This game is a lot of fun. Great graphics and controls.

A handful of action-oriented Nintendo DS titles just somehow seem to fail to take advantage of that touch screen it was built with. Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword, on the other hand, did it right. The basic philosophy of this game, which is "Either use the touch screen or lose it," is very sound. Seriously, you bought the DS system, so you might as well get a game that fully takes advantage of the hardware. Yet, you also want to get that adernaline rush from an action game. This game gives you both. Slashing (not literally) across the screen with your stylus, scribbling back and forth to pull off Ryu Hayabusa's Ultimate Technique, and tapping the screen to throw shiruken, all parts of a pure stroke of genius by the guys at Tecmo. The story is merely an archetypical "save the princess/shrine maiden/hot chick while preventing the resurrection of an evil force" kind of thing told out through nifty cutscenes. The graphics are pre-rendered with polygon models as sprites, which make the game look fantastic. The soundtrack is neat and fits the action well. The only real thing to complain about is that the game is hard. Of course, every Ninja Gaiden game is supposed to be hard. Otherwise, it's not Ninja Gaiden. On the harder difficulties, and especially the final boss battle, prepare to get a lot of Game Overs. Overall, the game is excellent for those looking to get their fix of action gaming on the go. One word of advice: Buy a screen protector for the touch screen. You'll DEFINITELY need it. Also, be sure to give your hands a break every so often, because playing a level on the harder difficulties can really leave your writing hand sore.

The game was amazing from the beginning but gotten hard and boring as the player progressed. The attacks and powers are repetitive. The storyline was good but the game become a wasted effort once you completed it.

I got this game a while back. I have to say, it's better than I expected. The touch screen controls are basically what you would be expecting, from a DS hack-and-slash game. The story seems to be that the Fiends are thought to be extinct. And then, Ryu's student is abducted by one. Ryu sets out to rescue her, but when he learns that the Fiends still exist, he decides to attempt to destroy them, again. The unique thing about this game is that, you have to hold your system sideways to properly play it. Though that may sound strange, it's actually pretty cool. The graphics are some of the best on the DS. I have played both XBOX Ninja Gaiden games. so I can safely say that those are better, but if you liked those this is DEFINITELY worth your time. I highly recommend it!!!

Okay, this game has the best graphics I`ve seen on the ds. The stages kinda of reminded me of Devil May Cry, and the monsters of God of War. This game was extremley challenging, maybe because its my first Ninja Gaiden game. Even though its challenging aspects, its still extremley fun, I just can't put it down. The storyline is Awsome, and there are great cut-scenes. They aren't animated, or have any voice, but they still look cool, and if it wasn't for cool cut-scenes I wouldn't play games probably. I wish they made it into CGI cut-scenes instead. Anyways, the controlls are OUTSTANDING. They are all touch screen, and you get to use these super tite spell attacks, and you get unlimited shurikens, and explosive arrows,. This game also has some RPG element to it. For example, you can upgrade your sword, health, and you can buy new spell attacks, which are called ninpo in this game. The characters name is Ryu, and what you basically do is Rescue a girl named Momiji, collect Dragon Stones, and save the world. Name is funny my Desi chaps. Anyways, this game doesn't take full potential of the wi-fi, and friend codes is defintley not helping. All you use the wi-fi for is checking your ranking info, which is pretty. Over all this game is a great buy. Plus Gamestop, and other Major retailers are selling it cheap.

This game......man where do i start. Firstly,i would like to say this game (to me) is pretty challenging. But JUST challenging enough to where i dont wanna give up.The graphics are stunning for the DS. And the levels are beautiful. It is fairly long a little too short though. I loved the story line. Byu's Apprentice, Momiji, has been kidnapped by the Black Spider Ninja Clan. So you must save her. As you go along you learn something that,if not stopped, could being endless chaos and destruction to the world. So what do you do? Slash fiends and enemy ninja to shreds. Speaking of slashing, the controls are really great.You slide your stylus across an enemy to slash 'em. And you tap them to shoot a shuriken or arrow. You slide your stylus up to jump and theres other stuff too....... The sound is awesome. During a cutscene the characters wont say much but it is still good quality. All in all i recommend this game to ANYONE. Especially those interested in Ninjas, Swords, Dragons, or weird monster called Fiends.

If you own a Nintendo DS, you may have figured out that most games that come out for it is aimed at a casual audience. A more serious gamer may have gone with a PSP/console. If you chose the Nintendo DS, I am telling you that this game is one of the best to come out for the system. The game takes full advantage of the DS touch-screen and made the problems full touch control not be present. It doesn't take long to get into full swing with the game's touch control, and before long you wont even have to think too much about what to do. Although the game is only about 5 hours long, it never overstays it's welcome. There are different difficulty settings so the game is still playable to those who aren't familiar with the controls. If this puts you off buying it let me tell you that it is still a great challenging game. Once you're on Head Ninja difficulty, strategy becomes necessary and the game is almost impossible to beat. The story is an interesting one and follows off the story from Ninja Gaiden, although you do not need to have played the game to get the story. Graphics are good and nothing looks unreal (unless you're counting the monsters). The graphics remain crisp and the camera never gets somewhere where you can't see enemies. The sound is good but it may get on your nerves for Ryu Hasabuya to keep yelling "Haa!" and "Yaa!" whenever you strike or get hit. However the background sounds and music really add to the experience. The interface on he pause and main menu is basic but this is good as you never get confuse trying to start or switch Ninpo (spells). There are seven spells in totally and three different projectiles all of which, if used correctly, can greatly help you when fighting many enemies or the tough bosses. Although you only get the choice of the sword as your main weapon, this is good for the type of entertainment this game wants to offer. Team Ninja didn't want to overload players with lots of gimmicky weapons, trying to get them to learn how to use them all. The use of the sword, three projectiles, and seven spells makes for the best arsenal for the game. So to recap everything said, this game is basically just all around fun. I still got that sense of being a kick a** ninja and the game kept me so entertained I played all the way through the first two difficulties the day I got it! The game brings many new ideas to the DS about what full touch-screen control can have to offer. Team Ninja have greatly succeeded in bring a fun and imaginative game to the DS, which will be fun more many no matter how many times they play it. It is a game you can easily lose yourself in and become hooked to in moments. To anyone who wants the best of the best games, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword, should be in the list.

I think that this game deserves a 7.5 but there are no fractions so a 7 will have to do, yet it would be too prestigious to give this title an 8. This game is Zelda style with the touch screen controls and stylus strokes. You will guide Ryu Hayabusa by holding the stylus in a certain place away from him and you can change his speed depending on how far away you are holding the stylus from him. Your basic attack is a simple stroke on the enemy you wish to disassemble and you learn different combos to dispose of your foes in a quicker and stylized fashion. The graphics are also raising the bar for the DS's horsepower through it's detailed characters, surroundings and smooth movements. You also hold the DS sideways Brain-Age style which can feel uncomfortable at times. All your controls are done via the touch screen except for parrying which can be done by any button. You are also given the ability to throw shurikens at hard to reach pests. This game has two main concepts: Walking and Fighting. Fighting is so repetitive to the point of mindlessness as you end up not even looking at the screen but slashing the touch screen slaughtering too many enemies. There are thirteen chapters or levels in the game; maybe 10 minutes each, and are all fairly simple and offer no challenge or puzzles. This is a good addition to the Ninja Gaiden Series and DS library, but the simplicity and lack luster fighting are not meaty enough to earn itself a high score.

i have read three of the reviews and all the three all said the game is great. in the beginning its really fun but after three days or even two, its mad boring. you basically do all the same things all the time. all it is is that you fight by sliding the stylus and that is all you do besides walking around. i got sick of it and besides the first boss the rest are very easy which should be the other way around. really you shouldnt waste your money on this game because it will really make you regret it. i say that my best game that i have would be new super mario bros. besides the main game there is also mini games that are fun and challenging and on multiplayer you only need one game. and there is even more minigames when you do that.

It was an excellent idea of making Ninja Gaiden on DS. Though I wouldn't say that the game's better than Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. The Graphics is freakin awesome with excellent frame rate (60 fps). Controls are excellent 2. I didn't really expect the game to be so short though (6:30 HOURS!), I cant really complain about the challenge of the game, it makes it good 4 casual gamers (like my 4 year old bro) so they wont give it back 3 hours after buying it, but if u put it on Head Ninja Difficulty, you wont notice a difference of the difficulty, but when a path is blocked & you start fighting enemies, the dudes will keep coming & coming. I also like the fact that u get to play as a different character, Rin. I'm tell ya how to play with her, so if u don't like spoilers, don't read this part. BEAT THE BOSS ON CHAPTER 1 AS MOMIJI. They're simple right? I recommend you PLAY THIS FREAKIN GAME! ITS AWESOME!