Looks hard. I'll still get it though.
Poor Irene... What a horrible way to go.

Ninja Gaiden 3 is very hard. It even harder then Ninja Gaiden. Ninja Gaiden can be beaten without game genie, but this game is about impossible to do that with. There is a limited amount of continues for this game. I've read the Japan version of this game is easier like not having limited continues.

What happens to Irene?

@ Mii be you : Read the games description. In the second paragraph it says she is assinated.

I hope they release the 3rd one soon cos i want to buy the first two. Im not buying them unless i get the whole series.
Same with splatterhouse, I hope they release number 2 soon. 3rd really doesnt matter cos im not going to get it anyways.

I can't believe I was dumb enough to miss that.
(A response to what Jackaroo said.)

man i never pass the second level when i played this as a kid but now im more experinced so i might pass it this time

hey is dis game 2 player? cuz i played a rom of this and it just says press start to start game in the beginning and so i did and then it just started w/o asking if i wanna play with 1 player or 2 players so i was wondering if dis is a 2 player game

No its not two player

This game is great, the music, the graphics,the history and the cinematics.
My favorite NG game.

The hardest Ninja Gaiden game due to only 5 continues. Still, as excellent as the other two if not better. NG2 is by far my favorite, but this one shows that they made three great games in a trilogy. NG is one of the best platformers ever IMO. Love the cinematics.

I'm not a huge NG fan, but I know some people that will be happy to know that we're getting this and Phantasy Star™ II in North America tomorrow.

Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom is coming out this Monday, along with Phantasy Star II. I would get it but... Ninja Gaiden I is plenty for me, actually.

Hi! Since most VC games save your progress automatically when you leave, NG3 on VC should be easier than the original NES version.

^Automatic saves don't help much when you have limited continues.

Should be noted that the original Japanese version does not have the problems people dislike this game for. Enemies deal more reasonable amounts of damage (all damage dealt was doubled in the US version), you have infinite continues... and there's a password system. Makes for a pretty good game, in fact, unlike this version. What on Earth were they thinking?

@Adamant:
I can't dream of what they were thinking when they made those changes to the US version. On the other hand I know that FinalFantasy IV (at that time released as FF II in teh US) to be much easier than the jap.original, and I can't explain that either. If I was american I' d be pissed off by both, I can tell you, those japanese seem to think you guys are either masochists or to weak to play propper games...

Well, but I'm not from NA, so I save all my anger for being pissed about not getting most games at all, not even in mutilates or insanely altered versions...

i dont remember this game being harder tehn the first one

I've actually registered on the site to protest the score for this game. Of all the Ninja Gaidens, this was my favourite as a kid (maybe because it was the one that I actually owned), and even though I never beat it then I spent countless hours trying to and enjoyed every minute of it. I don't think any game has given me quite the same feeling of mastery, because when you're descending through level three with your "boomerang" star slingshotting with maximum efficiency, you feel like a "ninja". The changes to the game formula are puzzling, but I've been waiting for this game most of all.

I would have to agree. A two out of five does seem pretty harsh even if the game is not as good as the first two. Just out of curiosity, what rating would you give the japan version?

I'll probably download it after I've beat NG2. I used to own this one, but never did beat it. Limited continues makes it an awful lot harder....but what bragging rights you'd have!!!

Well I remember playing this game on my friends NES and I've already beaten the previous Ninja Gaiden games, but this one always gave me trouble and side scrollers are my specialty when it comes to gaming.

Tough as nails for sure, but highly undeserving of a 2 / 5. Smooth gameplay, lovely and imaginative presentation, cutscenes that are no more cheesy than the ones we were presented in the first two titles, and the music is once again fitting and pulse-pounding... what more do you want? I can think of a dozen titles much harder than this (Battletoads, one of the most greatly revered titles for the NES is damn near impossible, even with cheats) and besides... mastering the game on only five continues gives one a terrific sense of accomplishment. Maybe I'll start up a competition between myself and my two hardcore gamer friends to see who can beat it using the least amount of continues... The showdown for Ultimate Ninja bragging rights.

Wow, just two stars? I think one of the most important rules of game reviewing is to never equate a games difficulty with it's overall quality. Sure just getting passed the second level can be a chore but the game oozes quality all the way there. The controls are spot on, the graphics among the best on the NES and the gameplay is just as rewarding as it is in the previous two games. I can't speak for beyond the third level as I've never passed it myself but I'm betting it's just as polished as the first part of the game.

Moreso.

It doesn't look as hard as the first one i played through on VC (and that one was hard as sh%t according to me) so if this ever reach Europe shores, i will download it and give it a chance. Still waiting for the second Ninja Gaiden though (also known as Shadow Warrior here 'cause those germans didn't really like when games and movies had names with the word "ninja" in it).
I will surely give this a chance.

Definitely the hardest of the three, it's also the best looking. A wonderful wrap up to the original NES trilogy.

Come on guys, remove those rose-tinted specs. This isn't a patch on the first two NES Ninja Gaiden games and you know it.

Hey guys, ive beaten this game (yup, im a hardcore gamer!). At the end of the game it is revealed that Irene survived! Yaaaaay

Ah, the low score due to difficulty, a perfect example of how newer aged gamers seem to only want instant gratification games that they can beat with a blind fold.

Yes, the game has limited continues, and yes, it is a very difficult game, but it is by no means impossible, nor is it deserving of the lower score. The game fixed many of the problems the first two games did (Cheap deaths, the birds, jerky controls, etc.), and added a much more heightened difficulty to the game.

I dont' see why you're criticizing it for being "too hard". As someone said, difficulty should NEVER be a reason to rate a game poorly. Yes, it should be addressed in the review as a warning to the casual player, but it shouldn't affect a game's score.

It's really sad when people rate games poorly almost exclusively for their difficulty. If the game's to hard, don't play it. But don't bash the game for being to difficult.

And as far as the game being to outlandishly goofy:
Ninja Gaiden 1 and 2, with their ridiculous locations, goofy boss names, enemies that ranged from random doves to leperish flea men, and an underground ice world right along side a lava world... yeah, NG3 is way more outlandish than the first two.

Yup, as I enter my 29th year of being on this earth and my 20th year of being a gamer, I have to admit I'm still just 'newer aged'.

I'm nearing my 19th gaming year and I'm only just turning 21.

Only ever played II and III on the X-BOX version. I hated both I and II, but loved III. Upon getting I on the VC, I love it. So no idea what I'll think of II and III now. Shame it's looking like I'll never find out :x

Well than Damo, obviously our skills are vastly different, because I can complete Ninja Gaiden III within about an hour with very little trouble at all, and no, I have not played this game inside and out. I just never found Ninja Gaiden III to be at all difficult in any way, shape, or form. The lack of enemies re spawning, the hideously simplistic boss AI, and the lack of cheap deaths and pitfalls that plagued the first two games of the series make this by far the easiest. Just because it has continues means nothing, or am I to believe that any game that has continues automaticly makes it a difficult and challenging game?

Oh, and I'm 21, and also in my 20th year of gaming (my brother got me started playing games very early with SMB2. That's not say I was ever good at it at one or two, but you see my point).

But my point still stands that rating this game poorly because it's to hard for you is just plain silly and ignorant. Not to mention the enemies and locals are no more outlandish than Ninja Gaiden 2, or the recently released Ninja Gaiden II on the 360.

This game has superior controls over the first two games. It is easier due to the fact that they eliminated the eagles and added the strider-like sword add on. I can make it to level 4 without using a continue. However I tend to get stuck on level 5.

A challenging game to end a challenging series. Not a bad way to do a trilogy. Not bad at all.

I actually like this game- not as much as NG II (that would just be silly, wouldn't it?) but I downloaded it before downloading the first Gaiden. I'll tell you why: Ninja Gaiden has terrible colours and its graphics are sub-par for the series. II is excellent all around but III has the nicest detail of the series. Its ONLY harder because of the limited continues. Some of the others (ie: Ness) are right, the bosses are quite easy and the re-spawning problems are gone. I like the game, though I have yet to finish it. I like a good challenge (one that's managable, mind you, not like S. Ghouls and Ghosts) and I personally think the sword upgrade goes a long way to making the game more playable than the first two.

I really don't understand such a low score. Newer players who are unfamiliar with the series may be instantly turned off and never investigate a decent game when they see 2/5. AT LEAST give this thing a 3. Come on!

I liked the first two NG games, but something about this one just didn't click with me.

WTF? 2 stars? C'mon dude, the game is easy to beat.