Technically speaking, Ryu is the worst ninja in the biz...
Gameplay:
Its more or less your standard hack n slash affair, normally in other games like this your opponents wait their turn while you kill their friends occasionally taking a swing or two at you before returning to the sidelines. This game will not only get involved but they will try to combo up together. As I said about the hacking limbs off and the like one might think it would slow the enemy down....Not the case.. It angers the enemy and the enemy will most likely try some kind of suicide move that would take a third of your health. Now try this with about 5 guys....Yeah, you get the idea. You'll be dying more often than not to some pertty cheap moves. Control on your would be ninja is a bit loose,(at least to me) Not so much that its game breaking but enough that precise jumps or tight corridors are a bit of a bother to navigate. Other than that the game is wholly playable, not much of a story but very good to just sit and play until one of two things happen.
1: You've died against the same enemy so many times and your blood pressure can't handle it anymore.
2:You've beaten the game.(not an easy feat)
Graphics:
Graphics are pretty. Although graphics really don't make the game in the end it helps in the PR front. This game is very pretty The characters in this game are just like the DOA models as in they have no pores and are like living dolls with perfectly smooth skin. I often wonder what kind of lonely men work there since every female in a Team Ninja game is outrageously stacked beyond belief.
Overall:
I think this game is fun, save for a few overly hard boss fights and a green tunnel level with all the ambition of a wet piece of paper. The game is also very pretty...and Very hard. normally I can take death in a game with stride often blaming myself for not doing a move at the right time, or not blocking when I should have..etc..etc..But this game I can't really blame myself sometimes.
For example:
Running though a town when about 7 ninja dogs attack me. I think to myself,"Heh, piece o cake!" I take a few down then then the little bastards start tossing exploding knives on me. Its bad enough they're almost impossible to dodge but they throw so many at once (assuming there's more then one dog, they throw one at a time but all together) that it brings you close to death if not killing you outright. needless to say it was my least favorite section of the level. Overall I think the game is solid. Its fun when your winning and killing but considerably less fun when the enemies storm your small fleshy corps.