Video Game Reviews: Ninja Gaiden 2

For all those ardent fans that had been waiting for a sequel of Ninja Gaiden for Xbox 360, the wait is over! Ninja Gaiden II devised and designed by the Team Ninja of Tecmo is heading out to be the same blockbuster as Ninja Gaiden was.

Ninja Gaiden has as its hero the Ninja warrior Ryu Hayabasu and players have to guide him as he embarks a on a mission to avenge the destruction of his clan and (surprise! surprise!) prevent the annihilation of mankind. And in order to save the world, he has to make use of his powerful collection of ninja weaponry. Gamers will help Ryu fight his way through an evil world where there is danger and peril at every step. The new Ninja Gaiden II now runs on a completely new gameplay engine. It has also far superior action sequences with an auto-generating health system and a plethora of new enemies and locales. The combat scenes are more thrilling and make use of the extensive collection of ninja weaponry.

Ninja Gaiden II has great improvements on Ninja Gaiden. The gameplay is vastly improved and the combats are a lot bloodier. If you use the full range of enhancements, you will see why this game is reputed to be one of the best action games available. You get to be involved in some mind-boggling action wherein you can decapitate werewolves and just slice through armies of enemy ninjas and demons. And as you do this, the screen explodes with color, sound and a gory mixture of particles and various body parts. If you have ever played Ninja Gaiden before and thought it difficult, wait till you play Ninja Gaiden II, where the confrontation levels are at an all time high and winning any of these is one of the most exciting moments in video gaming.

Tecmos Team Ninja has also managed to fix some of the issues that were frustrating in the original Ninja Gaiden. Now for example, if you lose a battle, you can just restart form the start of the encounter instead of having to go all the way back to the lead-in time. You have more save points, which you can use to replenish your health and in fact, after some of the action sequences, your health can even replenish, on its own. The main action remains the same – amazingly intense and well fought. You fight along more or less the same lines as in the original Ninja Gaiden but this time the encounters are extra fast and furious. You can use just two buttons for the attack mode, one as a jump button and of course a trigger for the blocking action. And with these you can create a series of slashes, punches and even high-flying, high-kicking motions. The animations are particularly silky and the blood and gore special effects will leave you stunned. Each encounter has the ability to keep you completely immersed, focused on the fortunes of Ryu and the faster you can move your fingers, the more magic and explosion you can create on the screen.