Ninja Gaiden 2

The wrath of Ryu Hyabusa is the core element of this game.

The son of the leader of the Dragon Clan. Ryu Hyabusa has tangled with some of the most dangerous people on the planet, and come out with a frown and nary a scratch on him after.

This review will be short since the game hasn't differed too much from the original. They have cut down on the variety of the weapons, but upped the usefulness of each depending on the situation. You can get by in nearly every fight with just about any weapon, but then why would you want to, (with the exception of achievement hunters) when you have all manner of hurt sitting off to the side waiting to be tagged in to tear into some baddie flesh?

The sound has improved from the previous games, usually it is clearer and less grating.
Occasionally there are issues with the sound but at best they are minor and do not detract from the gameplay.

Gameplay itself has no major flaws, sometimes the controls feel a bit slow to react but that is usually only during very long attack animations that seem to go on a bit long. Such as with the Lunar Staff's attack in air, or the other larger weapons during a strangely long attack, the game doesn't seem to care that you've been hit and should be able to jump out of there. No using a different character (thank play testers for that I'd bet) and getting irritated because they are molasses frozen in time. It's all Ryu, all the way.

This game features some amazing battles that don't have the useless addition of protecting someone who is functionally useless like so many potentially perfect games. (RE4, ZOE:Second Runner, and so many others)

Not much else to say. The game hasn't become ground breaking in its changes, just mostly minor tweaks that definitely improve the game. Impossibly, it is more fun then the original, though I am saddened by the loss of a certain paddle.

Graphics: 8/10 - Good graphics, but not much improvement. And not much to say. Nothing that makes you think the XBOX is really being pushed.

Sound: 7/10 - Decent sound. Nothing that puts the wowzers in your trousers, but still good.

Controls: 8/10 - Good controls, a bit testy at times.

Fun Factor: 9/10 - This is where NG2 shines. After a solid ten minutes of kicking the asses of everyone who shows up, you'll see what I mean.

Reviewer's lean: 8/10 - I had a great time, some minor irritations, nothing to report, but still enough to drop the game from a 9 to an 8. (Aside from one minor glitch that leads to a crappy crappy outcome, so switch saving to manual people!)

Total: 8/10 - Yeah sounds about right.