Erich, Steve, and Jon celebrate the big three-oh with a hefty discussion of games old and new, including Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Scribblenauts, The Beatles: Rock Band, Shadow Complex, Uncharted, Killzone 2, Grand Theft Auto IV DLC, and Vampire: The Masquerade — Redemption. In News, Nintendo may or may not be price dropping the Wii, Zelda: Spirit Tracks gets a release date, Bobby Kotick hates fun, people are buying PS3s, and Uncharted 2 early reviews are great. This week’s Symposium Ad Nauseum: Shooting Things with a Spaceship.

Over in the Tooting Our Own Horns Department, be sure to check out the Demon’s Souls trailer on GameTrailers.com, featuring a quote from Steve’s review! If you’d like to congratulate him, weigh in on the show, or complain about our insufferable back-patting, please leave a comment below, head over to the DVD Verdict Jury Room forums, or email us at feedback@pixelverdict.com.

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Lyrics, fill in the gap -- Drop that bass and get the Ninja Rap!

The Charge:
Slice like a ninja – Cut like a razor blade!

Opening Statement:
Okay, every red-blooded kid who lived and breathed during the 1980s knows that ninjas are concentrated awesome.  And I don`t mean that watered down, sugar-rush Naruto crap.  I`m talking straight up, sword swingin’, star flingin’ shinobi bad-ass.  Hell, even Michael Dudikoff had a cup of coffee with fame and fortune because he made a few movies concerning ninjas, and he was a total douche (my apologies to any hardcore Dudikoffers out there).  I’ll usually try any video game that features Ninjas in a prominent role (usually to my regret), which led me to this day’s review.  Long-time readers (of my printed reviews) like my mom will probably remember how I gushed about an early 2007 release for the PlayStation 2 called Odin Sphere.  This nifty little Action-RPG was critically hailed for its absolutely gorgeous hand-drawn visuals, something developer Vanillaware quickly became known for.  But we all know great graphics don’t make a great game, so will the inclusion of ninjas help to sharpen Muramasa – The Demon Blade, Vanillaware’s new return to the land of 2D action?

'Fo knucks brah!

Facts of the Case:
Muramasa is a classic revenge and redemption story, told from the perspective of two otherwise unrelated characters.  The first, Momohime, is a princess whose soul has been ensnared and her body possessed by a powerful spirit, who wants to use her as the tool of his terrible vengeance.  The second, Kisuke; is a skilled Ninja who has completely lost his memory due to some crucial event, and now he slashes his way through former clansmen and demon’s alike to find the truth he seeks.  Both characters are uniquely flawed, as is usually the case with Kabuki drama, and its up to players to guide these two lost causes toward their ultimate goal.

The Evidence:
A free-roaming side-scroller in the vein of the Iga era of Castlevania titles, Muramasa sends gamers across feudal Japan, unlocking new levels and battles by defeating nefarious bosses or obtaining all manner of McGuffins.  Though each character’s story is unique and extraneous from one another, both Momohime and Kisuke will traverse through the same areas.  The narrative and climactic boss fights change up for whichever story is being played through however, and there are just enough switchups in locales to keep things fresh.  It’s hardly groundbreaking, but what the game does, it does well.

Muramasa, doing what it does well.

Speaking of doing things well, the action in Muramasa is simply put, resplendent.  For a title that uses a single attack button, there is never a shortage of different combos and brutal actions to be taken upon the swarms of enemies (of which are nearly endless by the way) which clog up each level.  Wet behind the ear rookies may be a little off-put by the use of the up key on the d-pad for a jump button, but any gamer with even a few hours worth of time invested into 2D fighters should be leaping around and performing all manner of uppercuts, dashing slashes, and quick draw surprise attacks in no time.  It certainly doesn’t hurt that the game is cane sugar visual candy for the eyes while all this fast and furious swordplay is onscreen as well.  I love the mechanics behind defending and sword breaking, and how using special attacks and fierce slashes may whittle an opponent down quicker, but as well bring the player’s sword to the breaking point much quicker.  Some boss fights are engineered around these mechanics, bringing a puzzling strategy to the plate along with the crazy ninja cutting.

Go ninja go ninja go!

Much as I despise to use a shibboleth like this, but the hackneyed cliché “painting in motion” fits Muramasa like a fine Italian glove.  Like Odin Sphere before it, each level simply bleeds life onto the screen with independent layers of parallax scrolling objects and rigorously animated sprites that fill even empty rooms with a sense of wondrous impulsive spirit.  This level of visual panache is a joy to take in.   Aurally, the game is just as much a delight.  The music would be fitting in any samurai film, and the tempo picks up in battle to match even classic favourites like the Revenge of Shinobi soundtrack.  It would’ve been nice for the game to feature an English dub (believe me, Atlus would’ve included one), but for the most part the translation is decent, so I didn’t mind the Japanese.

Bob Ross himself couldn't have crafted it any better.

Rebuttal Witness:
Well paced, and clocking in at an adequate 12 hours to complete with both characters, Muramasa does however suffer from flat level design and enough back-tracking to choke a rhinoceros.  It’s not uncommon to survive a particularly savage battle with a monstrous ogre or dragon, obtain the item or new sword needed to move past a previously locked gateway, and have to suffer through 10 minutes to dashing through sparse and linear stretches of previously traversed level in order to reach the new destination.  I couldn’t help but wonder if Muramasa wouldn’t have been better off as a straight up action title with separate levels.  Just beat the boss and move on to the next stage.  All the detail that Vanillaware poured into the presentation is nearly laid to waste by some truly unimaginative world design.  Gamers didn’t mind backtracking in Metroid or Castlevania because the worlds were clever and filled with hidden shortcuts.  In Muramasa, navigating the map can often feel like a chore, which is sad because the slash’em up game play is such a treat.  As well, much of the game’s drama is told via long winded exposition scenes immediately before and after each boss fight.  The rest of the game feels oddly empty, outside of course of the waves of baddies to slice and dice.  Muramasa feels like a superb action title that has been encumbered with an exiguous attempt at inserting RPG elements.  I realize that in today’s gaming climate, players keep insisting on longer games with more content, but ask yourselves if you’d rather spend 4 out of 12 hours backtracking through older levels, or play a superb 8 hour straight action title?

Visual proof that Steve Power will probably end up buying Muramasa.

Closing Statement:
Armed to the teeth with a simple, but undeniably tight control scheme, and some of the most gorgeous 2D presentation seen on the Wii, Muramasa – The Demon Blade is a blistering slash’em up that should bring just enough sizzle to cover up the fact that the steak isn’t the primmest of cuts.  One of the better action titles on the platform, Wii owners desperate for something new to play should have no reason to complain.

The Verdict:

Is there anything that can’t be made better with the appropriate application of ninjas?  Just imagine a world where one could walk into a hardware store and have their desired lumber dropped from the ceiling by a shadowy figure, or have a steak served to them off the edge of a katana blade.  I’ll tell you one thing, the email at jonmercer@nf.sympatico.ca  is certainly handled by the silent masters of the assassination arts.

- J

Platform: Nintendo Wii
Developer: Vanillaware/Marvellous Entertainment
Publisher: Ignition Entertainment
Release Date: September 9th, 2009
Rated: T for Teen.