I don’t usually do first impression write-ups, but sometimes you have gaming experiences that strike a chord with you that is so strong, you’ve got to share with anyone you might think will listen. As I grow older as a gamer, these experiences are rare and precious. This experience has happened for me four times: The first time I played Intellivision (the game was Night Stalker), Ninja Gaiden (NES), Ninja Gaiden (Xbox), and most recently, Muramasa: The Demon Blade on the Wii.

If you want to hear a first impression on a Wii title that doesn’t have Zelda, Mario, or Metroid in the title, click the jump.

When I arrived at my friend’s home, I expected to spend an evening playing BlazBlue, or StreetFighter IV. I made it a point to bring one of my primo fight sticks with me. Instead, we spent 2 and a half hours passing the Wii-mote as we sliced and diced in VanillaWare’s gorgeously styled, Japanese mythos laden, 2D wonderland.

The first thing that grabbed me was the graphics. If you’ve ever played VanillaWare’s Odin-Sphere for Playstation 2, you have an idea of what you’re in for: Lush environments, bright pastel colors, silky smooth animation, and characters that look like they were bred at the creative crossroads of Disney and Manga. This game is gorgeous–and just as the visuals are a treat for the eyes, the music is a joy to listen to. While I didn’t play enough to really have an opinion on the story, it seemed interesting enough. It seems typical–one of the two main characters in the game has lost his memory. Yeah–that angle has been doen to death in JRPGs, but the fact that you’re an ass kicking ninja, and the quality of this game otherwise more than makes up for that.

Muramasa is an RPG that is all about weapon forging and combat. The combat takes a moment to get the hang of, but before long you’ll be deflecting shurikens, and slicing through enemies like so much sushi. I was using the “classic” control setting option with the SNES attachment. Jumping and defensive rolls were done with the control cross. Sword attacks were done with repeated presses of the A button. Blocking and projectile deflection is done by holding down the A button. Your swords’ special attacks can be unleashed with press of the X button, and health items can be used by pressing Y. The L button selects your weapon (you can carry two blades at a time; a long sword and a dual blade weapon), and when that weapon’s meter is full switching blades unleashes a “quick draw” attack that wipes out a screen full of lesser enemies, and causes big damage on boss characters.

Because you have Muramasa’s demon blade in your possession, you have access to the legendary sword maker’s spirit, who will forge new Muramasa blades for you using your spirit power (gained by consuming food) the souls of slain enemies (absorbed by the weapons) and the numerous swords you find during your journey, or take from fallen foes. Weapon forging is linear, as you must develop along a “skill-tree” of sorts to get the blade you’re after. Different swords have different powers; my friend and I forged a dual flame blade that turned enemies to ash with its special attack.

One more thing: This game is thumb blistering hard when you put it on the more difficult of the two initial difficulty settings. Regular enemies will cut you down if you’re not aggressive enough. It took us many tries to get past the first boss: A large pin-wheel shuriken wielding ninja.

When I left my friend’s home, I desperately wanted to go down to the Super Walmart and buy the Wii and this game right then and there. Unfortunately, if I did that, my wife would probably do massive damage to vital parts of my anatomy after seeing the bill–especially when we’re trying to buy a home now. Make no mistake though–at some point a Wii and Muramasa: Demon Blade will make it into my gaming collection. Even though this is just a first impression, I feel I can say without hesitation that if you have a Wii, do yourself a favor and at least rent it. Better yet, do VanillWare a favor and buy this game new from your retailer of choice to thank them for this awesome project. Even with only a couple of hours of game play in, (and aside from the fact that I don’t own a Wii at this time) this is my Wii game of the year–hands down. This game is that good.