Forum > Gaming Discussion > Did you enjoy Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword? Then you should try...
Did you enjoy Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword? Then you should try...
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Sun, 07 Dec 2008 16:43:43
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**KER-POOF!**

...Prince of Persia: The Fallen King for the DS!

Nicely animated. Stylus (exclusive) controls. Similar functions to NG: Tap the Prince to block. Tap an enemy to strike. Slash Diagonally on a boulder to break it. Double tap to do a roll under obstacles. Tap from wall to wall to wall-climb. Regulate running/walking speed by how far you position the stylus from the Prince on the touch screen.

It seems pretty simple at first. It shares many obstacles with the original Prince of Persia games, like Spikes in the floor, buzz-saw blades to avoid and falling to your death from too high a height. You get to fight a few enemies at once as you progress. You need to collect coins to bribe golden statues to let you pass. The puzzles get to be a little more intense as you get further in as well. Trigger a switch, roll under an obstacle, climb a wall, jump over a spiked pit, while avoiding rolling boulders BEFORE a door closes. Things of THAT nature as you get about 15% in.

There's a second playable character (NOT Elika) who seems to be some kind of magic user. I don't know if he has levels of his own --OR-- if he returns to the levels the Prince has covered already. There were some chests and mysteriously corrupted objects I could not interact with (unless I just missed something along the way), that I am assuming the second character (Magus) will be able to use.

All in all, the game seems to be a lot of fun so far. I bought it thinking it was a side-scrolling platformer along the lines of the original and was wondering why the buttons weren't doing anything while I was reading the intro story! The stylus controls takes a few minutes to adjust to, but they seem functional enough to me! I was swayed by the "Best of E3 2008 Runner-Up" sticker on the front of the box, thinking: "How bad could it be?" Then I realized there were NO OTHER side-scrolling games of this nature AT E3! The "E3 Game of the Show" in the same category was the Kirby DS game, so that's not saying too much for the Prince.

I'm still enjoying it though, despite it not being what I thought it was, despite the 2nd-class status from IGN, despite the suspicious LACK of reviews on the internet BEFORE the game was released to stores! You can download demos from the game itself so Demo Stations in stores should have it for trial and I believe I read it was available on the Nintendo Channel, as well (but I don't have my Wii at the moment to confirm that), so give it a try!



I am pretty confident, IF you liked Ninja Gaiden last year, you'll find something to enjoy in the Prince's adventure THIS year!

See ya!

**RE-POOF!**
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Sun, 07 Dec 2008 17:22:33
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I've been loosely following this game, and it does looks great. Like you, I thought it controlled like the original PoP games, but the stylus controls do sound interesting. I'd buy it if I had a DS (mine broke last summer). This and Soul Bubbles keep reminding me of why I really need to buy another DS soon. Sad
Edited: Sun, 07 Dec 2008 17:23:07

The VG Press

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Sun, 07 Dec 2008 19:57:00
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I played the ninja gaiden demo and decided only to pick it up when it's cheaper. The controls work great and its fun but it's short finishing time and repetitive nature put me off it at full price.

I did get the Prince of persia demo off the nintendo channel and I don't like it at all. They definetely have the right idea, but failed execution if you ask me. Visually this should look more like the Xbox Arcade prince of persia, aka a 2-D Sands of time. This looks scrappy and has no charm, almost like a barely evolved NES game. But the controls are a worry, they are nowhere near as accurate as they should  be, there is no tactile feeling there for me. Sometimes it even feels like a delayed response.

It doesn't come close to Phantom Hourglass or Ninja Gaiden in the control stakes. The demo was overly simplistic, the enemies were hard to hit or dodge. I liked the idea of the magician guy that you use to traverse the level though.

On another note the new Dragonball DS game has a demo up and it's trying to be a Phantom hourglass game and mimicks the controls, but still isn't a 1/4 as good.

The DS games I am looking forward to getting are Proffessor Layton and Fire Emblem, then World ends with you.

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Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:14:26
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i really enjoyed ninja gaiden dragon sword ... i think i will try this one first to see if i like it.  it reminds me of the sands of time for the GBA which i thought was a decent 2D platformer (of course this one has the ambitious touch controls coming into it).

i think like GG there are other DS games out which i'd be buying before this one ... certainly fire emblem (as well as the other two GG mentions if i didn't have them already).  i also think i will get DS version of age of mythology as i quite enjoyed age of empires DS.

___

Listen to Wu-Tang and watch Kung-Fu

The VG Press

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Mon, 08 Dec 2008 03:20:33
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gamingeek said:

...failed execution if you ask me. Visually this should look more like the Xbox Arcade prince of persia, aka a 2-D Sands of time. This looks scrappy and has no charm, almost like a barely evolved NES game. But the controls are a worry, they are nowhere near as accurate as they should  be, there is no tactile feeling there for me. Sometimes it even feels like a delayed response.

The demo was overly simplistic, the enemies were hard to hit or dodge. I liked the idea of the magician guy that you use to traverse the level though.

Huh? Really? That's the danger of demos: sometimes just a few minutes of game play can hurt your chances of liking it rather than helping it.

The "scrappy" new Prince is exactly that: Scrappy! I am playing the new Prince of Persia on the PS3 and although I haven't gotten very far, I can tell you: He is NOTHING like the old Prince. He IS scruffy, scarred, wise-cracking and light-hearted. I am not even sure if he is an actual Prince or not in these versions of the game! The look of the DS version is styled after the look of the console versions.

As for the controls, if you haven't played the first few levels of the game where they actually teach you your repertoire, I can see why you would think they were unresponsive. I can assure you that's the furthest from the truth! Where you place the stylus in relation to the Prince decides how fast you run. Tapping an enemy strikes the enemy. Tapping the Prince makes him block. Double tapping makes him roll under or climb up obstacles. Tapping the other side of a hole makes him jump across. I have absolutely NO problems with the controls whatsoever!

It's too bad, really, I thought people here would jump all over this game... Now I am more curious than ever to see reviews! Is this just a typical me looking for the best in a game or is everyone else going to dislike it to? Now I am even more intrigued!

Edited: Mon, 08 Dec 2008 03:24:03
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Mon, 08 Dec 2008 10:40:59
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The demo does teach you all the moves. I found there was a weird delay, I tap an enemy and the prince sort of hesitates then jumps or doesn't to initiate a slashing animation. I think the game is missing visual and audio clues. It's very important when it comes to touch controls.

For instance in advance wars there is a clicking sound when you scroll, a sound when you touch a square, or scroll up and down a menu. In Phantom hourglass link has a very deliberate sound design to his footsteps, or when you throw out a grapple hook.

I can barely run and jump over a gap in one movement here.

It just doesn't feel precise enough to me. I think they absolutely had the right idea though.


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