Ninja Gaiden is better.
Pros: Hotsuma has some pretty slick moves, Decent enemy variety, ok voice acting, Some of the boss fights are pretty cool, Hotsuma is a ninja, and ninjas are cool, When you kill kill 4+ enemies, you get somethin called TATE, were Hotsuma does some cool pose while his enemies fall to their deaths. Stealth dash can save your ass in tight situations, and very responsive controls.
CONS: Horribly diffucult, the sword you have sucks your life, as if the enemies you faced werent enough, no checkpoints, every single mission has a boss which can be very hard, you can only save AFTER you beat a level, which can take forever, when you die you start from the beginning of the mission, mediocre graphics, bland environments, and generally frustrating.
Basically, this games strengths outweigh its weaknesses, but it's still not suitable for everyone. If you like your games nice and easy, then give this a pass. Dont even think about playing it. But if you like challenging, hard, and occasionally frustrating games, then give this one a try.