What ever happened to Ninja Gaiden II?

[Phoenix]

I was just playing Ninja Gaiden III on my Lynx and was going to make a post on here seeing if anyone else found it as difficult as I did first time around, I decided first to search for the manual (easier than finding mine) on AA's Lynx database.

 

Only to find that the entries are.. Ninja Gaiden and then Ninja Gaiden III: Ancient Ship of Doom.

 

Now I'm just wondering what the story behind Ninja Gaiden II is? Was one ever made?

 

Cheers.

[Horst]

Yes I seem to remember playing NG2 in the arcade. There was never a version for the Lynx. And yes both of the Lynx games are VERY difficult.

[Phoenix]

Yes I seem to remember playing NG2 in the arcade. There was never a version for the Lynx. And yes both of the Lynx games are VERY difficult.

 

Thanks for your reply Horst. I never realised that Ninja Gaiden was originally in the arcade. I have fond memories of playing Ninja Gaiden on my Sega Master System when I was a kid (I'm only 20). I managed to find it again recently and have had a great time playing it.

 

Off sick today from work so was playing some Chip's Challenge when I came across my Ninja Gaiden III cart, thought I'd have a crack at it. I'm glad you say it is difficult, I was wondering if I'm just incredibly bad at it.

 

It may be just me, but ever since I bought my first Lynx I seem to have a noticed a trend in that majority of the games seem a tad more difficult compared to those on other systems. Anyone else agree?

[Gregory DG]

Well, first there was the arcade version of Ninja Gaiden. It was a Double Dragon beat-em-up with ninjas.

 

Then the NES version was released, but Tecmo didn't mimic the arcade game with it.

 

It was apparently popular because Tecmo released NGII and NGIII for the NES.

 

Then the Lynx came along. And Atari had a thing for doing arcade translations of games instead of NES ones. So we got the arcade Ninja Gaiden for the Lynx.

 

Then someone decided they wanted the latest greatest version of Ninja Gaiden for the Lynx. Turns out that was the NES verison of Ninja Gaiden III.

 

So there you have it.

[Phoenix]

Well, first there was the arcade version of Ninja Gaiden. It was a Double Dragon beat-em-up with ninjas.

 

Then the NES version was released, but Tecmo didn't mimic the arcade game with it.

 

It was apparently popular because Tecmo released NGII and NGIII for the NES.

 

Then the Lynx came along. And Atari had a thing for doing arcade translations of games instead of NES ones. So we got the arcade Ninja Gaiden for the Lynx.

 

Then someone decided they wanted the latest greatest version of Ninja Gaiden for the Lynx. Turns out that was the NES verison of Ninja Gaiden III.

 

So there you have it.

 

Thanks for that Gregorgy DG, much appreciated!

[Horst]

I suck pretty bad at both Ninja Gaiden games, Bad Dudes was always my favourite. Ninja Gaiden on NES is a classic! It had some pretty cool cut scenes for the time. NG3 is 98% same on NES and Lynx.

Speaking of Double Dragon... Anyone ever play it on Lynx? I've been staring at my sealed box for a week debating on whether to open it. From what I've read its pretty bad... Opinions?

[+Sauron]

Ninja Gaiden on the Lynx wasn't all that difficult. At least it seemed easier to me than the arcade version, but that's probably because I didn't need to feed the Lynx a steady diet of quarters in order to continue playing the game.

[Cobra Kai]

Now that the history lesson is over, I want to chime in that NGIII is a good port. Could have used more color though, that is my only gripe. I noticed it doesn't really get talked about much around here, is everyone's opinion of the game that it's not very good or what?

[Wesker]

Ninja Gaiden II The Dark Sword of Chaos was never announced or listed in any Atari Lynx release schedule, so it seems this isn't a canceled nor a lost game for the Lynx; it wasn't actually considered by Atari. Only Gametek got a porting license of this one from Tecmo, and it was for PC MS-DOS and Commodore Amiga platforms.

 

A port of the NES second Ninja Gaiden game would have been very good in order to fit a trilogy in the Lynx, even if the first part is different to the one on the NES trilogy, and plot-wise unrelated (the Arcade game has a very simple plot, nothing to do with the Tecmo Theatre ones).

 

It seems Atari didn't care about fitting a Ninja Gaiden numeral succession at all, and as already said, they just brought Ninja Gaiden III The Ancient Ship of Doom since it was the last Ninja Gaiden game released on the NES at that time. The only concern of this is about the plot (something well carried in this series with the Tecmo Theatre), with people who haven't played at least one of the two previous NES games not knowing before hand who is Irene Lew or another characters. But it isn't also a great problem for someone not caring about action game plots.

Edited June 14, 2008 by Wesker

[Phoenix]

Now that the history lesson is over, I want to chime in that NGIII is a good port. Could have used more color though, that is my only gripe. I noticed it doesn't really get talked about much around here, is everyone's opinion of the game that it's not very good or what?

 

I'm actually really enjoying Ninja Gaiden III. I'm still probably no good at it... but it's a brilliant game.

 

For me personally, nothing compares to Ninja Gaiden on the SMS... my first taste of the NG games, and for me the best!

[+Psionic]

For me personally, nothing compares to Ninja Gaiden on the SMS... my first taste of the NG games, and for me the best!

Yeah, Gregory DG didn't mention that one (probably because it was not released in North America).

 

Sega obtained a license from Tecmo to develop and publish their own version of the game (with a totally different story/continuity from the NES series)...that's where that one came from. They also developed a NG title for the Game Gear and another for the Mega Drive/Genesis (which wasn't released).

[Trip_Cannon]

There is a good looking conversion for the TG-16 as well. However, it too was not released in the states and I think all it is is a redo of the NES original.

[NightSprinter]

There is a good looking conversion for the TG-16 as well. However, it too was not released in the states and I think all it is is a redo of the NES original.

 

 

Yeah, the PC Engine version was more or less a straight port or re-do of the NES one.

[SwedenLynxer]

There is a good looking conversion for the TG-16 as well. However, it too was not released in the states and I think all it is is a redo of the NES original.

 

 

Yeah, the PC Engine version was more or less a straight port or re-do of the NES one.

The soundtrack in the PC Engine version is really bad though, not even close to the awesome music in the NES version.

 

Also, although never released outside Japan it has a nice option for english text in the game.

[Cris1997XX]

On 6/25/2008 at 12:26 AM, Trip_Cannon said:

There is a good looking conversion for the TG-16 as well. However, it too was not released in the states and I think all it is is a redo of the NES original.

Sorry for resurrecting an old AF thread, but I need to point this out: All the PC Engine version does is spruce up the on-screen colors (It gets the job done much better than the SNES 'remaster' anyway), because the background scrolling...ooh boy, it gives you a headache. They could've handled the port in a more competent way

Edited May 10, 2022 by Cris1997XX