Ninja Gaiden was released in 1988 as “Ninja Ryūkenden,” and “Shadow Warriors” in Europe. Ninja Gaiden was originally an arcade game, where you are a Ninja, and you are to progress through the world of Ninja Gaiden in a “Beat ’em Up” gameplay style. At the same time, Tecmo was readying a version of Ninja Gaiden for the Nintendo Entertainment System console, and in the process of developing Ninja Gaiden for NES, they changed the gameplay style. That conversion to NES, drastically changed the way the game is played. It’s no longer a perfect conversion (which today we know as a “port.”) So, now, it’s no longer the “Beat ’em up” title. It’s now an action game. Upon release, the game became an instant hit. Despite the change. Tecmo saw how successful Ninja Gaiden was received, and went to work on a sequel. From here, Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos built on the original NES release, and went on to sell just as well as the original NES release. Long-term, both games has become legendary games in the Nintendo Entertainment System library. Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom was released shortly thereafter, but did not receive the same critical acclaim the first two games enjoyed. Tecmo released Ninja Gaiden Trilogy and did not sell nearly as much as the first two, and Ninja Gaiden would take a long hiatus until 2004. Tecmo and Team Ninja released a reboot of Ninja Gaiden for Xbox. Shortly thereafter, Tecmo and Team Ninja got the funding of Microsoft, to develop Ninja Gaiden II for Xbox 360. In 2008, Ninja Gaiden II was released, and has put Ninja Gaiden back on the map – notoriously known as a difficult game. Iconic, and legendary.

Team Ninja rocked the gaming industry with a surprise, stealth drop earlier this year with the release of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black after the announcement of Ninja Gaiden 4 set to be released late 2025. DotEmu, the makers of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, and Streets of Rage 4 are scheduled to release Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound during Summer 2025.

In order to aid this review, I spent the last three months replaying Ninja Gaiden Sigma and Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 before starting Ninja Gaiden 2 Black. I have completed all games thoroughly. This review is about Ninja Gaiden 2 Black for PlayStation 5. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black was released for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, and PC on January 23, 2025. So it is available now.

Ninja Gaiden 2 Black was a complete remake to Ninja Gaiden II that originally released on Xbox. Ninja Gaiden II was regarded as one of the best games ever made in the action genre. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black was using the Dynasty Warriors 9/Dead or Alive 4 engine with overlayed graphics of Unreal Engine 5.

In other words, Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is based on Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 both from a coding perspective and the content that was available therein. Some say that Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is basically Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2+. Koei Tecmo said that the reason for this is because they couldn’t salvage the code for Ninja Gaiden II. So, they opted to use the Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 codebase.

Gameplay

Ninja Gaiden as of 2004 is a 3D hack n’ slash/action game. For the most part, Ninja Gaiden games plays similarly to most action games of that era (2000), including Devil May Cry. In fact, Tomonobu Itagaki was the game director of Ninja Gaiden’s Reboot until Ninja Gaiden 3. And Tomonobu Itagaki saw Devil May Cry as a competition. In Ninja Gaiden games you walk, you wallrun, you attack, you perform action-based maneuvers like the “Guillotine Throw.” Each action can collide with opponents as if you’re fighting a opponent in a fighting game. Ninja Gaiden’s engine is actually based on Dynasty Warriors which is a hack n’ slash with hordes of enemies, and Dead or Alive which is a fighting game. Each battle ends with a finishing move, like a Mortal Kombat game. During 2000’s we saw the rise of action games that have finishing moves as a “ending.” One of those games is actually “God of War.”

That’s Ninja Gaiden in a nutshell. So, how’s Ninja Gaiden 2 Black? Well, like I said, I played Ninja Gaiden Sigma and Sigma 2 before I began Ninja Gaiden 2 Black. Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 did not have Tomonobu Itagaki’s involvement or input. It was coded by a different development team within’ Tecmo. So, for the most part, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 was stripped down from Tomonobu Itagaki’s Ninja Gaiden II. However, Koei Tecmo acknowledges Ninja Gaiden II, and decided to make amends on what happened with Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. The amends include making the game a bit “busy” and more difficult.

For the most part, Ninja Gaiden 2 Black plays like a better version of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. It runs at a silky smooth 60 frames per second, with no hiccups. Enemies coalesces around Ryu Hayabusa and want to destroy him. Bosses are large, and want to take you down. Some boss battles have multiple minions to aid their battle – and it was not in the original Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 release.

Difficulty

Please keep this in mind: This review assumes you played Ninja Gaiden Sigma games as your first source material. I never played the Xbox version of Ninja Gaiden, Ninja Gaiden Black or the Xbox 360 version of Ninja Gaiden II. Many regard Ninja Gaiden and Ninja Gaiden Black as the definitive version of the 2004 game. Many also regard Ninja Gaiden II as the definitive version and is nails biting hard. Like… hard. Take for instance, the infamous or famous stairs – whichever you land – that stairs is iconic.

The Xbox 360 version is backwards compatible with Xbox One, and the Xbox Series consoles. If you put Ninja Gaiden II into the Xbox Series X console, you will get what’s known as “forward compatibility,” so if you reach this spot – the stairs become a chaotic masterpiece. The spider clan members will swarm your area, and try to overcrowd you with their sheer number. On Xbox 360, this would run at 20 frames per second as the console start to work overtime to keep up. Xbox Series X does this at 4k, and 60 frames per second.

So, that being said, it’s fair to say that Ninja Gaiden 2 Black isn’t easy nor is it “hard.” Ninja Gaiden II on Xbox 360 makes any other version look tame in both graphics and difficulty. I will give Ninja Gaiden 2 Black credit, they actually put effort in making the game as close as possible to Ninja Gaiden II.

Story

There’s not really that much of a story to Ninja Gaiden II. It takes place shortly thereafter the first Ninja Gaiden (2004 reboot). Ryu Hayabusa and Joe Hayabusa both hid the Demon statue to prevent world calamity from ever happening. Ryu Hayabusa goes after Genshin to obtain the Demon Statue. That’s all there is to it.

Controls

Controls for Ninja Gaiden games are difficult to explain for the average person, because you are basically controlling a speedy Ninja. Despite you controlling a Ninja, you’re not playing a stealth game, you are actually playing an action game. You will “lunge” at enemies as if you are a master ninja or something. “Guillotine Throw” allows you to parry enemies at will. For the most part, you are parkouring all over the place, or over enemies as if this is a marathon. You can zap to enemies, you can pull off finishing moves and move on to the next enemy without being interrupted. You can even use techniques in succession from one enemy to the next without interruption.

Graphics

Ninja Gaiden in general, already looks awesome, but Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is beautiful. Team Ninja utilized Unreal Engine 5 to it’s absolute limits. Under the hood, it’s using the Ninja Gaiden Sigma engine, and is taxing consoles because of how unoptimized Unreal Engine 5 is. It won’t really matter because the SSD is handling most of the executions. I cannot stop gushing about how well polished the graphics of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is. Every wall has a light source, every lamp has a light blooming outward, every reflection illuminates in the world. All in 4k, 60 frames per second glory. My favorite use of Unreal Engine 5 is the market, where light bounces off each other as if it is real life. Or the later chapters with the skull and bones structures.

User Interface

The user interface of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is good, and in some places, improved over the Ninja Gaiden Sigma releases. The game gives you options as to how to interact with your weapons, ninpos, and items. You can do it on the fly, or you can press the options button. I use the options button because of habit. I grew up on NES, you see. Sometimes, I forget the weapon and/or item select via the directional buttons is even there. Muramasa’s menu have some improvements in some places, including merging item buying, and upgrades buying in the same screen rather than overlapping menus.

Music & Sound

The sounds are punchy, and loud. The music is kinda “mute” but it shines through at the waves that matter the most. Both mesh together to bring a an experience that tugs at your heartstrings. The tempo changes only at waves that makes sense, and the highs only exemplifies the hectic battles, and chaos that is ensuing. I feel like the game’s sound was a bit remastered over the Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 release.

Carlos’ Verdict

Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is a beautiful love letter to Ninja Gaiden fans worldwide. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is a beautiful love letter to action fans worldwide. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is a crisp game with a silky smooth experience. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black an action game with speed, aggression, and violence. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black plays like a responsive action game, that blends into the next action without interruption. Ninja Gaiden games are notoriously difficult games, and that’s just how players like it. Or love.

Rating: 80/100

2025 IS the year of the Ninja (Ninja Gaiden games and a new Shinobi game to be released)