Ninja Gaiden II takes the formula Itagaki/Team Ninja made for the original Xbox and successfully adapts it for the 360.

User Rating: 9 | Ninja Gaiden II X360
I would like to start by saying that yesterday's news of Tomonobou Itagaki leaving Team Ninja and Tecmo is very devistating. He was the heart and soul of the new Ninja Gaiden and even more so for Dead or Alive. He will be missed in the franchises he guided.

Ninja Gaiden II is an obvious sequel to Ninja Gaiden (black/sigma) on the Xbox. Now a days with sequels people want all new gameplay and everything to be changed in order for them to consider it good. I say that's a load of bull. Ninja Gaiden II hasn't changed much from it's first counterpart, but the fact is it didn't really need to change. Invisible walls don't mean crap when the game play is fun as hell. Ninja Gaiden II starts with the mysterious CIA agent (and typical cleavage aficionado) Sonia talking with legendary blacksmith/swordsman Muramasa (who if you're a Team Ninja fan will recognize not only from Ninja Gaiden and Dragon Sword, but also from Dead or Alive 4's Bass cut scenes) about everyone's favorite badass ninja Ryu Hayabusa's whereabouts. It is then when a ninja from the Black Spider Clan bursts through the shop only to get shot by Sonia, then another one gets two bullets to the face (of which you see the remnants of his head in their full glory, we'll talk about the gore later) and then Sonia gets captured, only to have Ryu come and save the day by throwing shrikes into one guys face and cutting the other one's upper torso in half. Sonia gets taken away by the clan again and brought to the Blood Queen Elizabet, who eventually gives Sonia back to Ryu only to fly to the Hayabusa village to steal the demon statue in order to resurrect the Archfiend. It is here where the Hayabusa village is attacked once again and you see Ryu's father Joe Hayabusa wounded, and attacked by Genshin, an Overlord of the Black Spider Clan. It's here where the story picks up, though it being a little farfetched. But to be brutally honest, the story takes a back seat to the action.

The gameplay in II pretty much remains unchanged from Ninja Gaiden Black. I say that meaning the core of the gameplay. You go from point A to point B cutting up everything that moves in your path. Aesthetic changes to the gameplay include a regenerating health bar that Itagaki admits being influenced by his good friends at Bungie and their Halo games. That's not to say all your health will regenerate, mortal wounds will remain red on the health bar and will not heal unless you get to a save point or use an item. The second change is the obliteration techniques. If you de-limb any enemy, press Y near them to pull off a technique that will absolutely destroy them into a mess of severed limbs and other body parts.

Obliteration techniques come in different flavors for all the different weapons as well. Along with the classic Dragon Sword, lunar staff, and regular weapons Ryu's kept from Ninja Gaiden, new ones like dual katanas (seen in Sigma,) a sythe, and my personal favorite, the falcon talons will keep players experimenting with weapon types for playthroughs to come.

Problems from past games in the series remain, that being the camera. While vets of series have learned to work around the camera, it can be a little spastic for anyone else just coming into the game. Also, the game is HARD. Now, this is no surprised, after all Itagaki has said that western gamers are wusses (in a much more R rated way though) and have too easy games. This is very true, but Team Ninja games some times go across the line. Not only is this game hard, it's cheap, which is the real problem. There are some enemies that will just destroy you if they get you into one of their combos. The best way to describe this is Alpha-152 from Dead or Alive 4. Yeah, remember that Kasumi clone taking away 2/3 of your health bar in one combo? THAT KIND OF CHEAP.

Gameplay aside, Ninja Gaiden II is one BRUTAL game. Just know, the roman numeral for II on the cover isn't in blood just to be cool, this game is BLOOOOOOOODY. I don't know how games like GTA get all the bad press where this game shows so many worse things. As an example, when I first played the demo I was amazed to see that after the first battle I left a floor full of limbs and bodies on the ground with blood splattered EVERYWHERE. One thing I noticed was a body that was not only missing its head but both its arms and legs as well. That is insane. With the lunar staff you can literally bludgeon a person's upper body into nothing. I swear to you, I had one loner ninja left, did a vertical strike with that, saw an explosion of body parts and could only find the legs left of him afterwards. Don't even get my started on the awesome obliteration techniques; my favorite happens to be with the falcon talons. Imagine if Wolverine from the X-men took his claws and jabbed them into everyone's face, that's what Ninja Gaiden II does.

Finally, technically the game looks great. It would be nice to see some overhauls to Team Ninja's game engine, but oh well. Screens do not do this game justice, it looks plastic in the screens, but seeing this game in motion with your own eyes on your own TV will just make you appreciate it so much more. With great colors (other than brown,) fluid animation, detailed characters and environments, Ninja Gaiden II is definitely another piece of great Team Ninja eye candy.

On a side note, a disappointment that I have with the game that doesn't amount to anything is the lack of Dead or Alive cameos. With Ayane being a major player in the original Ninja Gaiden, I was hoping to see at least a little more from her (she is in one short cut scene,) or even Hayate who apparently is such good friends with Ryu yet you haven't seen them in a cut scene together since Dead or Alive 3 it seems. It's been 3 years since Dead or Alive 4, I want to know what's going on with them!

Overall, Ninja Gaiden II is an amazing game. Yes, a lot of it remains unchanged from the first, but if you're willing to set aside the stupid mentality that every sequel needs to be drastically different, you will find an awesome, awesome game here. And for sure, if you like the first game, you need this one.