I just picked up the Famicom version of Ninja Ryukenden III last week. I totally agree, the US version is not nearly as fun. If you want another example of unnecessary increased difficulty check out Mad City on the Famicom and Bayou Billy on the NES. I played Bayou Billy for 20+ years without beating it, but I beat Mad City on my second playthrough. It's a much better game.
Mad City was probably the first Famicom game I ever bought because I appreciated what the Konami team was going for with the game, but the NES edits just suck out all the fun factor in favor of a (literally) painful grind-fest.
@@Adamwinters Indeed, and in the worst most superficial ways; like how the driving stages are now just exercises in frustration, what with the one hit deaths.
At Portland Retro Gaming Expo 2016, I was able to pick up a "Ninja Gaiden III Restored" repro cart. This fan hack version has the extra enemies, increased damage, and removed powerups of the North American version combined with the infinite continues and password system of the Japanese version. It's a really good compromise between the two extremes and I found it just about right, challenge-wise. It's like the Goldilocks version. I definitely recommend it. It's downloadable online, too, of course.
I just take a look at it. It feels like you play ninja gaiden trilogy version of this game. Damage are restored but not completely, Spike still took 6 damage. But i guess it's balanced because the infinite continue things
The continue limit isn't player-friendly, but all of the other changes encourage you to learn the levels and make it more fun to play once you're a decent player. You'll breeze through NR3 in an hour or two, after which you've pretty much already mastered the game. NG3 doesn't really have much reflex or improvisation challenge, it's all memorizing paths and enemy placement. And the enemies are mostly stationary turrets or guys walking in a straight line. I think Jaquio from NG or some "unfair" enemy placement at the end of NG2 is harder to avoid than anything in NG3. Except the Act 7 timer, that's the hardest part of the trilogy!
I really wouldn't mind the other changes quite as much if the continue limit wasn't there. Except the changed checkpoints, I'm not into those. But everything else would be fine.
+Simon Mejía Thank you very much! I appreciate that, I hope it means they keep getting better! And yeah, we'll be looking at one more in the near future.
great episode man, i knew the difficulty was ramped way up on the US cart, really cool though to see the specifics. i own the NES but have never really put any time into, waiting to finish the 2nd one i guess.
Game vs Game Thanks, man! Like I said, the NES game isn't *bad* but if you still need to finish 2, put the time there first. My ranking on the trilogy is the order they dropped in. 1 > 2 > 3.
Yeah, the same thing happened with Battletoads. I've played - and beaten - the Japanese version of Battletoads. I can tell you it's waaaay easier than the American version - though like you said about NG III - still not an easy game at face value.
I have this game as part of the Ninja Gaiden Trilogy for SNES. That version restores the unlimited continues. I played on the honor system, limiting myself to twelve lives before restarting from the beginning, and managed to make it to the titular Ancient Ship of Doom. Then I ran into a tricky jump where you have to leap from one moving platform to another and twist in midair to reach it. It took me *sixteen tries* to get past that one jump and it made me forget all about artificially limiting my continues to be like the original western release.
Nice video, I tried playing Ninja Gaiden III on the NES years ago and was completely stumped by the difficulty. I'd heard the American version was made harder but I had no idea the extent. After a few weeks of wrestling with the game and making it to the second or third world I decided to give the Japanese version a shot and beat the game in an afternoon. Definitely gonna reference this video any time Ninja Gaiden 3 comes up in the context of games changing between reasons, you hit up every difference I usually mention when talking about this game. I also didn't know about the code to get 99 continues until now, I'll have to try going back to the NES version someday to see if that's enough to get me through it.
***** I love being used as a reference! Thank you! And, yeah, the 99 continues helps, but it's still really frustrating in the last stage, especially getting sent all the way back to 7-1A.
I all but left the Nes by Christmas 1989 (Sega Genesis). Which is why I missed the last Ninja Gaiden (I played the second because I love the series). I did play it on the Snes and I don't remember having limited continues but I remember it being freaking hard. I love the music, my God it's still a master piece....and you touched base on it, very good. I still have the trilogy.
Famicom is a good investment when looking for the pricier carts. They usually cost a lot less than their NES counterparts, and sometimes they are better. I picked up an av mod Famicom a couple months ago, and it was very much worth the 60 dollars I payed for it. I will say the controller setup is annoying.
Good video, though you are wrong about one thing. You said at 12:40 that the checkpoints of the U.S. version of Ninja Gaiden III are more in line with the first two games. The only time you ever go back to the beginning of an Act in the first game is when you fight one of the final 3 bosses and get sent back to 6-1. Other than that, the first 2 games don't send you back as far as the U.S. Version of Ninja Gaiden III does and are more in line with Ninja Ryukenden III's checkpoints. And honestly, the changed respawn points are easily my biggest gripe with Ninja Gaiden III, I can live with having only 99 continues, I can live with the enemies dealing more damage, as well as changing the enemy and item placement, but the fact that you get sent so far back in the U.S. version and being forced to do the Act all over again whenever you get a Game Over is ultimately why I prefer the Famicom version over it.
The Japanese version is like a console version whilst the English version seems like a Playchoice difficulty game modified to run on a normal home system cart. I guess people would have a ball with this if they had the RGB mod to bring the Playchoice graphics mode into the home to have the complete arcade like feel to go with the arcade level 8 ramped up Playchoice style difficulty levels of this title.
Daniel Cordell I made a search and Bingo. It is a Playchoice 10 made version of the game compatable with the home and that makes it arcade difficulty because it is the arcade game. Ninja Gaiden Episode III: The Ancient Ship of Doom (PlayChoice-10)
Daniel Cordell The only problem with converting your NES to a Playchoice and NES RGB system is you don't have the good old dip switches so if you play it in the Arcade RGB mod mode it would still have the same difficulty level as it's unchangable without the arcade dip switch or buttons to insert a credit for a continue.
I BEAT the first 2 Ninja Gaiden games but NEVER played part 3. So after watching this excellent video I'm ah lil upset the American version was a lil cheesy- smh.
I really like how in in that EGM review, the difficulty rating for Ninja Gaiden 3 was "Easy". Maybe review outlets were given earlier builds of the game that retained the famicom's difficulty and features while the North American retail release may of adopted the new difficulty
Jazztazz oh, thought that too after reading the "easy" declaration. Just read your comment. I think so myself, too... or the reviewer was a massive troll, who knows.
On the Stick That's actually pretty cool for a Review outlet to do that! This situation kind of reminds me of the differences of Streets of Rage 3 And Bare Knuckle 3, in where the difficulty's of both of the games are different but Some character sprites and bosses are missing or changed
You had to play not one but two ninja gaiden games in order to do a review. Good on you. And good review. Good to know I will avoid the NES game the rest of my life.
@@SameNameDifferentGame I beat the 1st 2 ones but the 3rd one was absolutely ridiculous , and the later ninja gaiden games on Xbox and ps3 can't even compare...and they are called difficult....
Have you done a review of The Adventures of Bayou Billy or Mad City? Those games are completely different & are done similarly where the Japanese version is easier & the US version is much harder.
Fun fact: In the Japanese version, if you leave the screen alone at the ending for a certain amount of time, this will happen. This confirms that the third game was, in fact, a prequel to the second game. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HBNUfO8A8Xc.html
Vahan Nisanian Certainly more direct than the eventual interview with Masato Kato (Runmal’s real name) confirming as such in interviews, what with what happens to the Dragon Sword in NGII. It’s funny, as having to wait 18 minutes in pre-RU-vid days would be its own kind of indirectness...
i8thebaconcheezburgr Same deal, really, it's a time thing. Listing Game Genie codes would take a long time and be pretty dry viewing. People know where to find that stuff, by and large.
I been owned the US version, because of this video, I bought ninja ryukenden III & a converter. Got the converter today, got anywhere from two weeks to a month to wait for the game. I had no idea it was gonna take that long to get it from Japan 😂
On the Stick I know I will 😍, I still love the US version too. Are there any notable differences in between the first two ninja Gaiden for USA and Japan?
Great video as always! I recently imported this game (never sold in sweden. Or even Europe?) and this explains why I'm have so much trouble beating it! I've never beaten any of the games in the trilogy, but damn this is a hard one! I don't even think the slower clocked PAL NES that I have is helping me either :( Sadly this might be one of the games I'll never be able to beat :'(
That's one of the reasons I like to say stuff like that in the comments, so that other dirty Europeans like myself don't search in vain for a game that never was sold over here.
Yes, it is :( I can't say an exact number for every country, but in Sweden for example, there's maybe 240 games released in total. It doesn't mean that a complete collection is easy to get though, cause a couple of games only got sold in small numbers, 300-5000 copies in some cases. Mr Gimmic (5044 copies) is quite common compared to Shadow Warriors II (Ninja Gaiden II) (596 copies) for example.
Stefan Johansson That's nuts! Can you do what I do for Master System games? Since the Master System was so much more popular in Europe, I typically just get the European version of the games I'm after. They're more plentiful and cheaper!
*"The Ancient Ship of Doom makes up for both the lack of difficulty and awkward controls that kept previous GaiDen games from being full tens!"* What... the... fuck? Did these guys play the same games as me? Both remarks are _completely_ wrong, they're difficult with great controls!
Yeah, I don't know about the controls thing, but as for the difficulty, I think the only theory there is that they played the Famicom version or at least an unfinished US version without all of the changes completed.
This was the only one I did not finish. I have my original cartridge and I also have the trilogy. I think the games are more enjoyable on the NES graphics and music are better. Watching this video I'm thinking about to go hook up my systems and play it (30 years later )to see if I can finish it.
Playing this game like for a week. Dunno when i start playing it last year because i am not playing it consistently. I am starting with japanese version and then USA version. Right now i am slightly improved, although i can't beat stage 7 for now. Probably someday.
@@SameNameDifferentGame Well for now i already beat japanese version. Time to do USA version which is the highest difficulty so far. Right now i have various difficulty for this game
On the Stick "Hey #JoeDrilling, since you got done talking about #NinjaGaiden, anychance that you could do another 'Same Name Different Game: #WrathOfTheBlackManta' on #NES & #FC as well too please?" 😐🙏💭🎮🕹📱💻🎥🎞📽🎬🔮 "P.S. Can you also ask Pam from #CannotbeTamed & #NefariousWes to co-host with you as well too please?" 😐🙏💖💭📱💻🎥🎞📽🎬🔮
i8thebaconcheezburgr Thanks! I didn't explain the cheat mostly for time reasons. I figure just letting people know is good enough and they can look it up pretty easily if they want to use it.
The third game was easier? That might explain how I was able to actually complete that one...with invulnerability...and save states... (cries) 😢 So how did Japan deal with no rentals for stuff like PS2 or GameCube?
One of the games that first made me think of this issue between West and East, largely because it doesn't follow the narrative that games were dumbed down for Western sensibilities. Bayou Billy being another. I guess censorship and gameplay changes are not necessarily cut from the same cloth.
***** Yeah, it's weird because some games like this and Bayou Billy were ratcheted up and stuff like Final Fantasy IV was nerfed. Guess they couldn't make up their minds whether we were too hardcore or too soft!
Thinking back to that age, old arcade and NES era design decisions almost seems like punishment for being less well off and wanting to play games, and it just screwing everyone over in the process. Even though I enjoy some hard games myself, I can kinda see where people are coming from when they think difficulty is just masochism and bullshit, with the "you're not a real gamer" and "back in my day" mentality being a byproduct... and even though F2P is around with all it's exploitative scumminess, it's no wonder that digital distribution has changed the way a lot of game design is approached in the absence of as much used game competition and almost no rental competition.
SotNist I definitely think mainstream modern games are easier, but some old games go a bridge too far in the difficulty and the US version of this is one of them. Also, I don't think a game being easy is necessarily a bad thing, though, as you've said, there are some people who can be real jerks about that kind of stuff.
If you want a game that makes you think that Japanese developers hate Americans, play both the US and Japanese versions of Contra: Hard Corps. I get Contra games are always hard, but jeez.
This game isn't too bad, but what do Ninjas have to do with Science Fiction? When I think of Ninjas, I think of the supernatural, makai (Japanese word for hell), and demons. Science Fiction is the last thing I think of when I think of Ninjas.
@@SameNameDifferentGame Just how in a lot of cases, we got the more difficult games in the US. I'm not sure how long I've been subscribed. Always liked your show. I was messing around on my playstation classic (mod fun) and it dawned on me that I didn't have the whole NES Ninja Gaiden series. Went to this video for reference. Going to try an english translation that I found for III. Oh, one last thing. Don't forget about LSD: The Dream Emulator for PS1. lol. It's obscure. Thank you for reading.
my version looks like that: www.80stopgames.com/site/sites/default/files/styles/top10/public/imagens/megadrive/NinjaGaiden.jpg?itok=N1Q2M0Q- its case and cartridge, of course no manual, cuz its a bootleg... but its cool to have it in my library, looks good
I wish when I came to ROM They would make the Japanese version translated to English tax that way be get 3 good games You got to admit dude it would be cool to play the Japanese versions of all 3 games Ryukendo 1 and 2 and 3 Was English translation This way we're giving the good versions and not the NES cheap knock offs this way as long as we can get them in the same English language like the American versions except with all the Fair Game play Japanese kneedness With English text Patch Without losing any of their Japanese quality Just see only thing they did was make its other stuff on the screen is in English the parts of the game I read but everything about the 3 Japanese versions of the game is still Japanese but it's just the words on the screen as the only part of the games that Are American English patch for the techs who part of the game I read like the title screen and stuff so that way the name of the game that it was called in Japan is sills of same name it's just now we can actually read it for people that can't speak Japanese people to speak what we clears can't speak Japanese user actually understand what's going on the story line the title screen and everything will be in an English patch but still under the original names in dialog and sentences that were in the Japanese versions just with English Text That way everything that the game set in Japanese is said the same way in English with the tax on the Screen In the same thing goes for the name of the game it's still its Japanese name but now we can actually read it because of the English patch the same thing for what's goin in in the story the story is still the Japanese dialog but with an English patch that way for people that can't speak Japanese you know understand what the Japanese dialog and the game was seen in the name of the game and it's ending credits are all in English patch so we can actually finally read it people that can't speak Japanese It doesn't change what the game says or anything in the game it's just the English patch just translates it so we know what the game was saying we couldn't speak Japanese everything about it is so the same Japanese dialog and word choices in the name of the game and the ending credits but with an English patch shall we can actually read it for people that can't speak Japanese It doesn't take any of the Japanese island of the game it is makes it so that we understand what's going on that's all the English patch does it is make it so we can read what the story was going on so we know the same words in things that were said in the Japanese language but translated to English we know what they're saying the same thing forward had title screen name in the ending credits as their that that the game is still pure Japanese with all 3 games and I wish they would put those versions on the switch but with an English patch but doesn't lose any of its Japanese Nas with the 3 games This way the game can have a language option its original Japanese language and its English language that's been added to the game its default lane which will be Japanese but you can change it to English language but it doesn't take away the games are bridge and will name or the original dialog throughout the game the original name of the games and the dialog is so the same it's just English patch allow she know what it says if you can't speak Japanese also does this translate to English a proper translation without losing any of the actual riginal words in name of the game or anything the characters said in the game will be changed it's just the English allowed here no one all that stuff says is you can't speak Japanese that's all it does when it switched to English thing which other than that it's the same game trilogy of our favorite Super ninja
I think a lot of ROMhackers just don't want to spend the time to retranslate games with serviceable translations when there are a lot of untranslated games out there. Particularly where the existing translation isn't super important to the gameplay (as opposed to something like Simon's Quest).
