intro theme over and over again and imagining it with an orchestra or Rock Band version. I must of done this for the better part of a decade before my NES started to die. I have yet to be effected by a movie in the same way.
Best video game beat of all time all platforms must bow down and pay to homage to this intro it just made you have to beat the game which also was very hard to do I still think part 3 was the most difficult to beat out of the other 2,by the way my brother thought this beat was so hot he made a song with the instrumental
this intro is epic as f**k, angustia, desesperation, chaos, the ost is superb, the cinematics as well, the last hope for humanity, rounded by darknnes, no hope, but still... epic
I remember playing this game when i was 8, 17 years ago wow! this was by far the best intro in any game... EVER! I love the intro on the first game too but this is just too good. GREAT FUCKING GAME, I still have the original cartridge but i have no working NES, :P.
It's such a well-directed cutscene, and the attention to detail is amazing for an NES game. When was the last time you saw an... anything that actually had thunder come -after- the lightning?
Damn this was awesome when this game first came out and I was a kid. I thought this intro was the coolest thing ever. It's about as good as NES graphics got.
I remember thinking Ashtar was the main villain of the game and was pissed when I fought him on lvl 5-3 thinking it was the end of the game when I defeated him...only to find out that he was nothing more than a pawn in a grander scheme...
when i was a boy this intro scare the shit out of me D: since then everytime i see it i have to clean myself again and again and again this is so FUCKING EPIC .
I remember there was actually a code at the selection screen that would allow you to listen to all the music of the game at your leisure. I would say i played this one out, but it's impossible to play it out haha. So...effin...awesome!!!
This was my favorite of all the series, including this new ones. I remeber playing this a gazillion times, took me almost a year to figure out how to beat it (I was 10 BTW, 28 now). It would be so freaking sweet for Tecmo to re-release these on PSN/XBLA/WiiWare with the graphics touched up, but leave the gameplay and music intact.
@Domanese Where do you get this "favoring bikinis volleyball and pool games" sentiment? Ninja Gaiden 3 is coming, and, though it lacks Itagaki's hand, promises to really go back to what made the Xbox game so great. You also must have missed the really very excellent Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword, Ninja Gaiden 2 and Ninja Gaiden 2 Sigma releases in the last few years.
I think this might be my favorite NES track ever. Tecmo ruled supreme on the subject of NES music (just listen to Captain Tsubasa 2 soundtrack if you doubt it), Capcom followed close.
awesome awesome awesome post !!...anyone know where i can download this song? i've checked a couple of video game mp3 websites, this one isn't anywhere...i LOVED this game and i thought few others did...glad to see others liked it too!
@vguyver2 I cant explain to you how many times I did that as well. I would turn on the game and just let it play. I think all the films and games that I've seen as a kid and little intros like this inspired me to become a film maker. Ill do these games justice and learn from them, as simple as they are. I promise you!!
