If you own an Xbox and don’t own Ninja Gaiden, I seriously question your gaming sense. This is one of the must own Xbox games. This game offers much more then just kick ass action though, you’ll find puzzles that may take time to figure out, a story that takes a back seat to the rest of the game, some of the nicest graphics to ever grace a videogame, voiceovers and sounds that don’t miss a beat, controls that are perfect, and some great unlockables.

This game features action from start to finish. You start by beating up other ninjas and, by the end, you’re slashing demon limbs off left and right, literally! And this game gives you plenty of weapons to do it with. You can use the classic ninja sword, two pairs of Nunchakus, a giant hammer, a giant sword, a wooden sword that can transform into a powerful oar, and an evil sword that drains your life. But the fun doesn’t stop there, if you’re into killing from a distance there are projectile weapons too. Anything from normal surikens, to explosive ones, a bow with four different types of arrows, a javelin gun for underwater opponents and a windmill shuriken that returns to it’s user like a boomerang. Ryu (the main character) can perform dozens of combos with all of these weapons on the ground, in the air, or underwater. You can jump off walls or walk on walls to gain an advantage over your enemies.

The combat system is nearly perfect in this game. You can kill one enemy, then immediately start working on another. Ryu also has magic he can use. The four spells you can find include, a fire spell that protects you, a spell that shoots a fire ball at an enemy, an ice spell that thrusts a spire of ice at a foe and a lightning spell that damages every enemy on the screen. After an enemy dies, they leave behind a spirit that you can collect and they allow you to purchase healing items, or armlets that improve skills.

The puzzles in Ninja Gaiden range from easy to moderately hard. Some puzzles just make you locate a switch to activate and others require that you find certain items that you have to use to open a door. But the worst puzzle makes you pull levers in a certain order to move platforms you must climb up. Again they are nothing bad if you take your time and think about what you have to do.

The story in Ninja Gaiden isn’t that strong. You begin with your village burning to the ground and a sword with unimaginable power being stolen. Ryu must set off on a quest to recover the sword and stop the person behind the slaughter of the citizens of his village. It does have a nice twist at the end that I didn’t see coming and that they hid very well.

Now let us talk about the graphics. Ninja Gaiden has some of the best looking game play and cinema graphics that I have ever seen in a videogame. The characters are realistic, colorful and every movement flows beautifully. The environments look incredible and the amount of detail put into every nook and cranny is amazing. All of the cinematic are lit perfectly, and the amount of detail again is amazing. The weapon effects and the blood that gushes out of the enemies also look great.

One thing that I think reviewers overlooked was the sound quality. Every footstep, sword swipe, flip, explosion or whatever you are listening to in this game sounds accurate and good. In one level you have to fight a helicopter and a tank, and both of them sound realistic and it helps to immerse you into the gaming experience. The voices for all of the characters is also excellent. In most videogames, if the voices are great there is usually one that sucks, but in Gaiden all of the voices are good. It’s a pleasant surprise that Tecmo took time to make sure everything was as perfect as it could get before shipping this game.

Now for the fun little goodies the makers put into the game. To unlock things one must collect golden beatles. There are fifty in the game and once you reach a certain number you can go to the shop and collect your prize. At first you get special armlets that are not for sale. Then you get spirit gems that increase you life and magic bars. However, when you finally collect all fifty beatles you get the original Ninja Gaiden that came out back on the NES. Then when you go through the game again you can find the second Ninja Gaiden game, and on a third trip through you can get the third installment in the series.

Before this game came out, Tecmo kept pushing the release date back and back. I remember that because at the time I was working at Electronics Boutique, and everyday I would come in and look at the release dates for games I wanted. But Tecmo took their time and made a great game. And I consider Ninja Gaiden as one of the greatest action games of all time. There are four fun games in this one disk and it only adds to the value and replayability this game offers. I had a blast exploring all of the different levels finding all fifty beatles and playing the old classics.

Yoshi’s Island is the 1995 sequel to Super Mario World, but the games are about as different as can be. Whereas Super Mario World had Yoshi as a supporting character, Yoshi’s Island gives Yoshi and his multicolored friends center stage.

In this new adventure, the story is a prequel to all the other Mario games. This takes place when Mario and Luigi are just a babies and Luigi is kidnapped by the Magikoopa. Then Yoshi inexplicably makes his debut. Apparently, Yoshis have been around forever and happen to catch Baby Mario as he falls from the stork on its way to his parents. Yoshi then begins his quest to rescue Baby Luigi and get the kids back to their parents.

The controls are a lot different for this Mario game than any others. In fact, I hesitate to call this a Mario game because Yoshi has really made his own series with his own levels and moves. But regardless, Yoshi can jump and flutter if you hold or press jump again which helps him get a little higher or make longer chasms. While he can’t fly, his floating technique does come in handy many times. In addition, Yoshi can also eat most any enemy he encounters and either swallow it and make it an egg that follows him or spit the enemy back out as an attack. The eggs that follow become ammo in an odd twist, where if you hold the A button, Yoshi winds up to throw it, which can be used to kill enemies, move environment objects, or get hard to reach items. Then finally Yoshi has Baby Mario on his back which he must protect. If Baby happens to fall off due to an enemy hitting Yoshi, Yoshi has a certain amount of seconds (1-30, based on the amount of stars you pick up) to recover Mario before the evil Koopa minions take Mario away and you lose a life. There is so much to the game that makes it seem complicated, but it really works well. It doesn’t hurt that the controls are spot on and really easy to learn. If you die, it is rarely the fault of the game. Rather, this is a skill based affair.

The music, much like its sequel Yoshi’s Story, is very cutesy at times, but not quite as sugary sweet as that title. Some music, especially the castle bosses, is a bit dark and a feeling of something ominous on its way. It is noteworthy however, simply because it is so memorable. The tunes are instantly catchy and though at times a bit childish, really great nonetheless.

The graphics are, in a word, amazing. This and Donkey Kong Country 3 may be the best graphics seen on a 16 bit system. Simply technically speaking, DKC3 wins. But style-wise, Yoshi’s Island is heads and tails above. This game is so beautiful and graphically stunning that it is amazing this game is a 16-bit game. Yoshi has his same basic look from SMW, but he has so many more animations. He seems like a living, breathing character. From his determined face when he is throwing eggs to his tripping hazed over eyes when he hits the cotton puff clouds and the entire world becomes topsy-turvy, there is no shortage of expressions for Yoshi. This animation and style is especially remarkable today because while I missed this game back when it first came out, this game still stands out today as beautiful. The backgrounds are large, colorful, and fluid with many moving parts and little effects. The enemies, likewise, are much more varied and styled, taking on their own personalities. Piranha Plants now are huge and threatening for once, Shyguys have gone from emotionless wonders to quirky mischievous enemies, and obscure enemies like the ones from Super Mario Bros 2 that shot bullets at you are back, but with a new improved look that makes them more than a Shyguy palette swap.

Then there are the bosses. Bosses are not just creative and cool, they are huge and impressive. You usually fight bigger versions of regular enemies, but each one has a weakness you must discover and exploit. Most are relatively easy, but a couple are quite tricky. Regardless, these bosses usually take up the entire screen and have you running for cover. I guarantee you will be impressed by at least one or two of them.

The game itself isn’t extremely easy (the last few levels in the last two worlds are ridiculous), though it seems pretty easy at the start. Then the difficulty begins to ramp up, but luckily you can get a lot of one-ups in this game. I think Nintendo realized the game was going to get tougher and they did not want an impossible game, just a fun, challenging one.

And I still haven’t talked about the variety yet. There is a lot to keep the game fresh. Mini-games at the end of levels make their return and offer you chances for one-ups and power-ups. There are also several in-game to give you special abilities. Yoshi also has the ability to morph in certain sections into multiple vehicles, kinda like Vectorman on the Genesis. He can morph into anything from a mole that digs to a helicopter to fly over dangerous heights. There are 5 transformations in all, though you will really only see 2-3 that often in the game. And then there is quite possibly the coolest and most fun transformation, where Baby Mario becomes Super Baby Mario and is allowed to hop off Yoshi and go wild with a cape. He is invincible during this and able to float. It is very cute and also very cool to see little Mario kick some serious ass. The end boss too is really innovative and really changes the gameplay up while still using the skills you have learned throughout the game.

You really cannot go wrong with Yoshi’s Island. I was skeptical going in after all the praise it received from a lot of magazines, but they were right, this game is a classic. It belongs in your collection alongside the rest of the Mario greats. The SNES version is still common, although the GBA version may be a bit better due to new voices and little touches. Still, the gameplay is the same, and so are the graphics, and they are fantastic.

Highway to Hell was the first worldwide success AC/DC had, and for good reason. Selling over 6 million copies this album continues to be one of the greatest ever made.

It begins with the song “Highway to Hell” which I think is the best AC/DC song ever. The initial guitar riff is unmistakable and Bon Scott’s voice let you know that if you and your friends went to Hell it would be a fun road trip. However, the song is about the traveling on road to becoming a rock band so don’t think it has a literal meaning.

This was also the first AC/DC album to cut back on the amount of quieter and slower songs featured. The song “Night Prowler” is the only one that doesn’t have the hard rock we all love AC/DC for. But it’s still much louder than previous quiet songs.

All of the songs on this album are good. There isn’t one I dislike. This album brought AC/DC into the mainstream for a reason and there are ten reasons on Highway to Hell I can think of. (Hint the ten are the songs).

Unfortunately, this would be Bon Scott’s last album for he past away on February 18, 1980. He death was not only a loss for the band but also for the entire musical community. On that date the world lost one of the greatest song writers of all time and I would like to say thank you to Bon for all of the memories. Thankfully your lyrical writing and singing will let you never be forgotten.

Rest in Peace Bon (1946-1980).

A song about underage girls, contract killers, a pair of large bouncy parties and even women’s rights are some of the fantastic things to look forward to with the Dirty Deeds album.

When first listening to the album one may notice that “T.N.T.” and “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” have almost the exact same guitar rhythm. It’s not a bad thing, they simply knew they had a good thing going and wanted to continue with it. “Dirty Deeds” is all about cheap contract killers who like to find fun and new ways to kill their victims. Some of these include electrocution, strangling, and having the person wear a pair of concrete shoes as they go to sleep with the fish.

“Love at First Feel” deals with rock stars obsessions with underage girls and how the taboo is frequently overlooked. Another classic on the album is “Big Balls”. Everyone is familiar with this song that takes innuendos to a new level. “Ain’t no Fun( Waiting to be a Millionaire)” can be taken two ways. One may see it as a wanting for more money or a true intellect can delve deeper finding a greater meaning. The second way urges women to leave the housewife business and find an occupation that will make them happy as well as financially secure.

Finally, Dirty Deeds offers one of the most underrated rock songs of all time, “Problem Child”. This song is one of my all time favorites. It begins with a hard drum beat and Angus ripping out one of the greatest guitar rhythms ever.