Great guide to one of the most notoriously hard NES games! Fun fact: Ryukahr actually was Ryu Hayabusa's sensei. He taught him everything he knew to be a master ninja. Ryu Hayabusa's original name was "Robert Hayabusa", but he changed his first name to "Ryu" in honor of his teacher.
This all makes sense now. The Sekiro Armored Warrior boss was actually trying to spoil Ryukahr's secret and that is why we had to push him off the bridge. "ROBERRRRRRT!!"
Important note, if you die on the final boss, yes you will get sent back to 6-1, but when you make it back to the final boss you will not have have to repeat the phases of the boss that you've already defeated. Yes you have to redo all of stage 6, but the final boss gets progressively easier as long as you can knock out a phase or two each trip.
Another thing about that is if you manage to make it back, your health doesn't refill the second time so if you're low on health before reaching the boss, just take a death on 6-3 and do it again. Not ideal but better than going into a boss phase fight with 3 units of health or something
@@AkaiAzul Become a member. Membership will net you a badge, access to members only videos, and of course it supports the growth of the channel. I can't remember for sure, but I do believe the badges change based on how many months you are a member.
That "death jingle", wether you like it or not, it will become embedded in your memory bank for life due to all the dying you'll be doing in this game.😂😂
Ah yes, thankfully there are large swathes of time I have forgotten the death jingle from NG... but... when I replay it every 4 years or so... It sticks again for a few months.... 😆
You know something, I've watched this and your TMNT video and at first I was upset that some of your videos seem to following in AVGN's footsteps rather than being your own -- but your videos are just so good, there's no messing about, no lengthy intro while we look at a paused screen, no silly asides and your commentary is wonderful. I don't usually watch full vids by UA-camrs I don't know but your stuff has been excellent. Subscribed.
That's what really sets these videos apart from other walkthroughs. He's just winging it and riding on skill, personality and whatever random shenanigans end up going down. That, and the heavy emphasis on gameplay whereas most people just do voiceovers.
@@tsimon8374 i think it works well for walkthroughs because it is more representative of an actual playthrough where people have different pacing, when you on the highest level of play you tend to see the same patterns in a lot of nes game because of how RNG works in a lot of those games, but him just "chillin" while in game and letting time run down changes that up in stuff so that you get to see patterns and spawns you normally wouldn't on youtube videos
I love this series a lot. You're so chill and realistic at the same time. It's so easy to panic, get frustrated and freak out. And lord knows, I've done that plenty of times with these games. But yeah, you're like yup... it's hard not going to lie, you have to practice, but here is how to do it. And most of the time, it's just take your time, breathe and don't do stupid shit. Mad respect. EDIT: Ooohh do Ninja Gaiden 2 and Castlevania next. Those are two games I have beaten but man... did it take a piece of me with them.
I remember playing this game a while ago, and everything felt like a puzzle for you to solve. It got annoying having to be sent back every time I lost to the final boss, but after a while, I was able to beat the final level no problem once I learned all the tricks.
So, funny story here. I was playing this game, taking turns with my older brother a long time ago, and I kept dying on that next to last boss (didn’t know about the fast slash technique back then and kept getting hit by the body and the flames that stayed on screen). My brother got past him, and then he kept dying to the final boss’s shrimp fest. I kept asking for a chance, and he was like “you couldn’t even beat the boss before him, so how are you going to beat this one?” Finally, after losing a bunch, he got frustrated and let me play again. Fortunately I had gotten the patterns down while watching him, and I got super lucky and beat the final boss on my first try. I know it’s a harder boss, especially without knowing the fast slash technique, but somehow I managed it. I need to get revenge on that next to last boss, though, so I can feel like I’ve truly beaten this game.
At the beginning I also took turns with my brother, but after repeating stage 6 for the hundredth time or so he got frustrated and quit never to play again, still took me months of daily playing to beat the game, that crazy jump in stage 6 without the clip trick is damn near imposible
@@magibubu the Japanese version of 3 has infinite continues No start from the level bullshit And very little respawning enemies One of my favourite ninja games ever rivaling shinobi 3 American version should have stayed close to the original otherwise the difficulty its pretty good
'Ninpou' literally means 'ninja art' (i.e. the skills a ninja uses). It would make more sense in reference to the different special attacks you can collect. I've heard a lot of players call the 'weapon energy' item ninpou in other vids but in the official manual it's just called 'spiritual strength' apparently
Nin implies Body, Po implies Control. Ninpo is at the centre of the art of the Ninja, because to perfect it it requires them to fully master their bodies and control the spirit that drives it.
Anytime my freinds felt cheated in a game we called it getting "TECMO'd" -example those bird knocking you in a pit. This is the game. I had this as a kid. Took me years to beat. Infact didnt beat this until after i Beat Ninja Gaiden 2. But I did it. And i reccommend it to anyone who wants a great challenge. Love this game. Love the Music. Masterpiece.
Lol. Wow. That was a term I heard from elementary school when we played NES games. That and when playing SF2 on the SNES we would say " You're going to.." before the game announced the next country before the match.
Ninja garden 2 is my favorite out of all of them. Great sound track and difficult is hard but not like the first and third one. A balance in between both games.
A lot of people always say "they hate water levels" or "snow levels" I hate anything with" death by knockbacks" Which is why I have a love/hate relationship with this series.
Just discovered your channel from the first video you did in this series. So happy to see another one pop up and damn did this game suck when I tried playing as a kid!
1991... with unbreakable determination, I finally beat Ninja Gaiden. I leap up and shout for joy. my mother comes running into the living room and says "are you ok? why are you yelling?" Out of my mouth come the words "BECAUSE I FUCKING BEAT NINJA GAIDEN!" Suffice to say, that's why i know what neutrogena hand soap tastes like. but it was worth every disgusting second, because i beat NINJA FUCKING GAIDEN!!!!
Just subscribed to your channel! This is an awesome idea for a series. I was firmly in the "Ninja Gaiden is impossible" camp until seeing your play through. I'm stoked to see what you play next!
things todays generation will never understand. when we played NES we had one difficulty setting, and that was INSANELY IMPOSSIBLE. this was the standard growing up.
I love these videos, they are so much fun to watch for many different reasons. Makes me want to give another stab at these games that I never finished when I was a kid. Can't wait to see what other games are coming up!
@@black_squall it is but that’s what it’s called. Go watch some ninja gaiden speed runners. For the record I agree with you but they all just call it mashing.
29:04 could not be any more accurate lmao The jetpack ninjas in 6-2, and also the last jump in 3-2 were my biggest hurdles getting through this, but you're right it does feel pretty great to finish! Loving this new series so far ryu!
I graduated high school in '89. A friend of mine, a junior, got kicked out of his house in '89 when we were still in school. He moved in with us for a time and brought his NES. We split the $60 cost of the Ninja Gaiden cartridge lured by the awesome box art. I beat that game one night, or I should say one morning around 7 AM, with no witnesses as he had long fell asleep. I will always love Ninja Gaiden! He had the first Contra and I don't think we ever beat that one. At least not back then. Maybe that would be a good Dubunking the Difficulty. Thanks for the video!
Great guide, you covered all the big problem spots very well. 👍 Loving this series! One tip I’d add is for players to learn to use the big orange windmill stars effectively. If you time it right you can avoid “catching” them on their return, and have them continue to zoom back and forth around you to cut through multiple enemies in some of those tight spots where there are a lot of spawning foes. Better than taking damage and maybe getting bumped off a ledge!
I never understood how the Angry Video Game Nerd talked crap about using the Game Genie on this game. “And there’s no good Game Genie codes either. Infinite lives? Isn’t that what you already have??” No, you have infinite CONTINUES. Lives means you can reappear in the same spot until you pass it. Darf.
It's easy to debunk the difficulty of these games with modern internet. Back then, unless you had a friend with game knowledge, an appropriate Nintendo Power, or the money to pay for hotline support, you were hosed. These games were hard and there were no save states to easily retry hard sections.
@@aliasmcdoe No they were not. I had a subscription to nintendo power. Still have the first 200 in a box in storage. Prima wasn't a thing, guides were not everywhere, we did even have pagers much less anything like the internet. The glitches that this dude uses to break these games (looking at mega man and the pause glitch) were not well known before the speed running communities found them, so do me a favor, and shut up since you obviously don't know what the hell you are talking about.
My God. I remember how we bullied a friend bc he held the pad just like you do. Years later, comes out it's the only way to run a speedrun. Instant subscription.
He did play Ghosts & Goblins on his other channel. It's in the Playlist 'Extraordinarily Hard Games.' It's not really a walkthrough, though, but he plays the whole game, if I remember correctly.
"I'm gonna need you to stop and rock out to this tune. This is like the best song in the game, straight up" And just for pure good taste, you've got yourself a subscriber.
NES era was all about persevering against these hard games but holy crap I think I only ever made it to the third boss as a kid. I didn't own the game though. Knock back pit deaths and respawns were what made this game so hard.
The only thing that makes this game really hard is the last four stages. Dying to the boss once and having to start the whole four levels over again is brutal.
I'd take a step further and say last two stages. I've always felt people over blow the difficulty with this game, though I could never beat that last stage I can get through most of the game fine. It's the ending that's hard.
Watching this I recall getting through to 5-2, but that is it. I played this as a kid and got so frustrated at it. This was the only game that made me want to throw a controller.
This was really impressive.. and I love the ninja gaiden passion! I think you would dig the fact that we actually put this game on a bike with an NES and tv, I ran behind it and beat ninja gaiden in 3.1 miles! About 24 minutes! I’ve been trying to get it seen, but for some reason it only has a couple thousand views.
If they ever make a Ninja Gaiden movie... they _must_ have those Jet-pack Ninjas in one scene! Motion picture has, to my knowledge, never seen that before in film history! X-D
I love this game and the Unbreakable Determination ost is my fav from all the NES era! The first chapter of the saga is the best imo The second one is really infamous with annoying enemies everywhere and the final boss Meanwhile the third one is so different in mechanics to the first two, maybe too much change on the jump
@@aliasmcdoe This is true. The downside of these points comes towards the end of the game. There are several points close together if you are hit by an enemy you could cause more enemies to spawn due to knockback.
Channel popped up for me today and watched the tmnt video. Love videos like this. Different take on a walkthrough which I wasn’t sure was possible at this point lol.
I still can’t believe my 12 year old self beat this monster. It took 2 months playing every day, but It was my first game of my own for the NES. Had no idea what I was doing when I picked it, I just loved the cover art :D. Called Shadow Warrior at the time in Europe. I didn’t know spinslash was possible so the way I would try to defeat the last boss was using the fire ring magic. My jaw dropped the first time I actually killed Jaquio and the demon came…
Ah, the trio of final bosses... Of course, when I was young and beat this game for the first time, there were no save states... And the first time I Game Overed on the boss and got sent back to the beginning of 6-1, that was SO soul-crushing! Plus there's the fact that even if you do get to the boss room with the Spin Slash, it's GONE for the next phase of battle! :O The way I beat this game for the first time was to get over that soul-crushed feeling of getting sent back to 6-1. I got to the boss room with Spin Slash, and defeated the first of the three bosses. I then intentionally lost against the second final boss, played through Stage 6 again, and then Spin Slashed the second final boss. Intentionally lost to the FINAL final boss, played through Stage 6 AGAIN, and then Spin Slashed the very last boss and beat the game! Even when you get a Game Over, once you beat the first two of the last three bosses, you don't ever have to fight them again unless you either reset, or cut power to the NES.
really?, didnt know that, i usually beat the first and the second one easily, then got raped by the shrimpy things got frustated and turn off the nes, the next day i went all the way from stage 1 (wich after 36 million time gets real REAL easy, even stage 6 was no problem after some months)
I've beaten this game long ago, before UA-cam was a thing. Spin slash, fast slash, didn't know any of those quick kills so it was far more brutal. But one thing for sure with this walkthrough: Bird + Pit = Death. Every time. What makes the Malth battle easy as well is that you get a free recharge in the life department.
Before YT you didn't know spin slash even though you beat the game... I suppose you also didn't know you could kill enemies with fireballs after getting a flower in SMB
Bonus: if you want to show off or something, you can actually destroy the second boss's weapon with Spin Slashes. It's kind of funny, he just keeps roaming around and holding his arm out every now and then.
I appreciate what Ryu is doing here with this guide, but I will say if you wanna go a bit more in depth with this game then watch Sinister1's guides to speedrunning it. They aren't just about speedrunning but more in depth talk about how slash cancelling works and spin slash as well as general movement through the game. There are two ways to beat this game: taking your time, going slow, or just keep running right. Turns out if you just keep running and don't stop the enemies tend to de-spawn themselves and don't have a chance to gang up on you.
"Practice the fast slashing." Doesn't tell you how to do the fast slashing.... you can't expect people to see exactly what you're doing with your fingers on the controller, you know. Anyway, I already found out how to do the slash cancel glitch from another video.
Ninja Gaiden is one game I could never get behind the "impossible" moniker. After all, *I* can beat this game. It has unlimited continues and you only have to beat it once, unlike say, Ghosts N Goblins, or Battletoads (You only beat Battletoads once, but you have limited continues). If you pause the game, you're bound to win eventually. There's only one enemy that's tough, and that's the bird in 5-2. Also, redoing the last stage is tortuous, but the fact the bosses stay dead makes it really easy. I've never beaten TMNT, Battletoads, even Snake Rattle N' Roll, but I have beaten Ninja Gaiden numerous times. It's really not that hard. BTW, I always personally avoid the spin-splash because it's hard to cancel. It's the only weapon I don't use at all. There are single Mario Maker levels that are harder than Ninja Gaiden. Ninja Gaiden is tough, but it's no Bayou Billy.
Agreed. The difficulty is overrated compared to other games on the platform. Cobra Triangle is another that comes to mind. Not to mention games that are brutal because they play like complete shit. The only sticking point for me was the second form of the final 3 bosses. Once I practiced that form with save states it wasnt bad for me to put it together. Even NG3 was much harder than this with limited continues , more damage from enemies and being sent farther back upon death. NG2 is harder overall as well.
@@theconsolekiller7113 Thank you guys so much! I keep feeling like I'm insane with how much people overrated the difficulty in these games but it's really the final levels of 1 and 2 that make them hard and the limited continues of 3 which is really too easy if you play the Japanese version. Battletoads and Holy Diver are so much more brutal imo. I need save states to get anywhere decent in those games lol.
@@mistertagomago7974 No problem. Agreed. The japanese version of NG3 was much easier with unlimited continues and I think you take alot less damage too, or maybe the checkpoints dont send you as far back. The US version took me about 16 hours with heavy save state practice to learn it. Battletoads was a game I never got into. I really dont like the floaty control and heavy emphasis on memorizing every little movement. Cobra Triangle and Snake Rattle N Roll, also by RARE , would interest me more. Not sure if I tried Holy Diver. Ive seen it before. People forget about arcade and old computer games when talking about difficulty. Alot of those old computer games play like shit and dont even seem tested to be beatable. Some arent. Then you have arcade games which were able to put alot more on screen with the extra hardware power, with the intent to take money from players. Gun.Smoke for arcade is one I played through on the channel and was brutal. There were 30-60 second checkpoints that took 9 hours for me to beat.
I kind of wish these awesome debunking the difficulty episodes were collabs between ryu and avgn 🤣 🤣 would be too awesome. Regardless, these are amazing, please keep doing these!
A trick he forgot that is useful in 6-2 is that you can jump the orange star when it returns. If you keep jumping it it will go back and forth 3-4 times
Ninja Gaiden... while I beated the NES trilogy in reversed order, I gotta be honest, this one I felt it was the hardest yet simultaneously hype when I managed to beat it, not to mention that it was a BIG joy to tell my cousins and bros. "In your face"... as they failed countless times before giving up, unlike me who managed to analyze the "inside-out" of the game to create strategies for each scenario.
Not even close buddy the third game was broken , limited lives and continues , double the damage compared to it's Japanese counterpart. You either played the Japanese version or you're full of shit. The third game is by far the hardest on the US nes.
This is my favorite nes game. I mastered it a few years ago. I can almost no death run it and beat the boss with no power ups fairly easy. The adrenaline rush i got the first time i beat it was insane. Such a classic game
Is it fair for a guy who makes his living playing countless hours of platforming games to really, truthfully, say some of the hardest platforming games of all time aren't all that hard? I jest, love the series. :)
I was today years old when I learned the essential tea bagging of the final boss move. Tmnt was great and this was just as awesome... Keep these debunking videos up they're amazing 👏
I know you have this series as "Debunking the Difficulty" but IMO it's more "Demystifying the Difficulty" or "Defeating the Difficulty". That being said, Battletoads would be a good, famously difficult one. And the OG Megaman is pretty unforgiving too. You've already done a "Lets Play" of Silver Surfer and Festers Quest although if you got those down to a science that'd be pretty cool. Of all of them though, "Yo, Noid!" was the bane of my existence back when I was a wee one. I think I got past the first level and gave up, upset I had wasted a weekend rental on a game that hard when you definitely needed to own it to get through it. Would love to see you deconstruct that game.
I used to beat this one fairly routinely as a kid, and only learned it was supposedly so notoriously hard later when I got online. Yeah, there’s a learning curve, but that’s true of most of these games. Some cheap hits, yes, but again, that was not uncommon. We just learned to adapt and deal with it back then.
Once upon a time, I somehow managed to almost beat this game. Then I died to one of the final boss's thousand phases, got sent back to the beginning of act 6, and quit in disgust. Learning your techniques like fast slashing and spawn manipulation, I feel like I might have a chance of actually finishing the game, should I ever play it again. It's a terrific game, it fundamentally changed young me's understanding of what video game story telling could be, the soundtrack slaps, and it was one of the first games I ever saw in a movie ("The Wizard"!), but *my god*, it is brutal and cheap. I died to birds and bats so many times that I still refer to "Ninja Gaiden knockback" no matter how many other games do it. There's harder games out there, but I'd love to see Battletoads in this series. It's stylish and a lot of fun, and it can absolutely be cheesed to hell and back. Beating it was probably one of the most satisfying moments in gaming for me, even with save states. A Ryu-brand guide full of BT tips would make for a great video!
The key to almost all of the aspects of the NES Ninja Gaiden games is they have VERY little random aspects to deal with. Everything is scripted. You learn where guys are, you learn how to get past them, you can beat it. The first two games are really not that bad because of this. It is the third one and it's limited continues that are rough. Oddly, I think difficulty wise the third game isn't actually that hard, it just takes longer to learn. Also my favorite part of all 3 NES games is that one level with the freaking amazing track that makes you feel like an absolute badass.
12:14 I remember doing this technique as a kid after reading about it in Nintendo Power. I was never a particularly good gamer, but I my heart was in it.
I love this content, it's great to see someone showing the tips and tricks to win some of the trickiest games out there... But I feel like it's not so much "debunking the difficulty", as it is "yeah, these games are tough, here's how you get good and/or out cheese the game." This isn't a claim of "clickbait title", cause I don't feel the usual energy behind those. But I could claim to debunk the difficulty of Zelda 2, only to explain the Ironknuckle hitbox exploit and say "once you know how to deal with each enemy", and that's not saying the game is easier, just that I "figured it out". To go back, I still enjoy these video strategy guides, and I'll be watching future videos with eager anticipation.
First TMNT now this, Ryu is reliving my childhood (we did beat them as kids, amazing how "easy" it is to learn these lessons when you have infinite time and no other games)
your parents let you play as much as you wanted? my parents restricted my video game playing time and they didn't give me a lot of it. I didn't beat a lot of these harder games until I was a teenager.
Crossover idea. Since Ryu seems to be focussing on retro games that are said to be hard but making them easier, and because Ryu seems to be a fan of this person, I feel like there is a crossover opportunity with AVGN to be had here. Ryu could pick a game that AVGN has reviewed before that is also said to be hard, and AVGN could do a crossover where Ryu actually makes AVGN come around on the game or something. IDK. I just feel like the building blocks of something is there.
I know Ryu is reality based and AVGN isn't, but I feel like it would be something fun for the 2 of them, and definitely would get views from both fanbases, and maybe even get new eyeballs on both channels. Again, dunno if this sounds dumb but I just wanted to throw the idea out there is all.
Loving this series! This is another game I still need to beat! I only played it once as a kid, made it to the final boss, but couldn't beat him. A few months ago I started it up on the Switch app and made it to the final world, I need to finally go back and finish that run.
Great guide to one of the most notoriously hard NES games!
Fun fact: Ryukahr actually was Ryu Hayabusa's sensei. He taught him everything he knew to be a master ninja. Ryu Hayabusa's original name was "Robert Hayabusa", but he changed his first name to "Ryu" in honor of his teacher.
This all makes sense now.
The Sekiro Armored Warrior boss was actually trying to spoil Ryukahr's secret and that is why we had to push him off the bridge.
"ROBERRRRRRT!!"
Look up Ninja Gaiden NES Beginner's Tutorial by Arcus.
Oh wow, always thought his name was Nigel Hayabusa.
@@Oakshield2 No, that's his brother.
@@mattb6522 no, thats his travel agent
Important note, if you die on the final boss, yes you will get sent back to 6-1, but when you make it back to the final boss you will not have have to repeat the phases of the boss that you've already defeated. Yes you have to redo all of stage 6, but the final boss gets progressively easier as long as you can knock out a phase or two each trip.
Another thing about that is if you manage to make it back, your health doesn't refill the second time so if you're low on health before reaching the boss, just take a death on 6-3 and do it again. Not ideal but better than going into a boss phase fight with 3 units of health or something
Plus, having to come back means you can take the spin slash from 6-3 into the Jaquio fight and even the demon fight if you do one at a time.
no.. you dont repeat the phase of the boss youve defetead. You fight the boss that you died to.
@@xolrak That's what he said.........
Man all those years ago when I beat this game I didn't know about the tea bagging. Now I'll have to play again to truly beat it... damn
I get you bro damn him
How do you have a moogle after your name?
@@AkaiAzul Become a member. Membership will net you a badge, access to members only videos, and of course it supports the growth of the channel. I can't remember for sure, but I do believe the badges change based on how many months you are a member.
This is basically a narrated Nintendo Power, and I'm OK with this. Think you'll add in Player's Pulse, Classified Information, etc?
I miss Nintendo Power Magazine!!
@@stacychamness9077 I think there's a Nintendo Power podcast on their youtube channel.
Howard and nester?
@@jellojiggler1693 Thank you!! 😃👍
I want a chance to win RoboCop’s Ford Taurus!
That "death jingle", wether you like it or not, it will become embedded in your memory bank for life due to all the dying you'll be doing in this game.😂😂
I like the death jingle.
Ah yes, thankfully there are large swathes of time I have forgotten the death jingle from NG... but... when I replay it every 4 years or so... It sticks again for a few months.... 😆
Honestly this is not the most frustrating game to die in because the levels are short and you have unlimited attempts.
The jingle is rather musical, but it makes me sick to my stomach since this game scarred me as a child, lol.
I can still hear it
You know something, I've watched this and your TMNT video and at first I was upset that some of your videos seem to following in AVGN's footsteps rather than being your own -- but your videos are just so good, there's no messing about, no lengthy intro while we look at a paused screen, no silly asides and your commentary is wonderful. I don't usually watch full vids by UA-camrs I don't know but your stuff has been excellent. Subscribed.
Love how off-the-cuff these walkthroughs are. Really entertaining😁
That's what really sets these videos apart from other walkthroughs. He's just winging it and riding on skill, personality and whatever random shenanigans end up going down. That, and the heavy emphasis on gameplay whereas most people just do voiceovers.
@@tsimon8374 i think it works well for walkthroughs because it is more representative of an actual playthrough where people have different pacing, when you on the highest level of play you tend to see the same patterns in a lot of nes game because of how RNG works in a lot of those games, but him just "chillin" while in game and letting time run down changes that up in stuff so that you get to see patterns and spawns you normally wouldn't on youtube videos
I’m really enjoying this series so far! It’s great how accessible you make these games feel with detailed, simple instructions
I love this series a lot.
You're so chill and realistic at the same time. It's so easy to panic, get frustrated and freak out. And lord knows, I've done that plenty of times with these games. But yeah, you're like yup... it's hard not going to lie, you have to practice, but here is how to do it. And most of the time, it's just take your time, breathe and don't do stupid shit. Mad respect.
EDIT: Ooohh do Ninja Gaiden 2 and Castlevania next. Those are two games I have beaten but man... did it take a piece of me with them.
I remember playing this game a while ago, and everything felt like a puzzle for you to solve. It got annoying having to be sent back every time I lost to the final boss, but after a while, I was able to beat the final level no problem once I learned all the tricks.
back when people had patience out of necessity. Something pure in having limitations.
I never beat this game. I got to the last boss Jackio. But when you die it takes you back 3 level back. I beat ninja Gaiden 2 easy
@@KrishnaSingh-ow1ie Ninja Gaiden 3 is a whole different beast though
In a different timeline where he was born 30 years earlier, Ryu IS the physical embodiment of Nintendo Power.
So, funny story here. I was playing this game, taking turns with my older brother a long time ago, and I kept dying on that next to last boss (didn’t know about the fast slash technique back then and kept getting hit by the body and the flames that stayed on screen). My brother got past him, and then he kept dying to the final boss’s shrimp fest. I kept asking for a chance, and he was like “you couldn’t even beat the boss before him, so how are you going to beat this one?” Finally, after losing a bunch, he got frustrated and let me play again. Fortunately I had gotten the patterns down while watching him, and I got super lucky and beat the final boss on my first try. I know it’s a harder boss, especially without knowing the fast slash technique, but somehow I managed it. I need to get revenge on that next to last boss, though, so I can feel like I’ve truly beaten this game.
now try Ninja Gaiden 2
@@ryanlafrance9395 and than good luck with 3 :P
At the beginning I also took turns with my brother, but after repeating stage 6 for the hundredth time or so he got frustrated and quit never to play again, still took me months of daily playing to beat the game, that crazy jump in stage 6 without the clip trick is damn near imposible
@@magibubu the Japanese version of 3 has infinite continues
No start from the level bullshit
And very little respawning enemies
One of my favourite ninja games ever rivaling shinobi 3
American version should have stayed close to the original otherwise the difficulty its pretty good
This series is a great idea. Loving it so far.
‘Spam jump while holding right and you can jump on top and teabag him’ Funniest shit
Ryu! Will you take a look at Waterworld next??? The music is sssooo good in that game. Thanks bud!
'Ninpou' literally means 'ninja art' (i.e. the skills a ninja uses). It would make more sense in reference to the different special attacks you can collect. I've heard a lot of players call the 'weapon energy' item ninpou in other vids but in the official manual it's just called 'spiritual strength' apparently
Nin implies Body, Po implies Control. Ninpo is at the centre of the art of the Ninja, because to perfect it it requires them to fully master their bodies and control the spirit that drives it.
... I honestly thought it was a portmanteau of "Ninja Power". NinPo.
It's chakra
@@Erichwanh 忍法 I think so no
Anytime my freinds felt cheated in a game we called it getting "TECMO'd" -example those bird knocking you in a pit. This is the game. I had this as a kid. Took me years to beat. Infact didnt beat this until after i Beat Ninja Gaiden 2. But I did it. And i reccommend it to anyone who wants a great challenge. Love this game. Love the Music. Masterpiece.
Lol. Wow. That was a term I heard from elementary school when we played NES games. That and when playing SF2 on the SNES we would say " You're going to.." before the game announced the next country before the match.
Iv heard Techmo'd before too!
Ninja garden 2 is my favorite out of all of them. Great sound track and difficult is hard but not like the first and third one. A balance in between both games.
A lot of people always say "they hate water levels" or "snow levels"
I hate anything with" death by knockbacks"
Which is why I have a love/hate relationship with this series.
Me and my bro used TD'd referring to TECMO'd. But we played more TECMO Bowl than NG
Love this series! I love how it's not a cheat map. But a guide u can use that still requires skill.
This debunking the difficulty series is fire 🔥
20:25 I actually have never had any idea how to make that jump legit. I've always climbed up and through the wall ever since i was a kid.
That kill when the timer ran out was awesome lol! Thanks for doing these you're easy to listen too and very knowledgeable! 😎🎮
Just discovered your channel from the first video you did in this series. So happy to see another one pop up and damn did this game suck when I tried playing as a kid!
Same story here.
I would love to see U. N. squadron on here on the SNES. that game was a ton of fun but I remember it being super hard to beat
1991... with unbreakable determination, I finally beat Ninja Gaiden. I leap up and shout for joy. my mother comes running into the living room and says "are you ok? why are you yelling?" Out of my mouth come the words "BECAUSE I FUCKING BEAT NINJA GAIDEN!" Suffice to say, that's why i know what neutrogena hand soap tastes like. but it was worth every disgusting second, because i beat NINJA FUCKING GAIDEN!!!!
Just subscribed to your channel! This is an awesome idea for a series. I was firmly in the "Ninja Gaiden is impossible" camp until seeing your play through. I'm stoked to see what you play next!
I think the name used for the fast slashing is slash canceling. I’m digging these walkthroughs. Great work dude
things todays generation will never understand. when we played NES we had one difficulty setting, and that was INSANELY IMPOSSIBLE. this was the standard growing up.
I love these videos, they are so much fun to watch for many different reasons. Makes me want to give another stab at these games that I never finished when I was a kid. Can't wait to see what other games are coming up!
The enemy respawning and the timing of birds/bats as you jump over a chasm is amazing.
That first technique is known amongst the speedrunning community as "slash-cancelling."
A lot of speed runners call it “mashing”.
@@mikewritz Mashing is a more general term for pressing buttons fast. Slash-cancelling is the specific mechanic of ninja gaiden.
@@black_squall it is but that’s what it’s called. Go watch some ninja gaiden speed runners. For the record I agree with you but they all just call it mashing.
Yeah you're definitely right, I didn't mean to sound like I was contradicting you or anything, just sort of adding more clarification.
Yep. Land cancels in castlevanias, jump cancels in smash, roman cancels in gg, problematic cancels on Twitter.. all kinds of cancels.
*Ryu playing with Ryu.* ⚔️😀
29:04 could not be any more accurate lmao
The jetpack ninjas in 6-2, and also the last jump in 3-2 were my biggest hurdles getting through this, but you're right it does feel pretty great to finish!
Loving this new series so far ryu!
Great content! Very much looking forward to this series. Keep up the great work!
Well I thought I beat this game 30 years ago, but now I find that I did not teabag so I’m off to source the game again. Damnit.
Absolutely love this series. Some of these games I’ll never even play let alone beat! Great to watch 🤙🏻
I graduated high school in '89. A friend of mine, a junior, got kicked out of his house in '89 when we were still in school. He moved in with us for a time and brought his NES. We split the $60 cost of the Ninja Gaiden cartridge lured by the awesome box art. I beat that game one night, or I should say one morning around 7 AM, with no witnesses as he had long fell asleep. I will always love Ninja Gaiden! He had the first Contra and I don't think we ever beat that one. At least not back then. Maybe that would be a good Dubunking the Difficulty. Thanks for the video!
Great guide, you covered all the big problem spots very well. 👍 Loving this series!
One tip I’d add is for players to learn to use the big orange windmill stars effectively. If you time it right you can avoid “catching” them on their return, and have them continue to zoom back and forth around you to cut through multiple enemies in some of those tight spots where there are a lot of spawning foes. Better than taking damage and maybe getting bumped off a ledge!
I never understood how the Angry Video Game Nerd talked crap about using the Game Genie on this game. “And there’s no good Game Genie codes either. Infinite lives? Isn’t that what you already have??” No, you have infinite CONTINUES. Lives means you can reappear in the same spot until you pass it. Darf.
It's easy to debunk the difficulty of these games with modern internet. Back then, unless you had a friend with game knowledge, an appropriate Nintendo Power, or the money to pay for hotline support, you were hosed.
These games were hard and there were no save states to easily retry hard sections.
One still needs to execute. I mean, you can 'know' how to make Facebook in 2005. Or make electric cars today. You still need to do it.
@@aliasmcdoe No they were not. I had a subscription to nintendo power. Still have the first 200 in a box in storage. Prima wasn't a thing, guides were not everywhere, we did even have pagers much less anything like the internet.
The glitches that this dude uses to break these games (looking at mega man and the pause glitch) were not well known before the speed running communities found them, so do me a favor, and shut up since you obviously don't know what the hell you are talking about.
My God. I remember how we bullied a friend bc he held the pad just like you do. Years later, comes out it's the only way to run a speedrun. Instant subscription.
Loving this new series! 6-1 onwards is so chaotic, thanks for the tips. Would love to see Castlevania 3 or Ghosts & Goblins (NES) on this series :)
He did play Ghosts & Goblins on his other channel. It's in the Playlist 'Extraordinarily Hard Games.' It's not really a walkthrough, though, but he plays the whole game, if I remember correctly.
@@MbraceTheRandom ooh awesome, I’ll check it out. Thanks!!
Good call on both games tho👍🏾
"Take your time"
Back when games like this came out, all we had was time.
I love this trilogy. I hope we see guides on the other two! The second is my favourite. Great content as always!
"I'm gonna need you to stop and rock out to this tune. This is like the best song in the game, straight up"
And just for pure good taste, you've got yourself a subscriber.
That final boss fight is going to be a problem for me, since I've spent my life actively trying to get closer to whatever shrimp I come across.
NES era was all about persevering against these hard games but holy crap I think I only ever made it to the third boss as a kid. I didn't own the game though. Knock back pit deaths and respawns were what made this game so hard.
The only thing that makes this game really hard is the last four stages. Dying to the boss once and having to start the whole four levels over again is brutal.
I'd take a step further and say last two stages. I've always felt people over blow the difficulty with this game, though I could never beat that last stage I can get through most of the game fine. It's the ending that's hard.
"If you didnt tea bag him did you really beat Ninja Gaiden?" Im going to put this on my Tombstone
Watching this I recall getting through to 5-2, but that is it. I played this as a kid and got so frustrated at it. This was the only game that made me want to throw a controller.
This was really impressive.. and I love the ninja gaiden passion!
I think you would dig the fact that we actually put this game on a bike with an NES and tv, I ran behind it and beat ninja gaiden in 3.1 miles! About 24 minutes!
I’ve been trying to get it seen, but for some reason it only has a couple thousand views.
Wow. I been playing and beating this game for years and never knew these tricks! Speedrun here I come!
"dodge the shrimp"
"jump on top and t-bag him. very important"
-Ryu
I will forgive you thinking Ninpo stands for ninja power as it does sound pretty logical.
Ok, so I'm not the only one who noticed that.😅
If they ever make a Ninja Gaiden movie... they _must_ have those Jet-pack Ninjas in one scene!
Motion picture has, to my knowledge, never seen that before in film history! X-D
I was having so much anxiety watching that last boss timer lmao. I was just yelling at my screen "PAUSE WHEN YOU'RE TALKING DAMNIT" xD
The Star of David on the ground during the last boss fight --- wow! 😦
I love this game and the Unbreakable Determination ost is my fav from all the NES era!
The first chapter of the saga is the best imo
The second one is really infamous with annoying enemies everywhere and the final boss
Meanwhile the third one is so different in mechanics to the first two, maybe too much change on the jump
This is great! Good job. I love how you break down steps and what to do. Keep it up 😊
spawn points (and the fact that enemies respawn) are the most difficult part of the game.
@@aliasmcdoe This is true. The downside of these points comes towards the end of the game. There are several points close together if you are hit by an enemy you could cause more enemies to spawn due to knockback.
Channel popped up for me today and watched the tmnt video. Love videos like this. Different take on a walkthrough which I wasn’t sure was possible at this point lol.
I loved this game! Oh....So that's what the 3rd level looks like.
I still can’t believe my 12 year old self beat this monster. It took 2 months playing every day, but It was my first game of my own for the NES. Had no idea what I was doing when I picked it, I just loved the cover art :D. Called Shadow Warrior at the time in Europe.
I didn’t know spinslash was possible so the way I would try to defeat the last boss was using the fire ring magic. My jaw dropped the first time I actually killed Jaquio and the demon came…
Ah, the trio of final bosses... Of course, when I was young and beat this game for the first time, there were no save states... And the first time I Game Overed on the boss and got sent back to the beginning of 6-1, that was SO soul-crushing! Plus there's the fact that even if you do get to the boss room with the Spin Slash, it's GONE for the next phase of battle! :O The way I beat this game for the first time was to get over that soul-crushed feeling of getting sent back to 6-1. I got to the boss room with Spin Slash, and defeated the first of the three bosses. I then intentionally lost against the second final boss, played through Stage 6 again, and then Spin Slashed the second final boss. Intentionally lost to the FINAL final boss, played through Stage 6 AGAIN, and then Spin Slashed the very last boss and beat the game! Even when you get a Game Over, once you beat the first two of the last three bosses, you don't ever have to fight them again unless you either reset, or cut power to the NES.
really?, didnt know that, i usually beat the first and the second one easily, then got raped by the shrimpy things got frustated and turn off the nes, the next day i went all the way from stage 1 (wich after 36 million time gets real REAL easy, even stage 6 was no problem after some months)
I've beaten this game long ago, before UA-cam was a thing. Spin slash, fast slash, didn't know any of those quick kills so it was far more brutal. But one thing for sure with this walkthrough: Bird + Pit = Death. Every time.
What makes the Malth battle easy as well is that you get a free recharge in the life department.
Before YT you didn't know spin slash even though you beat the game... I suppose you also didn't know you could kill enemies with fireballs after getting a flower in SMB
Bonus: if you want to show off or something, you can actually destroy the second boss's weapon with Spin Slashes. It's kind of funny, he just keeps roaming around and holding his arm out every now and then.
I appreciate what Ryu is doing here with this guide, but I will say if you wanna go a bit more in depth with this game then watch Sinister1's guides to speedrunning it. They aren't just about speedrunning but more in depth talk about how slash cancelling works and spin slash as well as general movement through the game. There are two ways to beat this game: taking your time, going slow, or just keep running right. Turns out if you just keep running and don't stop the enemies tend to de-spawn themselves and don't have a chance to gang up on you.
"Practice the fast slashing."
Doesn't tell you how to do the fast slashing.... you can't expect people to see exactly what you're doing with your fingers on the controller, you know.
Anyway, I already found out how to do the slash cancel glitch from another video.
I love when he said. "Can't hold your hand, just get good" lol
Ninja Gaiden is one game I could never get behind the "impossible" moniker. After all, *I* can beat this game. It has unlimited continues and you only have to beat it once, unlike say, Ghosts N Goblins, or Battletoads (You only beat Battletoads once, but you have limited continues). If you pause the game, you're bound to win eventually.
There's only one enemy that's tough, and that's the bird in 5-2. Also, redoing the last stage is tortuous, but the fact the bosses stay dead makes it really easy.
I've never beaten TMNT, Battletoads, even Snake Rattle N' Roll, but I have beaten Ninja Gaiden numerous times. It's really not that hard.
BTW, I always personally avoid the spin-splash because it's hard to cancel. It's the only weapon I don't use at all.
There are single Mario Maker levels that are harder than Ninja Gaiden.
Ninja Gaiden is tough, but it's no Bayou Billy.
Agreed. The difficulty is overrated compared to other games on the platform. Cobra Triangle is another that comes to mind. Not to mention games that are brutal because they play like complete shit. The only sticking point for me was the second form of the final 3 bosses. Once I practiced that form with save states it wasnt bad for me to put it together. Even NG3 was much harder than this with limited continues , more damage from enemies and being sent farther back upon death. NG2 is harder overall as well.
@@theconsolekiller7113 Thank you guys so much! I keep feeling like I'm insane with how much people overrated the difficulty in these games but it's really the final levels of 1 and 2 that make them hard and the limited continues of 3 which is really too easy if you play the Japanese version. Battletoads and Holy Diver are so much more brutal imo. I need save states to get anywhere decent in those games lol.
@@mistertagomago7974 No problem. Agreed. The japanese version of NG3 was much easier with unlimited continues and I think you take alot less damage too, or maybe the checkpoints dont send you as far back. The US version took me about 16 hours with heavy save state practice to learn it. Battletoads was a game I never got into. I really dont like the floaty control and heavy emphasis on memorizing every little movement. Cobra Triangle and Snake Rattle N Roll, also by RARE , would interest me more. Not sure if I tried Holy Diver. Ive seen it before. People forget about arcade and old computer games when talking about difficulty. Alot of those old computer games play like shit and dont even seem tested to be beatable. Some arent. Then you have arcade games which were able to put alot more on screen with the extra hardware power, with the intent to take money from players. Gun.Smoke for arcade is one I played through on the channel and was brutal. There were 30-60 second checkpoints that took 9 hours for me to beat.
"It's not that hard. You just have to memorize every level and use the only broken weapon."
Oh and make sure you use glitches and exploits that were never meant to be in the game and were not discovered until decades later.
We need one for Ninja Gaiden 2 as well!
22:38 “You’re all geezy” I’m using that. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ video! I subscribed!!
I kind of wish these awesome debunking the difficulty episodes were collabs between ryu and avgn 🤣 🤣 would be too awesome. Regardless, these are amazing, please keep doing these!
A Ryu and AVGN collab would be the greatest thing to happen to UA-cam!
And once you feel like your playing well head over to Twitch and watch Arcus speed run this to feel totally inadequate again ;)
Ryu handles very differently across the 3 games. 3 being the most changed. I think that adds to the challenge of each game.
3 is also hard because you take double damage but i'd say 1 was harder than 2
A trick he forgot that is useful in 6-2 is that you can jump the orange star when it returns. If you keep jumping it it will go back and forth 3-4 times
Ninja Gaiden... while I beated the NES trilogy in reversed order, I gotta be honest, this one I felt it was the hardest yet simultaneously hype when I managed to beat it, not to mention that it was a BIG joy to tell my cousins and bros. "In your face"... as they failed countless times before giving up, unlike me who managed to analyze the "inside-out" of the game to create strategies for each scenario.
Not even close buddy the third game was broken , limited lives and continues , double the damage compared to it's Japanese counterpart. You either played the Japanese version or you're full of shit. The third game is by far the hardest on the US nes.
This is my favorite nes game. I mastered it a few years ago. I can almost no death run it and beat the boss with no power ups fairly easy. The adrenaline rush i got the first time i beat it was insane. Such a classic game
This will make you HATE winged animals.
Ninpo is not short for “Ninja power”. It’s an actual word in Japanese written 忍法 and it means “Ninja method” or “ninja technique”
Is it fair for a guy who makes his living playing countless hours of platforming games to really, truthfully, say some of the hardest platforming games of all time aren't all that hard?
I jest, love the series. :)
I was today years old when I learned the essential tea bagging of the final boss move.
Tmnt was great and this was just as awesome... Keep these debunking videos up they're amazing 👏
Quick Ryu, delete this. I've always told my friends this game is unbeatable. You're making me look bad!
I know you have this series as "Debunking the Difficulty" but IMO it's more "Demystifying the Difficulty" or "Defeating the Difficulty". That being said, Battletoads would be a good, famously difficult one. And the OG Megaman is pretty unforgiving too. You've already done a "Lets Play" of Silver Surfer and Festers Quest although if you got those down to a science that'd be pretty cool.
Of all of them though, "Yo, Noid!" was the bane of my existence back when I was a wee one. I think I got past the first level and gave up, upset I had wasted a weekend rental on a game that hard when you definitely needed to own it to get through it. Would love to see you deconstruct that game.
I used to beat this one fairly routinely as a kid, and only learned it was supposedly so notoriously hard later when I got online. Yeah, there’s a learning curve, but that’s true of most of these games. Some cheap hits, yes, but again, that was not uncommon. We just learned to adapt and deal with it back then.
Exactly no internet to help us back then
Came for the Ninja Gaiden, stayed for the "I killed him with zero seconds."
Once upon a time, I somehow managed to almost beat this game. Then I died to one of the final boss's thousand phases, got sent back to the beginning of act 6, and quit in disgust.
Learning your techniques like fast slashing and spawn manipulation, I feel like I might have a chance of actually finishing the game, should I ever play it again. It's a terrific game, it fundamentally changed young me's understanding of what video game story telling could be, the soundtrack slaps, and it was one of the first games I ever saw in a movie ("The Wizard"!), but *my god*, it is brutal and cheap. I died to birds and bats so many times that I still refer to "Ninja Gaiden knockback" no matter how many other games do it.
There's harder games out there, but I'd love to see Battletoads in this series. It's stylish and a lot of fun, and it can absolutely be cheesed to hell and back. Beating it was probably one of the most satisfying moments in gaming for me, even with save states. A Ryu-brand guide full of BT tips would make for a great video!
Loving this series, and would definitely looking forward to all your future content
"I need to teach you a technique"
"There's a trick that allows you to attack rapidly"
... never teaches technique...
except, he DOES.......
it's why he has a camera to show his hands, while playing....
just copy what he does.....
Loving the series! Keep it going man!
You've debunked nothing.
The key to almost all of the aspects of the NES Ninja Gaiden games is they have VERY little random aspects to deal with. Everything is scripted. You learn where guys are, you learn how to get past them, you can beat it.
The first two games are really not that bad because of this. It is the third one and it's limited continues that are rough. Oddly, I think difficulty wise the third game isn't actually that hard, it just takes longer to learn.
Also my favorite part of all 3 NES games is that one level with the freaking amazing track that makes you feel like an absolute badass.
12:14 I remember doing this technique as a kid after reading about it in Nintendo Power. I was never a particularly good gamer, but I my heart was in it.
I love this content, it's great to see someone showing the tips and tricks to win some of the trickiest games out there...
But I feel like it's not so much "debunking the difficulty", as it is "yeah, these games are tough, here's how you get good and/or out cheese the game."
This isn't a claim of "clickbait title", cause I don't feel the usual energy behind those.
But I could claim to debunk the difficulty of Zelda 2, only to explain the Ironknuckle hitbox exploit and say "once you know how to deal with each enemy", and that's not saying the game is easier, just that I "figured it out".
To go back, I still enjoy these video strategy guides, and I'll be watching future videos with eager anticipation.
I am really enjoying your videos! Love what you are doing, these are the games I grew up on. Keep it up dude!
First TMNT now this, Ryu is reliving my childhood (we did beat them as kids, amazing how "easy" it is to learn these lessons when you have infinite time and no other games)
your parents let you play as much as you wanted? my parents restricted my video game playing time and they didn't give me a lot of it. I didn't beat a lot of these harder games until I was a teenager.
I really enjoyed the story in the Ninja Gaiden games. Looked forward to the cutscenes.
How to beat Ninja Gaiden: "git gud"
Crossover idea. Since Ryu seems to be focussing on retro games that are said to be hard but making them easier, and because Ryu seems to be a fan of this person, I feel like there is a crossover opportunity with AVGN to be had here. Ryu could pick a game that AVGN has reviewed before that is also said to be hard, and AVGN could do a crossover where Ryu actually makes AVGN come around on the game or something. IDK. I just feel like the building blocks of something is there.
I know Ryu is reality based and AVGN isn't, but I feel like it would be something fun for the 2 of them, and definitely would get views from both fanbases, and maybe even get new eyeballs on both channels. Again, dunno if this sounds dumb but I just wanted to throw the idea out there is all.
Loving this series! This is another game I still need to beat! I only played it once as a kid, made it to the final boss, but couldn't beat him. A few months ago I started it up on the Switch app and made it to the final world, I need to finally go back and finish that run.
you got this, my friend! go get it!
@@Ryu Just beat it, that quick slash trick helps a lot! I'm playing back through from the beginning now since my previous run left off at 5-3.