How do you take a great game and make it better? I don't know how they did it, but they made it into a near masterpiece.
.First rate presentation, visually and audibly
.Control and combat is still smooth and addicting as ever
.Even if you played the first one, there's a lot more content here
.Mission mode is amazingly addicting
.Improved manual camera works well
.The arcade game is an unlockable (even though it sucks)
.It's one of the best action games ever made, to this day
The Bad:
.Um.... it's harder...er
All right, let's face facts. Ninja Gaiden is an amazing game. So how do you make that better? Add all the DLC from the first game but still add a ton more content to the table. It's not like Halo 3 ODST where they promised it would be a new game but instead it was just a rehash with a fire-fight and a different campaign. We knew it would be the same game, but they added a whole new dimension to an already great game.
Gameplay is pretty much left intact. Combat is still as smooth as ever and thanks to a new camera system, it makes platforming easier and makes combat a little easier. You have a versatile amount of weapons at your disposal such as the series staple, the Dragon Sword, the fast and furious Vigoorian Flails, or the absolutely brutal Dabilahro. You may wanna try out the new weapons they gave you, though. The Lunar Staff and Smoke Bombs. You get them both early in the game and both are pretty useful in combat. The Lunar has a long range and is great for taking out large crowds of enemies. The smoke bombs work good as well, mostly use for running away against enemies. Another great tweak to the game play is how the Ultimate Technique works. You don't need essence to charge up anymore, but it takes a long time to do so. They also added two new difficulty setting to the mix, Ninja Dog, which you get after dying a few times on the first chapter and then sets the game on easy mode and Master Ninja, a difficulty so hard..... it makes you wanna think if this is harder than BattleToads. They also added Mission Mode, which is basically horde mode, where you either face a boss, complete a certain objective or kill enough bad guys. Speaking of the bad guys, they also added new ones as well and they change up when you go on higher difficulty settings and even add some new bosses like the Doppelganger Fiend. (Which is pretty freaking awesome) They even added a few new save points, making it more fair in challenge.
The story is about the ninja Ryu Hayabusa seeking out revenge for his clan after his village gets burned down by Doku and his samurai. You'll met interesting characters such as Rachel the Fiend Hunter and Ayane from the Dead or Alive games acting as your guide. They added new cutscenes to give better narrative, but it doesn't change anything up. It's an excuse to beat up a bunch of cool looking enemies and get back the ancient relic stolen from your village. There also little diary entries you can read off of from the dead Black Spider Clan ninjas you see from time to time to get more narrative and even get to learn about the history of the Fiends and how they came to be. Even the loading screens from time to time will give you context of the Fiends and Hayabusa's clans history, which I think is a nice touch.
Graphically, it looks untouched from the original and that isn't a bad thing. AT ALL. In fact, it may look a bit sharper than before. They added a few new animations and all the characters, environments and just about everything looks fantastic. There's a variety of environments such as the Gothic architecture and Arabic in Tairon, the quaint Japanese setting of the Hayabusa village and even Hell itself. Animation holds up very well today and still look spectacular. And of course the new enemies looks great as well and it's a flawless looking game. How about that?
The only thing a little disappointing is the sound. There's nothing wrong with it, but the didn't add any new music. It's a shame since the music is just as great and varied as the environments themselves but why really complain? They add some new sound effects for most of the new enemies and added some new dialogue for the story. The acting is just as decent as ever, though some voices do a good overall effort. There's even a voice over switch to Japanese, though personally, I do prefer the English.
Alright.... I'm just gushing all over this game and how great it is... But it's just so good.... I think I might gush... WASN'T IT SO COOL TO GET DOKU'S WEAPON AFTER YOU FACED HIM AND THEN YOU COULD STEAL THE HEALTH OUT OF ENEMIES? THE FACT THAT ENEMIES CHANGE AS YOU GO TO HIGHER DIFFICULTIES IS SO AWESOME TOO. MAN, THE CAMEO OF THE DEMON STATUE FROM THE NES GAME IS AWESOME TOO. REMEMBER THOSE INCREDICLE CUTSCENES IN CGI AND THEY STILL LOOK AMAZING. WOO. THIS GAME MAKES ME ROCK HARD. NO, I'M NOT KIDDING. THIS GAME IS AWESOME. THE FACT THAT IT WAS 30$ WHEN IT CAME OUT IN 05 MAKES IT EVEN BETTER TO HAVE.... Whoo, ok, ok. Time to stop gushing. In all seriousness, go buy this game. Download it off of Xbox Live Market or if you don't have a 360, get Sigma. If you only have an Xbox, this game is a must have. It's like, 5 bucks now.... Just... just get it. I'm serious. Get it.... NAO.
Overall score: 9.9/10