Score
Gameplay:	8
Graphics:	9
Sound:	8
FunFactor:	8
PlasmaFactor:	10
Overall:	8.6

Ninja Gaiden II Review
June 12, 2008 by Jason Large

 

The original Ninja Gaiden and Ninja Gaiden Black for the Xbox were collectively underplayed and under-marketed.  For a game as great as Ninja Gaiden was, it is hard to understand how there was not more promotion power put behind it.  Ninja Gaiden 2 did not have this marketing problem as it has seen its fair share of promotion in the weeks leading up to its release.  For those who did play the original, you understand the tall order before Tecmo. 

Gameplay 

All you really need to know about Ninja Gaiden II is that Tecmo went to Barry Bonds’ house and barrowed some of his HGH, as essentially, Ninja Gaiden II is Ninja Gaiden on steroids.  Ryu Hayabusa is twice as lethal this time around; stringing together combos and dismembering enemies with a ferocity that would make Kratos cringe at the sheer amount of limbs and blood that spray across the screen at every encounter.  If you have played its predecessor, then you’ll be happy to know that Ninja Gaiden II stays loyal to the formula; in essence it is a true sequel.  

There are new combos, new weapons, new enemies and a new story, but players that played the original will feel right at home.  If you are a newcomer to the series, you’ll still be able to learn the controls quickly; mastering it, however, is another story.  After much touting that Ninja Gaiden II would appeal to more casual gamers, the legendary difficulty scale has returned.  Even on the normal difficulty setting Ninja Gaiden II is still more challenging than most games on hard or very hard difficulty settings.  Although tweaks to the gameplay have been made in order to make coursing the levels easier, the fact remains that the game is probably still too challenging for the casual gamer.  Even the hardcore Ninja Gaiden fans may be a little put off by the excessive amount of difficulty.  In fact, too often if feels like the developers intended to frustrate the player instead of challenge them.  Therein lies the one glaring problem with Ninja Gaiden II: the most challenging parts of the game feature no real strategy.  Boss fights are really a matter of trying over and over again until you get lucky enough to get past them.   

The only other real issue with Ninja Gaiden II lies in the somewhat awkward camera angles.  A good amount of the time will be spent slicing apart enemies that you are not looking at.  You can readjust the camera with a quick tap of the RT button, but it is hard to do when the game moves at franticly as it does.  It’s not so much that the angles are bad; it’s more that Ryu moves too fast for the camera.  If the camera was locked in behind Ryu at all times, you would probably experience motion sickness. Although this sounds like a major issue, a seasoned Ninja Gaiden player it will only find it to be a minor inconvenience.   

Graphics 

Ninja Gaiden II looks very similar to its last generation counter part.  Now this is not a bad thing since Ninja Gaiden was ahead of its time and still stands as one of the best-looking original Xbox games; the only real difference here is that everything looks a little more vibrant.  Watching the blood spray as limbs go flying from your enemies is probably the closest a gamer can come to pure, visceral joy while playing a game.  Probably the coolest visual touch is that the remains of some of your enemies stick around, unlike in other games where they vanish or disintegrate… so don’t forget to take a second to observe the destruction whenever you finish a battle.  Overall the graphics in Ninja Gaiden II garner no complaints… until you come across your first frame rate drop.  Frame rate drops can occasionally be overlooked, but not in a game where speed and agility are your greatest allies.  These drops don’t occur very often but when they do the game basically comes to a screeching halt, and for a second you will think the game actually froze.  Again, these drops don’t occur often, but when they do, they will irritate you. 

Sound 

Just like last time around, Ninja Gaiden II features a very uninspiring story that at times does not make sense.  As a result, some decent voice work is completely wasted.  Dialogue is pretty scarce and when it does occur it is lost in a story that is severely lacking in background information.  However the lack of dialogue and story telling is easily made up for with the sound of arms and legs being removed and blood soaking every surface in the game. 

FunFactor 

The most important factor in a game is how enjoyable it is to play.  If you can get past the frustrating moments, Ninja Gaiden II is nothing but fun.  The sheer destruction that you can wreak as Ryu Hayabusa offers nearly limitless options while playing which helps to keep the game fresh and entertaining.  With a wide variety of weapons as your disposal, and each of them showcasing their own unique style of combat and combos, you would be hard pressed to find someone who does not find at least something to enjoy in Ninja Gaiden II. 

PlasmaFactor 

This whole review has been talking up the sheer bliss that comes from cutting opponents six ways from Sunday, so naturally the PlasmaFactor is the combat.  You can strip away the story, the boss fights, and any other extras and this game might still be worth the price of admission.  If you are talking exclusively about the in-game combat, Ninja Gaiden II is easily one of the best action games available, period.  Watching Ryu slash, cut, bludgeon and utterly obliterate his opponents is what action games are all about. 

Conclusion

It really is a shame that the frustration level that many gamers will experience throughout the course of Ninja Gaiden II may turn some players off and end their experiences early.  In most ways, Ninja Gaiden II improves on what Ninja Gaiden offers, but questionable game design in terms of the difficulty scale keeps this game from being what it should be.  Ninja Gaiden II is a worthy follow-up to the original and is worth checking out by all gamers; just don’t be surprised when it frustrates you at times.