Ninja Gaiden Sigma Trilogy Retrospective - Master Collection Review

[@AShadowLink]

You ever take 6 months to review a game? I did! I hope you enjoy this stupid long review, it's a big one.

[@emiiriri]

Go ninja, Go ninja, go

[@abdullahsyed7347]

You made another funny

[@home9dog2blue199]

TMNT 🐢🐢🐢🐢

[@yutro213]

23:48 I believe it is because "Sigma" subtitle was exclusive to Playstation 3 at the time, and since the updated version of Ninja Gaiden 3 was multiplatform (released on Wii U first, then PS3 and Xbox 360), Tecmo Koei likely preferred to not alienate non-Playstation users with "Sigma 3" so they went with a new subtitle (3: Razor's Edge) instead.

[@ozzy4644]

Wonderful review. Thank you for telling me about the dinosaurs.

[@InterDimensionalLizard]

You've convinced me that Razor's Edge is worth a try.

[@phucletran2860]

If you love Ninja Gaiden, then NG3RE is definitely a must have. A bit more linear, but combat is cranked up to 11

[@mickeybat5816]

It's actually pretty good, just isn't a good third game lol

[@nullf6950]

Razors edge Sucks compared to sigma 1 and 2. Doesn’t even feel like a gaiden game

[@WeatherRapport]

I share your opinion completely. The Master Collection was fantastic and it really makes me sad that the community doesn't want to give them a chance because of the sigma versions. There are barely any games that come close to the combat that these game offer, and I'm really grateful to have them on PC in such a good state.

[@konradfun]

The community gave them a chance when they first released. They sucked then and they suck now. How are they in such a good state on PC when you have to mod in something as basic as keyboard and mouse controls?

[@dynastymusou8906]

Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 and Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge are great games and if the Xbox version was released physically, I would have bought it. Now, I have the Ninja Gaiden Master Collection on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. Let's hope it did well enough for a Ninja Gaiden 4 to be greenlit by Koei Tecmo Games...

[@ScarletStarManor]

@@dynastymusou8906 they don’t care enough to make one, if they did, they definitely would of tried harder and did more custom work

[@SolidSnake240]

Cuz the Sigma games minus Razor's Edge are inferior to the original games. They're still good tho and better than a majority of action games.

[@Jamester445]

I hope the collection performed well. I too would like Ninja Gaiden 4 in the future.

[@Jetanium]

I hate when developers keep an IP locked behind stipulations. “You guys didn’t buy Sigma 2 for the 3rd time we’re releasing it? guess y’all don’t want NG4…”

[@Artis_OTS]

@@Jetanium may as well gauge interest before making a new one that no one ends up buying besides just the core fans

[@Jetanium]

@@Artis_OTS I already have the trilogy, why would I buy it again? I’ll be more inclined to buy a new game. I’m currently waiting on Bayonetta 3 and Metroid Prime 4, I don’t want Bayonetta 2 and Metroid Prime 3 again.

[@Artis_OTS]

@@Jetanium cause there’s no guarantee we’ll get a new one if there’s not enough interest. Why would I spend money to make something new if I’m not even sure people will buy it? It makes sense to re release the old one and get people talking again. Quite frankly I love ninja Gaiden so I spent money buying them again for newer hardware cause I’d like more of them. It’s not a hard concept to understand at all

[@Jetanium]

@@Artis_OTS “if you don’t buy our old games over again, we won’t make a new one” is stupid.

[@tplink]

Ryu Hayabusa is a bad ass character whose roots go back to the nes. I'm still shocked he hasn't been added to smash bros. He's earned it.

[@southbronxboy]

Probably cus he's in the dead or alive fighting game series.. But then again they have Ken and ryu 🤷‍♂️

[@MrKevosmin]

He’s so effing hot bro

[@creaks3280]

Tell me about the dinosaurs.

[@agrikantus9422]

Business offcourse!

[@Fllemingo]

I think everybody knows VERY well that the code for NGB and NG2 was NOT lost.

[@BioshockDrill]

Not everyone obsesses over the same things as you. I had no idea.

[@Anonymous20242]

​@Drakevid the Company just doesn't want to rerelease the OG games because of the thier conflict with the director of those said games (he left them before the third game which explains why NG3 is shit)

[@Phantom21Productions]

Not only Ninja Gaiden is one of the greatest games series of all times, it also tied with Dead or Alive. (That include Fanservice and Jiggle Physic.)

[@Gleamoz]

Fire 🔥 turtle 🐢!? I tough it was a fire 🔥 armadillo.

[@worstenbroodjes429]

I was a literal small kid when I played NG black in like 2006 so I might be biased, but the game didn't feel 'trashy' to me at all in that time. It was freaking epic! Loved the steam punk vibe as well and the interconnected levels in tairon were a great mood! The last chapters with the fiends were also pretty f**king weird in a good way. Even the songs were bangers and unique too (the menu music was a lot better). In hindsight it's sad to me that they ditched this metroidvenia action-adventure style game for this more anime superhero 'trash' style. Sure, I played the crap out of NG2 but NG 1 is a true gem and we'll never see something like it again.

[@YouTubeCensors]

He says trashy because he considers himself nature and above boob physics or the like. I stand with Jaffe in that regard. Some people are so up their own a holes they forget games that you found funny as a kid can still be funny today even if you're much older

[@cesarcampos8746]

​@@KZbinCensorsthere's nothing bad about hot women, the boob phys9cs are a little silly but people on a morla high horse over just need to gtfo

[@wilsonng994]

I agree with what you said about the Sigma versions. They can be mixed bags, but I throughoutly enjoyed both Sigma 1 and Sigma 2 even though they have their own flaws.

[@huff1271]

Yo, is that a poster of Ryu Hyabusa?

[@apc_cipher]

TELL ME ABOUT THE DINOSAURS

[@shinigami9851]

31:26 that is probably something to blame on the times. At this time we had games like Uncharted, Witcher 2, gear 3etc. There were so many games that were heavily story driven with there gameplay taking a backseat along with the fact that Games made in Japan were taking a nosedive in sales so in order to gain at least some interest they basically had no choice in a financial stand point. If this weren't the case than I think NG 3 would have had more time in the oven to process it's story and not be shamed by fans as much. Nowadays with the studios success with Nioh which was pretty damn good both gameplay and story wise in my opinion. If they ever want to take this approach with Ninja gaiden again someday they'll at least have more experience with it. I fought we'll get NG 4 but hey it is said that twam Ninja does want to return to the series just not now.

[@Hamada-uy8uy]

Special Your Welcome, fellow dinosaur enthusiast (I was no help)

[@ksic2836]

On the fire worm boss on sigma 1 if you have a fully upgraded dabilahro you can roll dodge and press forward heavy attack and those bosses are a piece of cake ninja gaiden is my childhood and my favorite games of all time

[@KidTonyGaming]

Yeah, I understand the whole no source code issue. When THQ went under they lost a lot of their source codes and now we will never get a MX vs ATV Reflex remaster

[@zeroattentiongaming820]

As I love to point out, lost source code isn't necessarily a death sentence. Look at Square Enix and Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD. They lost the source code for KH 1, years ago. So when the time came to port it in the collections, they had to remake the game from scratch, using commercial copies of the game as a reference point. Every modern version of KH 1 is actually a full on remake, though one intentionally restricted to be as visually and mechanically faithful to the 2002 original as possible, short of a higher resolution, the Final Mix content and a few minor quality of life tweaks. Some of the models don't look quite right as they were reworked from later games and look a bit too good for 1 but that's the literal only flaw and not really a bad one. Not many go to the lengths Square did for KH 1.5 and Square themselves barely ever do, but it's the strongest argument for lost source code not being an impassable obstacle.

[@KidTonyGaming]

@@zeroattentiongaming820 Yeah, KH had a fan base to where the return from making the game again from scratch would pay off, if you're gonna make MX v ATV Reflex from scratch in a niche market, might as well make an entirely new IP

[@alexandrpeterberg390]

The thing about the Shadow Ryu is that Shadow/Copy Ryu does makes appearance in Ninja Gaiden Black/Sigma if you are playing on Master Ninja (hardest) difficulty.

[@thandle61]

I’m 13 minutes in and i forgot this is a full review of ninja gaiden. You did well on the first. You did better on the next two, subbed

[@alfredocoronado712]

We really needed a Koei Tecmo rep in smash

[@BonzaiThePenguin]

I'm late to the party here, but there's no reason Team Ninja couldn't have modified Sigma into a perfectly valid remake of Ninja Gaiden Black - just remove some of the save points, enemies, bosses, and Rachel sections, bring back the puzzles, and copy over the enemy encounter data and any other minor differences. They just don't want to do that, probably for the same reason they didn't bother fixing the frame rate issues on Switch.

[@BioshockDrill]

Wow a companies only interest is money? Who woulda thunk it

[@OmegaJ12]

*WELCOME*

[@decoyoctopus391]

YO??? Ryu "Daddy" Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden Ligma???

[@galendetta2334]

I’m glad that I still have my 360 copy of NG 2 vanilla

[@jesustyronechrist2330]

Nice review! I really felt like too many of the reviews on the collection were made through rose tinted glasses. Everyone has been praising how "Ninja Gaiden has aged like fine wine", meanwhile chapter 18 and 19 still exist... Sigma 2 is cool, but there's a mod that tries to bring back the Xbox versions insanity by spawning 3x the enemies in encounters and such. It feels like the definitive way of playing the game, but it's honestly too hard for me lmao. It took me 2 hours to beat the first chapter with the mod.

[@onnol917]

Great review

[@tigerex777]

It's always amuzing when Japanese companies use that 'lost codes' excuse. It's because they fired Itagaki and didn't want the 'Itagaki versions' to be the official ones, since Itagaki didn't depart the company in an amicable manner. Same story with Kojima and Konami.

[@SociallyRetardedGuy]

This is just like persona 5

[@Juju-cm7ge]

Best review on this collection

[@laxus_5402]

When will the next part into how characters got selected for smash bros come out I’m looking forward to the next part

[@JBird401]

I just finished Sigma 2 for my first time and i really liked it but as a person who has beaten the entire NES Ninja Gaiden trilogy i thought it was a little easy and not as rewarding as the NES games Edit: Just played and beat the xbox 360 Ninja Gaiden 2 and it was just as rewarding as the nes games to complete. Sigma 2 was wayyy too easy and the fact that they took out more than half the enemies makes it feel like a whole different game

[@marky3609]

So for me I have the original versions of all 3 games on my Xbox Series X so I wasn't to bothered to buy the Master Ninja Collection but now that it has come to Game Pass.I downloaded all games and decided to do a bit of a comparison. Right off the bat I absolutely do not like the controls for the Sigma versions of the games as it changes the block/roll button from LT to LB which I absolutely cannot stand. Beyond that when it came to the 1st Ninja Gaiden game you could actually see the benefit of playing Sigma version as it looks significantly better graphically and most of the changes to that version of the game are positive. But when it comes to Ninja Gaiden 2 vs Ninja Gaiden 2 Sigma it seems there's little reason to play the Sigma version over the original. It being backwards compatible on the Xbox Series X it runs at a smooth 60FPS will no real dips to performance at all and has an upscale to 4K that looks basically native. So from a visual standpoint you can't really tell much difference between the original Xbox 360 release running on an Xbox Series X and the Sigma game which is an original PlayStation 3 release remastered on the Xbox One to run at 4K/60FPS when played on an Xbox One X or in my case an Xbox Series X. Then you add in the fact that the Sigma version has less enemies in encounters and removes the gore from dismemberment and makes the body parts fade away real quick where as the Xbox 360 original retains all this while also benefiting from the higher power of the Xbox Series X to achieve perfect performance it makes the Sigma version seem pointless to even play. Then there's Ninja Gaiden 3 which is a shit show no matter which one you play lol. But in all seriousness the backwards compatible versions is just the original Xbox 360 version of Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge running on the Xbox Series X at a upscale 4K at 60FPS the version in the Ninja Gaiden Master Collection is basically the samething it's just that it is a remastered version of the original Xbox 360 version made to run on an Xbox One and then boosted to 4K 60FPS when played on an Xbox One X or Xbox Series X in my case.

[@projectalpha22_va]

Last! Haha! I got the last comment, ya'll can pack it up now!

[@KidTonyGaming]

But did you really

[@johnnyappleseed8127]

That’s not a turtle, that’s a fire Armadillo.

[@freedomsh]

“Giant turtle” it’s not a turtle Lolz it is an armadillo..

[@swindler1622]

Can't believe i watched the entire video '-'

[@MrSquiy]

I think you gave a pass to the boss fights in these games. They are the worst part of every ninja gaiden game. 1 were boring and simple but relied on rng blocks and fuck you moves which just made them a slog, 2 had either ridicuolously easy big statutes or ridiculously annoying humanoid types with no consistent openings and instant start up grabs, and 3 re has the worst in the series. The final boss makes me not want to try higher difficulties

[@JuliusCaesar103]

Damn, this was a great review, throughly going through each game's strengths and weaknesses, but sadly only on the standard difficulty. Loved the emotion in this, I too get emotional over fictional stuff many times lol

[@danielcook7975]

@Source Gaming I understand the blood deal in sigma 2 but it is still fun just play mentor or warrior difficulty. In those two difficulties you will be attacked by more than one enemy where you only fought one enemy, bosses are lot more tougher. I still might get og ninja Gaiden 2 and a Xbox but I love Sigma 2 more than sigma 1. I do too! I make sure I have all healing items maxed and if I can have talisman of rebirth in case I die. I think the reason team ninja made sigma 2 was cause of the problems ng2 was having, when using ninpo frame rate slows and glitches here and there. Itagaki thought it was perfect but in reality not really but people have their opinions I think sigma 2 is best.

[@DemonicHarkonnen]

I highly recommend trying the original NG2 on a modern Xbox. The enemy count and mechanics really get a chance to shine at their brightest in that setting. Digital Foundry actually made a perfect side by side showing of the two games on modern devices. After having played both back to back, I cannot recommend Sigma 2 to anyone, to be honest. NG2 plays much better and, much due to the enemy count, FEELS so much better. You truly feel like a badass in NG2, while I admit that I got bored quite often in Sigma 2 due to there not being anything to do and encounters were surprisingly dull in comparison to original 2.

[@cartoonvideos5]

Itagaki is a wack job

[@lighthousemaccabee8133]

I'm a say I though ninja gaiden 3 sucked past 2 those games don't exist to me;however the first two ninja gaiden's will always be timeless classics to me.

[@KeRmiTaKilla]

Did they remove the double lava fight? Ie the fight that made me quit ng lol.?

[@Rei-uk3qt]

There is a clone Ryu in every game. And ng3 is not made by the original dude so it is a non itagaki or sigma game

[@konradfun]

Yeah idk why he brought so much attention to the doppelganger in 3 when it's to be expected at that point

[@ChiefMedicPururu]

Has your Switch buddy tried NGS2 after the patch the Switch version got?

[@xCABR4L0CAx2]

armadillo, noi turtle

[@hajime5486]

Ninja Gaiden>Any souls game

[@home9dog2blue199]

i loved the electric guitar in the intro of Sigma 1. Everything doesn't NEED to "make sense" yall gotta stop. Cuz the experimentation is what's MISSING from gaming nowadays. These emulation and story-heavy games that follow basically the same exact formula for success . let the already crazy game BE what it was MEANT TO BE....A GAME 😂

[@savaget2058]

The lie about the code for those games being lost, when they are available to purchase on the Xbox store boggles the mind 🤦🏻‍♂️ I bet it has more to do with the lawsuit between Itagaki and Tecmo than the "various code being unsalvageable"

[@MrWackywilson]

This review done on ps4 or xbox? Thanks

[@velonex7143]

PC Better late than never for a response

[@MrWackywilson]

@@velonex7143 legend 😅

[@velonex7143]

@@MrWackywilson also the Switch version at the end. But in the end the games are good

[@MrWackywilson]

@@velonex7143 yes I bought all three on the PlayStation, and then I bought all three on the Xbox 🤣 And I like them both !!!

[@CodyAcornRollins]

I have the original too and don't remember it having a new game +

[@TexasHollowEarth]

... wish they would add the Vita's Plus+ version upgrades to the collection. Sigma 2 Plus+ on Vita even had extra pre-order dlc costumes! Be nice to finally get a Plus+ upgrade to Razor's Edge, too. I'd pay extra for that shit 👍.

[@justinscott7546]

They are the Vita versions. Cause when I was playing Sigma 1 on the collection I was unlocking extra gear as you go through the story. Which is clearly not in the PS3 version. Plus the unlockable outfits have status buffs and debuffs. Was only in the Vita versions.

[@nemeru3352]

the fix it later mindset, should not be the standereds. care or not. they did the consumer lazy and we should not exuse or normlaize. greed or poor product. talking about the graffic options.

[@sikognegaming4407]

Super vidéo :D +1 gros like pour toi!!

[@thehatalwayswins505]

Personally I thought original 2 was pretty easy, but had moments that were tough. I think sigma 2 is a downgrade but I’d say it’s still overall good time.

[@ZombiexNMx]

And I'm not just negative about the sigma versions. I to like some of the things that was implemented or added... I'm just against them censoring the violence, lowering the enemies, making it to easy... Maybe that's why you're not good. You're used to the easy baby versions of the games. Hard mode in sigma is like normal mode, easy is normal, and so on..

[@Ottrond]

nice video

[@frankelkjr8041]

A true fan of the series knows that is Itagaki is the secret ingredient to NG. The rumor is tha Itagaki & Team Ninja had a "contract problem"..$.. So he left/fired or w.e with TM. That's how we ended up with NG3(hilarious) I would hate to let such a legendary I icon go but,unless they can replicate NG2 just let it be.

[@H92-v6w]

if ryu is a murder or psycho by killing a terrorist who killed innocent people then i guess cops and security forces are murders too =/

[@spaidakula]

U can 3 talisum healing

[@chadeklund9835]

Ninja gaiden 2 is leagues better then NGS2. NGS2 is not worth playing especially if you own the original and play it backwards compatible on a 1x or series x. Sorry but not sorry

[@EhrgeizGod]

"This happens too much" How much is too much? Arbitrary stupid comments like this is what makes me tune off to "reviewers" because they seem unaware of what they are saying

[@KidTonyGaming]

You know NG is a good game when ever used PS3 comes with a copy inside of it lol

[@irritatingtruth9121]

I laughed. Because I stopped playing after the motorcycle part in one. The camera being set, I couldn’t see the enemies coming off screen, I would go for them but it seems Ryu goes for where the enemy is, rather then where they’ll be. Frustrated. Not going to lie.

[@samflood5631]

I gotta, Momija was not only the hottest of the Ninja Giaden girl, but the most beautiful. She's more kind, head strong, care and most of all positive. She's the kind of wife a man would want in his marriage. The kind you would perform passionate love underneath the moonlight, a grove of autumn trees or a lake shining like the sun.

[@BobBob-vq3rb]

Think I mite need an series x

[@DDuMas]

You think the Wooden Sword is a "joke weapon"? :-S It's a true test of skill to be able to play the game with it, and it legit trains you to play better and not rely on the same old power moves such as the Izuna drop you "build your play style around".

[@thomashaugh8720]

It’s the most powerful weapon in the game… level it up… and if you’re actually good(understand the patterns the game is easy) og xbox ninja here it’s a great series

[@DDuMas]

@@thomashaugh8720 I prefer the Wooden sword in it's sword form though. The Unlabored Flawlessness lacks the moves of the maxed Dabilahro. Same with the Warhammer. Rachels style in Sigma is much more fun with the Warhammer. On Normal, the more you play and pick up strategies it gets easier. Hard is something else. It was especially difficult at the beggining because your weapon is weak and you lack the moves you normally use. Fighting Alma 1 with two other enemies at the same time is hard. I can beat her first go on normal, but it took ages on hard and I did it by the skin of my teeth. I actually find Alma 2 easier in general. Doku 1 is the easiest boss in the game. You literally just circle him, allow him to come in avoid his attacks and then whiff punish him when he does the sword charge attack. You can beat him without getting hit. Man I love NGB. Sigma isn't as good imo.

[@ivanzoneBR24]

Where is the video for the Cut Characters of Smash Wii U?

[@Fresh-Spence]

Playing this with Game pass and got to Chap 10 only to fall off a slope and get sent back to Chapter 7 because it doesn't have any auto save system. I mustve missed the saves for those 2 chapters but I was done at that point. Went straight to Sigma 2. 😬

[@ian_2006]

I haven't seen much of this video but it seems good I just know how is the next why characters get selected Episode is going since it has been so long and you haven't gave us a update on it if the series is cancelled just tell me here so I the fans including this KZbinr I asked/got to react to the whole series thanks for read have a great Christmas or holiday

[@rayisdashit]

I skipped to sigma 2, and the first thing he said was praise. That’s all I needed to see. Byeeee

[@DemonicHarkonnen]

I agree with almost everything here. Having played Ninja Gaiden 2 (original) on my Xbox Series X, my playthrough of NG Sigma 2 was such an absolute chore. Enemies are inconsistent at best! When a regular enemy ninja can tank two Ultimate Techniques without as much as losing a limb, while a heavy enemy sometimes die from two hits, the balancing issues and lack of enemies made it extremely jarring. I played both on the Mentor for my back to back playthrough and I cannot recommend NG Sigma 2, even to the most hardcore Ninja Gaiden fans. It. Is. Bad! Sigma 1 and Razor's Edge were both perfectly fine. I'll accept the collection, but if you want to play NG2, never, ever touch Sigma 2.. I almost gave up playing after spending, no joke, 1½ minutes hitting a single enemy ninja, just waiting for him to die. Got a hit combo of 190 on 1 single enemy. That's just not fun. And I'm not even going to mention the Staircase in mission 10 (13 in Sigma). From like 100 enemies to no more than 20? That was neither fun nor a challenge!

[@ZombiexNMx]

Geezus 🤦‍♂️ NG2 was NOT as hard as you and others keep acting like... If you still think that, then it's because you haven't really learned the game, are not good, and just need to get better... Also, for you to believe that NG2 wasn't flat out censored, just shows you don't really know the series like you try and act like you do. The director of Sigma 2 flat out said that the original NG2 was about being violent and a gore fest and he wanted to get away from that. Also, it's completely obvious it was about censorship because their excuse is not having the source files is bullshit.... They supposedly ported over Sigma 2 plus from the PS Vita... Well, that specific version let you TURN THE GORE/BLOOD BACK ON!!! But all of a sudden that's the one thing they didn't give us the option to do? Especially now that it's on consoles that could more than handle the extra limbs, enemies, etc... So the whole thing of the source files being "lost" is a flat out lie... The reason they didn't want to use the original games of 1 and 2 or NGB and 2, was because they probably wound have had to pay Tomonobu Itagaki or get higher royalties... He left on bad terms and that's more than likely the real reason they included the sigma versions over the originals of the first 2. And for the 2nd it's clearly about censorship because they didn't give us the option to turn the blood and gore back on... That could be due to them just being lazy and didn't want to have it so that way they could just have the same game for everyone. Because in China or Japan they're strict on that and that's why they changed it in sigma 2 to purple mist... As for 3. I haven't played either because of how bad it is or maybe was? Maybe I'll get to it one of these days? But I'm not in a hurry. Oh and that voice you make about the Izuna Drop and again talking about 3 at one point is just dumb, annoying, and sounds like you're busting a nut just talking about it. Which is creepy...

[@badban85]

This was lame. MASTER collection implies its all there. Ryu Hayabusa deserved better.

[@Biosynthnut]

Now I've played NG/NGB/NG2. Kinda started NG3RE. All between the Xbox/360. Now I've never played above normal. I don't feel like having a heart attack. The Sigma versions. We're stupid easy on normal. I died probably 6 times in NGS, I didn't die at all in NGS2. I just started NG3RE. That one's kinda goofy. I love these games, they are fun. Itagaki-san needs to come back.

[@thomashaugh8720]

He does need to come back

[@adr.k8676]

Ngl i am playing ng2 for the first time and sigma 2 just sucks. There's almost no gore and the game is like way too unbalanced. Ryu feels almost too powerful.

[@YouTubeCensors]

playing them now on Gamepass to properly trash them. Instead of going on the word of fellow NG fans from the Xbox games and videos I seen of them being shown to be inferior, including this very nauseating video proclaiming their greatness 😑

[@Alex-lc5dz]

This video is a joke, jesus christ.

[@scpunit2141]

The only way to master patience is master ninja 🥷

[@Meta_Maestro]

TELL ME ABOUT THE DINOSAURS