Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword for the Nintendo DS is finally available in Germany (Dragon Sword - DS - gettit?). How the game is controlled using the stylus is astonishing, breathtaking, eye-opening, dare I say: revolutionary.

They nailed the controls, plain and simple. Just as the 2 Xbox games, the DS version is all about rythm, but instead of hitting button combos, playing NG DS is more like painting a picture with a brush. A few well-placed "brush strokes" here and there, a few taps over there, and another group of Spider Clan ninjas are history. Something complex like an Izuna Drop is simply done by a down-up-up-stroke over the enemy (the first down-stroke is a more-or-less normal sword attack, the first up-stroke launches the enemy into the air, and the second upstroke has Ryu jump into the air, grab the enemy and whirl it into the ground.

The graphics are beautiful for what the DS can do. The backgrounds are 2D bitmaps, but give a good 3D-ish illusion since the 3D characters can move into the screen with the correct perspective projection.

Best DS game in a while, shame that it got so little attention from the DS crowd.