Ninja Gaiden Trilogy SNES Port Is Out Today! Ported to SNES with MSU1 Support!

[@Fatovarius]

really wanna see a port of Crystalis to SNES so you can switch orbs and swords with L and R on the fly... what's your holy grail up-port idea?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Sweet Home with MSU1 audio and some QOL improvements is high up for me

[@PM-xc8oo]

This is really awesome considering that the actual SNES trilogy was pretty half-baked.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’d say more quarter baked

[@Subfightr]

That shit was overcooked, it was so hard I wondered how the hell I beat the original 2 when I was a kid on NES, I never even got past the lava rising level in Ninja G 3. I rented it and that was my only experience with ninja g 3 on the SNES. I didn't realize they increased the difficulty to madness for the US release in order to convince consumers to purchase the game and not rent and beat it in an eye bleeding weekend. ... Those were the days though weren't they? Ugh... 💔

[@homerthompson416]

The music was so terrible in the official SNES trilogy.

[@Suritorange]

I liked the SNES trilogy because it felt more vibrant more colorful compared to this.

[@MrBeanTroll]

We are getting a new Ninja Gaiden game from the developers of Blasphemous. They showed a trailer during the game awards. Looks like 2D goodness.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Oh that’s right. So many good announcements this year

[@thetechn1que518]

Hoping for two good ninja games between that and the new Shinobi. But if you haven’t played it yet, check out Vengeance Guardian Moonrider.

[@CrimsonDragoon23]

Still waiting for someone to port over the NES Double Dragon Trilogy over to the SNES.

[@TandyOne]

Double Dragon II was the best. It would be nice to have dedicated jump buttons.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Maybe one day!

[@stikzlevel857]

Actually yeah! Double dragon 2 port would be phenomenal!

[@MarginalSC]

Funny that this is better than the official ports Tecmo did.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

So much better

[@DoinThatRag]

The "someone" and "they" describing the MSU-1 implementation/hypothetical SNES chip was created by Near. Who also created the libretro API used by Retroarch to interface with individual cores. And also created bsnes, higan, and the initial ares implementation prior to their passing. The individual who championed console accuracy in emulation before anyone even cared about anything beyond "making games just work no matter what". And also worked on a number of translations for games, most recently the Bahamut Lagoon translation which also fixed game bugs, fixed menu issues, fixed performance issues, and exposed debug options buried in the game. And so many tools and documents to assist translation authors as well as preservation of SNES PCBs, and and and....... I'm not trying to call you out or anything, it's just really important to remember their contributions and their legacy as so many of us who enjoy emulation, translations, and enhancements owe them so much. Also, I leave these ports. Love to see them every time a new one is available.

[@TranquilVision]

Near was mentally ill and killed himself. His contributions were fine and all, but he wasn't irreplaceable and his drama isn't missed.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Let’s be a little more chill about this! Appreciate it

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’ve mentioned Near before. Not every reference to MSU comes with a “how and why it exists”

[@piratesephiroth]

Yep, the man was messed up. I understand someone not mentioning him directly.

[@TranquilVision]

@@VideoGameEsoterica I said nothing incorrect.

[@Jerryjoe-lh3qc]

A súper contra port for the snes would be nice

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Can’t argue with that

[@ozmaphase2]

This is amazing! It’s a Christmas miracle! I love playing through his ports, but this one is extra exciting.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Three games in one. Triple the gift!

[@METR0lD]

NES game I want to see the most next? Probably something from Konami. Castlevania 1 and 3, Life Force, Super C, all great options!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Next trilogy release could totally be Castlevania

[@inceptional]

Now we just need some talented artist in the SNES community to go in and actually update the colours to 16-bit, and then we'd have some truly sweet versions on the games on SNES that keep everything that made the NES originals great while just giving us even prettier visuals. :D

[@SprockX2]

Did you say...spanktacular?!? 😂

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha if I didn’t I didn’t mean to

[@Nakoruru87]

It’s great seeing these ports. I’d love to see an actual proper port of Samurai Shodown on Sega CD or even MD. I wonder how the symphony of the night port is turning out

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I think there will be a SotN update next week

[@METR0lD]

Fun fact, all the bosses from the first game appear as regular enemies in the second game! I always wonder how many people are aware of that little easter egg.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

They got demoted after failing in the first game

[@smashpro1]

This is the next-best option for the music to having a band like Bit Brigade perform it live.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha and that would take way more planning too

[@EnigmaHood]

2:41 I can think of a few reasons. Sometimes some emulators are better than others, especially on different platforms. NES emulation isn't hard to do, but I remember a few times my NES emulators had something wrong with it for one reason or another, especially on Android. There were weird input lag issues, while my SNES emulator didn't have that problem. I'm sure that's no longer an issue on Android, but it demonstrates the point. Just having a game on more platforms helps guard against stuff like that. Plus there might be some new features or enhancements on a different platform, maybe new additions or what not. Maybe this version has the Japanese version of Ninja Gaiden 3, the American version sucks because it was artificially made more difficult!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Oh there’s plenty of reasons. I just like to remind people “because I want to” as as valid a reason as any

[@Wobble2007]

Not usually a fan of MSU-1 music, but this is a banger, the other great MSU-1 soundtrack is the Super Mario World MSU-1 version, I'd love to see MSU-1 used for a soundtrack made with sequenced FM/PSG/Tracker/MIDI music, takes a lot more creativity and is harder than generic PCM, but the results are worth it.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

MSU audio ranges from “yeah not bad” to “how did I live without this”

[@bedwablackburn]

NES to SNES port reasoning is ALWAYS MSU-1 improvements.

[@bedwablackburn]

My request would be Power Blade

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

As it should be!

[@Jerryjoe-lh3qc]

My request, Súper C

[@phoenixmixgaming4625]

beats the official version

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Hands down

[@Myako]

I hope to be able to get in touch with Infidelity for when all three Mortal Kombat games get enhanced for the NES.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’m sure you can send him a dm on Twitter. Jus make a polite introduction :)

[@Myako]

@VideoGameEsoterica you think THAT low of me? 🥹 (already contacted him, just waiting for his reply)

[@rars0n]

I never played Ninja Gaiden back in the day, but I'm all for bringing NES classics to the SNES, because it makes it that much easier for people (myself included) to play those games. MSU-1 is great when done well, too.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

The more the merrier is my opinion!

[@jaymorrison8419]

the sword hitbox always seemed odd, like only the tip counts and enemies can be jumping around in your s and not taking any damage

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yes it has a hitbox that’s a bit less generous than you’d hope for

[@riggel8804]

Ive beat all 3 but the first one is the one I come back to. I took me a long time to route out the first one so now I can usually pick it up and beat it first or second try. The second one was so easy that I don't remember how to play it so I never pick it up. The third one is the hardest. So hard in fact that I never want to play it again.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Then you get to the Xbox game which is just cruel haha

[@TheRealJPhillips]

Wow. I still own ninja gaiden 1 complete in box.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Never sell!

[@Charlie-Cat.]

Excellent. Thank you for the heads up VGE. 8^)

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

That’s what I’m here for!

[@Ragesauce]

My only issue with these ports is sometimes there is some controller latency issues. Not sure what causes it, but it's very noticable in Kid Icarus. If I could get a port though, i'd love to see Castlevania II or StarTropics

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

How are you playing? I didn’t experience that

[@Ragesauce]

@@VideoGameEsoterica MiSTer, with 2.4ghz controller. There is a kind of "control delay" built in the NES version the way pit moves and whatnot as well, but it's not this noticable.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Interesting. Didn’t have that myself but I always capture hard wired

[@zatokeo5935]

Wow! thank you so much for the great news!!! I will be playing this throughout this month 😄

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Good way to spend some time

[@SolidHyunkel]

The official trilogy was awful and there wasn't any original NG titles for SNES. Thanks to the developers to bring justice to Ninja Gaiden on SNES

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Finally it’s a good port!

[@KyleReeseCel2029]

It wasn't awful at all. So it had no paralax scrolling. Had better graphics and sound to me.

[@SolidHyunkel]

@@KyleReeseCel2029 buttons were not remappable and saves or a password system could have been hugely appreciated. It has better graphics and sound only compared to the NES originals. Compared to quality SNES titles it leaves a lot to be desired IMHO. It also felt rushed and lackluster compared for example with Super Mario All-Stars.

[@EnigmaHood]

@@KyleReeseCel2029 It had... different... graphics and sound. I wouldn't say they were better. They may technically use more color or draw from a more diverse palette, but the game looked and sounded worse. Plus it had other problems.

[@emmettturner9452]

I don’t know how anyone can listen to the ear-cancer SNES version and think it sounds better than the NES version. The NES version was one of the best soundtracks ever making it hurt even worse when the SNES ruined it.

[@stikzlevel857]

I would love to see the guardian legend or crystalis!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haven’t played those in forever

[@konsolowygracz]

I still don't get it why is it even exist. Snes trilogy has MSU-1 audio, no flickering and passwords. This version has only 8-bit look.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

The rerelease on SNES doesn’t have any MSU-1 in it. Just a diff soundtrack

[@NeoSonicStrike]

The SNES NGT would have been a great port if the music wasn't completely botched and there's some weird input timing issue on NG2 and 3 which causes your inputs to miss, it only seems to effect those games but not the first NG game. Sad, coulda been a great version but it lost all it's soul on the SNES.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Probably just got a bit rushed would be my guess

[@EnigmaHood]

I think you said MSG1 enhancements instead of MSU1 enhancements. Even the closed captions say you said MSG-1 enhancements. 😐

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Pretty sure I said MSU. Could just be my New England talking. I know it’s not a food additive lol

[@EnigmaHood]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Check the closed captions!

[@bryandavidasuncion9515]

Asking why don't they don't make new games? As an amateur game developer, its because making the assets for the game is hard. The sprites, the BG, the music, etc. At least with porting, those are already done, maybe just need a little tweaking.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Very true

[@slerched]

My nostalgia doesn't let me enjoy the music. I appreciate what they did and they did a good job with it. But not for me. Obviously not taking anything away from the work or people who want to play this way of course. They should have contracted Minibosses (the band) to record some of their renditions for this. 😁 I still wouldn't play that way though...

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

That’s fair. Thats why it’s nice you have the options for the original music and enhanced. Everyone wins

[@Galgomite]

Playing devil’s advocate for a moment, doesn’t SNES add a frame of lag compared to NES? Ninja Gaiden is an all-time favorite game of mine and I *require* every advantage if I ever want to beat the damn thing (I still can’t beat the final boss).

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Not that I’m aware of?

[@METR0lD]

Instantly better than the official trilogy release on the SNES!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Wouldn’t have to try very hard to accomplish the task either haha

[@SNKev411]

I beat all 3. those games are hard as 💩💩

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Brutally hard

[@nickxcom]

I might have to sub to his patreon so i can get these lol. I am NOT a patient man 🫠

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s out. No need to wait