The 90’s saw many successful games receive Expansion Packs that in essence were nothing more than a few extra missions. Their goal was not telling a new tale but to grab what the player was familiar with and play with those elements to deliver something fresh to someone who had completed the base game. An example would be 1995’s Command and Conquer’s expansion pack titled Covert Operations, featuring nothing but new difficult missions that took risks in their design not seen in the main campaign. Because of their nature Expansion Packs were a simple thing to make and could be enjoyed by every fan in some fashion.
Ninja Gaiden first saw its introduction to the concept with the Mission Mode added in the Ninja Gaiden Black re-release, a mode expanded upon within Ninja Gaiden Sigma and later Sigma Plus. Since then the mode has become somewhat of a tradition in action games, from Vanquish’s Challenge Maps, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance’s VR Missions, Transformers: Devastation’s Challenge Mode, God Hand’s Arena, God of War’s Challenge of the Gods and many others with even off-shoots like Yakuza featuring it.
It is in these modes we can face Alma with her sister in Ninja Gaiden,
endure a battle of attrition in Vanquish or face a unique twist on a
previously easy fight in God Hand. Other challenges offer different enemy
layouts or tiny little experiments like trying to protect a damsel in
distress from archers in Ninja Gaiden Black or sneaking past a very
specific set of enemies in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance; challenges the
designers didn’t dare give in the story.
One goal here is added longevity, usually complemented via an online
Leaderboard urging people to get the highest score. It can also operate as
a method of training by providing an easy way to try harder parts of the
game for practice. God Hand for instance featured separate missions in its
arena to access boss fights. Another is experimentation, allowing the
designers to try out things they weren’t sure would work in the main
campaign as mentioned above.
With its prevalence within the genre, we can ask this simple question
though: what makes for a good mission mode? For such a simple feature
present throughout it is rarely analyzed, so let’s do so and use Ninja
Gaiden 2 as baseline.
Despite Ninja Gaiden Black and its Sigma re-release featuring it, the
Mission Mode was absent from Ninja Gaiden 2. As discussed in the previous article the game was plagued by both business- and personal issues
nearing its completion. Because of this it is hard to pin down if Mission
Mode was originally planned to be in the game, but remained unfinished and
was left out, or that it was always planned to be downloadable content in
the future. With a release date no less than 23 days after the game’s
launch, arguments can be made for either side.
Released on the same day as a selection of new costumes the Mission Mode
offered a mixture of what was included in past titles: a set of challenges
that could be explored on numerous difficulty settings as well as a twist
on Ninja Gaiden Sigma’s Survival Mode expansion.
Ninja Gaiden 2’s Mission Mode features 24 challenges total. The first eight
being short bouts against a few waves of foes while later ones are
miniature levels that have you ascend a large tower or a test of endurance
against one hundred foes total. It is during these challenges that Ryu has
all his weapons, a large health bar and - depending on the mission - some
healing items. Throughout he only has one Ninpo slot though, indicating
that you’re going to have to let your skill do the talking. Skills that need to be upped, as beating a mission unlocks a higher difficulty for it until the infamous Master Ninja Mode has been conquered yet again.
As you lay waste to your many foes you’ll suddenly see a green orb floating from a vanquish enemy. This is a Green Karma Essence, unique to Mission Mode. When absorbed it gives a modifier for your Karma Score, a neat extra for those that like to perform high on the Leaderboards. On the flipside absorbing it will fuel the strongest Ultimate Technique giving players who don’t care for score an new mechanic to play with as well.
Just like Blue Healing-and Red Ninpo Essence this new type of orb doesn’t
appear if a foe is killed via an Ultimate- or Obliteration Technique, but
unlike those two it does still appear when a combo reaches beyond 20 hits.
This rewards players that keep combo chain going with some extra points
while pushing them away from the overused Ultimate Techniques. A twist that
would’ve been a welcome addition to the story mode where the score system
pushed players to abuse the Ultimate Techniques.
Thanks to the new Green Essence the Leaderboards can get very interesting
for those up to the task. The system is built around getting a x5 Karma
modifier by picking up five orbs and then going wild with it. Only to then
try to spawn a new Green Karma Essence just before the modifier expires,
adding a new level of combat management to the already chaotic fights.
And if you want to get all the Achievements you’ll need to master this new but simple mechanic. The final eight missions of the pack are Survival Challenges. In these you fight in a small arena until you die with only one ninpo, no healing items and a single weapon. To get enough Karma Points for a Golden Medal you either have to last an eternity or use your Green Essence tactically as the fight progresses with scripted waves of enemies ending in a showdown with the fiendish version of Ryu’s rival Genshin. Once defeated the mission doesn’t end however, it simply goes through all the waves again but on a higher difficulty setting until you die.
And if you want to get all the Achievements you’ll need to master this new but simple mechanic. The final eight missions of the pack are Survival Challenges. In these you fight in a small arena until you die with only one ninpo, no healing items and a single weapon. To get enough Karma Points for a Golden Medal you either have to last an eternity or use your Green Essence tactically as the fight progresses with scripted waves of enemies ending in a showdown with the fiendish version of Ryu’s rival Genshin. Once defeated the mission doesn’t end however, it simply goes through all the waves again but on a higher difficulty setting until you die.
Due to these Survival Challenges offering a condensed version of Ninja
Gaiden 2 that can be enjoyed in bursts it can be quite addictive, but there
are also a few snags. There is a distinct lack of walls outside of a few
trees for wall-attacks, significantly limiting weapons like the Falcon’s
Talons. Enemy combinations also stick to the more common combinations like
Ninja Archers with Black Spider Clan foot soldiers or demonic Van Gelfs
supported by Gajia, more interesting combinations could’ve spiced things up
significantly. It would’ve been interesting if there was an option to have
the mode be completely random in its enemy selection or feature a
challenge-map creator akin to God of War III's Combat Arena.
As a whole though Ninja Gaiden 2’s Mission Mode has most of the required offerings. There’s a mission to practice against the major bosses, there’s some uniquely flavored fights we didn’t dare experience in the campaign like fighting Genshin and Elizébet at the same time and the revamped karma system and Survival Challenges add replayability to an near infinite degree for those itching to master it.
As a whole though Ninja Gaiden 2’s Mission Mode has most of the required offerings. There’s a mission to practice against the major bosses, there’s some uniquely flavored fights we didn’t dare experience in the campaign like fighting Genshin and Elizébet at the same time and the revamped karma system and Survival Challenges add replayability to an near infinite degree for those itching to master it.
The mode also allowed Team Ninja to test the waters in some regards, giving
us a glimpse of a more condensed form of Ninja Gaiden without all the
platforming and customization. Something that might bleed into future
games, but not into Ninja Gaiden 2. As noted in the previous article, Ninja
Gaiden 2: Black would not be the serie’s future.
鑒 reflection style 鑒
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In this short section I reflect on the article from my own viewpoints as a
gamer and lover of the genre instead of a critic.
It is with this article that we truly touch the last game piece of Ninja
Gaiden Itagaki was involved with, however small. While Stinger will still
feature him in the future, there are no further no games with his name that
need covering. While there is talk of him returning to the gaming-design
scene in 2019, we’ll just have to wait and see.
As a piece of DLC, this pack was just interesting enough to warrant a
closer look. If only because it features such a prominent mechanic of the
genre as a whole. It is interesting to see that a mode, whether it was made
by the man or not, can still have the feeling of being made by him for its
insanity and absolute desire to be as game as a game can be.
Personally I love the DLC and consider it an essential part of the game that no one should miss out on. It is easy to pick up and something you can play before going to work or even just those 5 minutes before you do something that’s actually important in life. It offers a fun way to experiment with the game’s mechanics, try out new weapons and quickly test a theory. But as such it can also at times feel disconnected, which is why it is great that the campaign still exist. If it was just the missions it would grow tired very fast I feel.
Personally I love the DLC and consider it an essential part of the game that no one should miss out on. It is easy to pick up and something you can play before going to work or even just those 5 minutes before you do something that’s actually important in life. It offers a fun way to experiment with the game’s mechanics, try out new weapons and quickly test a theory. But as such it can also at times feel disconnected, which is why it is great that the campaign still exist. If it was just the missions it would grow tired very fast I feel.
斬 postscript notes 斬
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I originally wasn’t sure if I would write about this little piece, but when user Iconoclast noted that he missed an in-depth review of Mission Mode I obliged. Mixing it with an overall analysis on the concept of mission mode helped fill up the story;
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Special thanks to Iconoclast over on Twitter for helping me out with the finer details on the game’s Karma system;
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While I say that this is the final piece of Itagaki I’ll be covering, note that I haven’t covered Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword. Nor do I intend to;
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Though not being an action-game, I included Command and Conquer’s Cover Operations Expansion for it being the first game that introduced me personally to the concept when I was young.
源 sources 源
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