The INSANE Sequel: Ninja Gaiden II vs. Sigma 2

[@tokyobassist]

NG2 is pure fucking madness. So many issues but what a intense and enjoyable game.

[@RetropolisZone]

That's the game in a nutshell, yeah. Very flawed, but also very enjoyable. It's an odd ball, to say the least.

[@paulmajano]

I can’t play Sigma 2 due to regular one existing.

[@gamble777888]

I love NG2, first Xbox 360 game I bought and I played it for like 5 months straight before I felt the need to buy game #2

[@swizzywaffles2478]

@@paulmajano same. Seems like a version for kids compared to the original. Can't enjoy the game without that gory madness lol

[@LudusAurea]

What issues? Name one.

[@daxteryvillencourt9048]

I've never played Ninja Gaiden 2, but you gotta admire the amount of enemies the game can throw at you at once. It's almost like a harder and crazier version of a musou game or DMC4's LDK mode.

[@Neko_Medic]

you could call it a Musou game where the mooks actually attack. don't die in one hit, and can kill you in a few hits themselves.

[@harlannguyen4048]

@@Neko_Medic Well, Musou enemies pack quite the punch on higher difficulties.

[@fizzy360wolf]

I heard that sigma 2 is inferior to the original Xbox version

[@Shinobi8893]

@@fizzy360wolf 100%

[@SycoticForeverNeverAF]

@@harlannguyen4048 nah they dont come close to ng 2 lmao

[@Mkj119]

Im playing both ninja gaiden black and ninja gaiden 2 on my series x right now due to the touchup job by microsoft so this video is perfect timing.

[@RetropolisZone]

The games look great in 4K! Ninja Gaiden II in particular. Also nice that all the slowdown is fixed on One and Series X.

[@TechniqueSan]

It's the definitive way of playing them. I've beaten both on hard thus far and haven't had a single drop from 60fps.

[@snapcount321]

After not getting past Alma in NG1 but having a damn good time getting to her, I both NG2 vanilla as a day 1 purchase, having to walk to three different stores near my college until I found a copy. At the time I was living with a friend since I was between apartments and I finished the game over the next week and it was one of the most viscerally fun experiences ever, I remember having a crowd of friends and visitors gather around me in my dorm huddled around my 720p "high def" tv and trying to play without understanding UTs and combos - good times! (I still have the 2008 copy of the game with a day 1 sleeve)

[@teneesh3376]

Note for anyone playing vanilla 2. Play it on an xbox one or higher. The performance is improved by a lot, so the slowdown is basically gone. Well, gone in the xbox one x and xbox series x. Others performance is a little worse, but not as bad as the 360. It's at least around 55fps

[@Ezol1]

I’ve player NG2 on my Xbox One X. It actually lagged sometimes. But not 100-1000 times as on the 360 😅 It’s one of the best things with newer consoles = games aren’t played as originally ”meant”. But it sure improves pretty much any game 👏🏻

[@LudusAurea]

The slowdown wasn't an issue in NG2 to begin with. NG1 on Xbox on the other hand had massive frame drops into the single digits, often.

[@Ezol1]

@@LudusAurea I got Ninja Gaiden II on the release date (as with Ninja Gaiden and Ninja Gaiden Black) and Ninja Gaiden II is by FAR the most laggy of them all in my experience. To my knowledge it's only the Series S and X which takes away all the leg entirely. Which parts of NG1 lagged for you? (I can't remember any specific places or it wasn't as noticable as in NG2. I probably learned to play around it mostly. But I guess some of Dooku's attacks were strange)

[@guitarspud1723]

@@LudusAurea check out the epic stairfight. It was in slow motion on 360. It's fixed on current xbox's though.

[@thenonexistinghero]

@@Ezol1 As far as I know, NG1's and NGB's performance were nearly flawless. I know because I played them A LOT. A near-constant 60 fps. NG2 vanilla has the most slowdown/drops during gameplay, but... if you try to push Sigma 2 to have as much enemies on-screen, the performance is actually worse than vanilla NG2. Basically the only reason it runs better is because of the significantly reduced enemy count and reduced gore so no blood & limbs will stay around.

[@felman87]

While not entirely confirmed, I think the reason the blood and gore was toned down in the PS3 version was for the rating. In Japan, the 360 version was rated Cero Z, so just 18+ could buy it (It'd be like a title being rated AO by the ESRB, only adults can buy it). But it's the 360 in Japan, so I doubt Microsoft (who was publishing the title) cared all that much. Sigma 2 was published by Tecmo and it was on the PS3, which had a larger market share in Japan than the 360. The toned down game came in at a Cero D.

[@fizzy360wolf]

its more complicated then that. right off the Bat ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Runs natively at a higher resolution then the 360. the 360 version ran at 1024x576 then stretch to 720p. PS3 Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 ran at a native 720p. sadly the PS3 Cell Processor and RSX was so complicated they couldn't figure out how to port the game so many if not all of the gameplay and graphics had to be redone on the PS3 which is why the games look so drastically different with effects on the PS3 not appearing on the 360 version and vise versa. also they wanted to include the same amount of enemies as the 360 but since they couldn't optimize the game for the Cell Processor they opted for a lower NPC count but gave them more health.

[@LudusAurea]

It was for Europe I'm pretty sure actually.

[@LudusAurea]

@@fizzy360wolf The PS3 version didn't have effects. I suggest playing Sigma 2. What you're saying is right but Sigma 2 on PS3 is an absolute joke.

[@thenonexistinghero]

@@LudusAurea Nah, Europe allows the gore. Though Germany at times can be strict. The original Ninja Gaiden had no decaps in the European and Japanese versions. I think Europe did get them in the Black version, not sure about Japan. The Sigma version of 1 also had no decaps in the European and Japanese versions.

[@sashen6678]

@@thenonexistinghero US version of Sigma 1 on PS3 and Vita has decaps...

[@ShurikRubik]

*I really wished that Tomonobu Itagaki was or would be Executive Director of Ninja Gaiden 4. It is very unfortunate that Team Ninja passed down Ninja Gaiden 4 Project to other Studios most of us Hardcore Ninja Gaiden fans never heard of or seen !*

[@harlannguyen4048]

35:03 In vanilla 2, you're not restricted to the platform for the Water Dragon fight and can instead run across the water to attack him up close. I should also note that Sigma 1 and 2 in the Master Edition are based on the Plus versions for the Vita. This means in Sigma 1, you get the additional set of equipment for the story mode, the Ninja Trials, and the Ninja Gaiden 3 outfit. Though wasn't possible in the Sigma 2 Plus port, the Master Edition added the ability to switch between characters during Mission Mode. Sadly, the ability to toggle gore back didn't return (possibly due to the Plus version ported was based on the Japanese version, which lacked it).

[@thetruth7105]

Does this mean there is a new game plus in sigma 1 for master collection?

[@SaiyanFantasyX]

You can switch characters in sigma 2+ btw

[@nathanfortun5768]

I’m pretty sure sigma 2 you can also run on the water for the dragon fight. I remember doing it

[@harlannguyen4048]

@@nathanfortun5768 You're incorrect. I remember this being discussed in many different NG2 videos.

[@nicoloenricorimoldi7425]

The lack of post-boss checkpoints can't be an oversight. They were deliberately screwing witht he player. I kinda respect that.

[@RetropolisZone]

It most likely was intentional, yeah. I just said that in case.

[@stefan020290]

Oh definitely, why else would they place mines after the second zedonius Boss fight (of you played it, you know what I mean). Some developers can be cruel assholes.

[@TylerSmith-sd2oc]

Nothing like beating a hard boss easily somehow and then spawning with no HP and getting grabbed by ghost fish immediately 😅

[@Al_musawi14]

@@TylerSmith-sd2oc lemme guess, spirit doku in NG black?

[@TylerSmith-sd2oc]

@@Al_musawi14 I'm on ps5 SL no NGB for me. I can't remember which boss it was even when posting this tbh 😅

[@FarnhamTheDrunk1]

20:33 vanilla 2 actually has ways to fight on water, there is a dodge u can perform on water that gives u s and also lets u switch directions instantly whenever u choose, but most people do not know about this cause it is explained poorly (by that i mean its not at all) in the moves list... the move is called "Calm Water Break" and is the last move in all lists. i have a tutorial for it (i wont link it here, just look for it if u care) furthermore u can cast ninpo on water, u can even izuna drop on water... yes the combos on water are limited, and i wish there was more of them, but water combat is tons of fun and there was no reason at all to remove it since that mechanic is in sigma 2 as well... this is also how you are supposed to fight the water dragon, he even has an OT finish animation. the bow from the shore strat is just a last resort. sigma 2 also removed that tho and made it into the wrost fight ever haha... imo the water dragon is one of the hardest bosses to learn but one of the best once u have done so otherwise pretty accurate, good shit

[@NewZen41]

Our boy has returned when the world needed him most. Welcome back with another great work, Retro.

[@RetropolisZone]

Thanks, man! I appreciate good comments. :)

[@morgan79737]

Just finishing doing all difficulties, all content in NG2 vanilla and I gotta say, this game really deserved more love. It's such a shame it came out on the 360 where the hardware just wasn't good enough at the time, nowadays on back compat with the FPS boost on a Series X, it's like a modern hack n slash and plays unlike anything else on the market. I genuinely believe if it was released today, with some bugs ironed out, it would have fared much much better. Also, what you said about essence chaining UTs being a bad thing...nah man. When I was going thru NG1 and NG2, virtually every pro in the scene swore by essence chaining as an intentional mechanic of resource and terrain management. I wouldn't change a thing about it. "Using recovery items and dying still doesn't detriment you at all" because this isn't DMC, which I should clarify is my favourite series EVER, but NG wants you to use everything you have. Items, continues, UT and ETs, you name it. It took me a long time to train my brain to not think that way, but once I did the games clicked far better.

[@dc7981]

UT chaining is the one thing I think Razors Edge has over the first two games. UT chaining was just way too good in 1 and 2

[@DrosIntentions]

lol pc all the way

[@boyishdude1234]

The fact that UT/OT/Izuna Drop/Ninpo spam is intentional kind of speaks volumes about how bad the enemy, encounter and level design is, honestly. Why not just lay off the enemy spam and actually structure your encounters and levels so that way abusing intrinsically overpowered mechanics isn't the only viable way to play the game without getting constantly fucked over by things that are entirely outside of your control? Even in Sigma 1 I think the enemy spam is too much and the level design is atrocious, and that game is regarded as having the tighter difficulty design between it and the second game in the trilogy. I've had many deaths playing through that game fully on Hard difficulty (NG rather than NG+), and virtually all of them were unfair and brought out the worst in the camera, level design, combat system and the controls. This was especially apparent when doing one of the earlier missions in Mission Mode on any difficulty, where your only options are Nunchuks, a Wooden Sword, a few bad Ninpos, the Art of Inazuma and a few items to restore health and the Ninpo meter. I only beat that fight by abusing UTs where possible for the earlier parts and then resorting to a walljump Nunchuk heavy strike spam + Art of Inazuma strat for the completely bullshit enemies that don't give you any openings in the back half. As far as I'm concerned, from what I've played and seen of them, NG is a cheap sugar rush of an action game. It has some really high highs when it isn't being total garbage, but the lows of the trilogy are rock-bottom, and when those lows are present you'll see the games for what they really are: poorly designed. Ninja Gaiden is basically the Dragon Ball Super of the character action genre. It's very stylish and has lots of cool things in it, but it lacks the quality game design that is necessary to make it actually good, similar to how Dragon Ball Super has a lot of great ideas but those ideas are tremendously weighed down by the horrible writing. A good game has more than just good ideas and some mechanics that are great in a vacuum. It's about the cohesion of the design throughout the entire game, and Ninja Gaiden's design is intrinsically a total mess.

[@RyuGoomba]

@@boyishdude1234 sounds like skill issues galore, let's see how you do in a karma run

[@RyuGoomba]

bro that's crazy, i'm happy for u tho, or sorry that happened

[@nefariousmex2352]

My fav game of all time and the only game that i've had the patience to beat on the hardest difficulty, no other game makes you feel like a complete badass after you finish it.

[@frankelkjr8041]

Thank you I felt the same way till this day I hold my head high like ya I beat NG2 on MN mode

[@dc7981]

Doom Eternal Ultra Nightmare Master Levels exist

[@JBird401]

Try beating the nes Ninja Gaiden trilogy. They're incredible if you like a rewarding challenge

[@animalicon3535]

I was gone try it but seems like a guillotine throw cheese fest sadly combined with at least bosses being unique w movesets yk and having to utilize I frames

[@BOLOGNAINTHEHOUSE]

​@@frankelkjr8041as someone who has also beat MNM on both NGB and NG2... I would love to know how many of us there are.

[@Mintcar923]

It always felt like this series was the spiritual successor to The Last Ninja.. I definitely miss games done in this style.. Nowadays seems everyone and their brother is trying to make a Soulslike

[@Dudeman23rd]

Is this a world record for shortest amount of time between long-form Retropolis reviews?? I think it is.

[@RetropolisZone]

Since, like, 2017, I think this is indeed a record between two long videos, but in 2016 I would typically get a new one out every month.

[@JuliusCaesar103]

Man, this is a great video. This is some of my favorite Ninja Gaiden content on KZbin. You covered every aspect of the games' tremendously well and I really loved the conclusion part. The extremely high highs make you tolerate the low dips, reminds me of Dragon's Dogma, a janky game which when works, is probably the best videogame in existence. I'm really loving your Ninja Gaiden videos, I'll postpone watching the final part since I don't want them to end.

[@nafeesr6377]

So happy and surprised you uploaded again!! Been a fan since 2019

[@RetropolisZone]

Awesome! I'm glad to hear that. :)

[@silentvalue]

I remember ng2 vanilla being a gamer's game. It had a fair share of nuisances (exploding shurikens) and the robots could be pretty annoying, but the satisfaction of dismembering a monster amidst all the action never got old. I need to play sigma 2 to see if the changes get me over that mentor hump.

[@rafresendenrafresenden.1644]

and this is the reason emulation will never die.

[@tokyobassist]

Hell good games in general not getting modern rereleases is more than enough reason for emulation. Kinda disgusting something even popular and groundbreaking like MGS1 and Silent Hill are basically unplayable on most platforms today.

[@thosediamonddreams]

OG Ninja Gaiden 2 is backwards compatible on Xbox One X and Series X and plays at a gorgeous 4k @ 60fps!

[@calibvr]

NG2 is on One and Series X and S2 is on every platform

[@regionlocking]

Great video! I’ve heard about the Ninja Gaiden games but never played them, these are so interesting

[@RetropolisZone]

Thank you! If you're into action games at all, Ninja Gaiden is certainly worth trying out.

[@ahsankhan-zg6gr]

Amongst the crowds of reviews of the series I love yours the best - it’s so comprehensive and written with precision.

[@zoraroxas]

Watching this after watching your X videos, which I just realized are a few years old, it’s hard to not notice how much you’ve improved as a videogame reviewer. And the X vids were already great, so props to ya!

[@RetropolisZone]

I appreciate that a lot! I always do my best to keep improving. :)

[@n3croticism]

FANTASTIC review! I agree on pretty much everything you said, NG2 is a rough gem but when it shines there's nothing like it. To me it's still the best action game of all time. The adrenaline rush you get from it is unparalleled. My only nitpick is the flying dragons boss, to me that's the most bullshit moment in the entire series, on master ninja that fight is nothing but pain. Gigadeath is also terrible but you covered it already. Fun fact: the game can crash at the end of the Gigadeath fight (on 360) and if it happens you'll have to restart the console and fight the boss again. It happened to me TWICE IN A ROW. And I still love this game.

[@RetropolisZone]

Good to see this video is finding some Ninja Gaiden fans here and there! And glad you enjoyed the video!

[@stefan020290]

Can you elaborate why the flying dragon is such BS to you? The void ball ninpo(forgot its name) fully upgraded shreds about 75 percent of it's health in a single hit, so with the right timing you kill it almost instantly.

[@n3croticism]

@@stefan020290 On MN you have to fight 2 dragons at the same time while small dragons keep spawning around the arena. Vanilla 2 has no auto aim so you have to waste time aiming with the bow while the dragons attack you from off screen. It's terrible. Yes, using the piercing void ninpo makes it easier but I still think it's the worst boss in the game. Not the hardest, that would be Dagra Dai, but the most frustrating and the least fun to fight.

[@stefan020290]

@@n3croticism annoying definitely. Dagra dai can be cheesed quite easily with the spinning scythe attack(jumping up and just tapping y) you gain invincibility frames during that and the attack has quite a lot of reach. Not the most stylish way of beating him, but on master ninja the game throws so much straight up unfair shit at you, best way ls to sometimes resort to cheap tactics.

[@YouTubeCensors]

Never seen someone complain about those dragons before. Pretty sure you can IS the small fries, then arrow the big two if you're bad at getting them with void

[@Joseph_Biten]

Looking at this gameplay makes it feel like the Nioh games are a step back in terms of gameplay.

[@EpsiIonEagle]

They are. I loved Nioh but the gameplay is Soulslike

[@RaengStinger]

In regards to 'add real tension and consequence to the UT-essence charging', that problem didn't really appear until Sigma 2. Before that if you used your essence to charge an UT, you'll have shit for cash which made it a double edged sword. Enemies killed with UTs drop more cash, but if essence is used to fuel a UT, they drop practically nothing. With upgrades and items having huge costs on Master Ninja difficulty, each UT is sort of a balance in the economy of "do I need more cash" and "do I need this enemy dead asap". Factor in that enemies killed with UTs will never drop ninpo/health refills, and you've got a pretty good system honestly. Going by the footage you mostly played on Warrior, at which essence is already super plentiful and items are pretty cheap, so I can understand the take but know that it is finely tuned on higher difficulties. Sigma 2 butchers this of course by removing a usage for essence, since items are plentiful and upgrades are now free. EDIT: "die slower than your enemies" hey! That's my line hahaha

[@stefan020290]

Master Ninja has other issues to be honest. What he already mentioned, the claw ninjas with explosive shurikens are awful enemies to fight because you rely mostly on tactics which grant invincibility frames. Trying regular combos you get peppered with shurikens and while you can avoid the damage with ninpo or said invincibility frames, it kinda destroys the flow of combat. Tastes may very, but I resorted to some pretty cheap tactics to cheese through certain parts just to finish that difficulty once. As he said in the vid, blazing through the game on warrior and new game plus fulfils a little power fantasy but still feels rewarding to a degree.

[@crawdad]

@@stefan020290 And even then, if you have the DLC, Master Ninja in mission mode feels more like the appropriate difficulty spike since it doesn’t affect enemy type spawns. But the main story, yeah it really throws everything and the kitchen sink at the player. I did it once for the story mode and that was plenty. But I had a lot more fun with the difficulty completing all the missions in Mission Mode.

[@RaengStinger]

@@stefan020290 it's more about mastery. Your first time through Master Ninja is super rough, second time is a bit more fluid and third time onwards it becomes crack. The beauty is that you can't really master NGII since it's so brutal, but you always feel like you're improving. At first you're barely fighting, more cheesing, while on subsequent runs you're way more in controle, like against those clawninjas.

[@stefan020290]

@@RaengStinger yeah maybe. Still, I feel Master Ninja in the OG Ninja Garden (didn't play black) was a lot more manageable (tho NG I was a lot slower regarding the pace of its combat). I like challenge, but as I said, Master Ninja NG 2 feels too much like a grind and as I get older, I lack the patience to deal with this tbh.

[@kingdomkey2262]

@@stefan020290 Wasn't master Ninja exclusive to Black? Could have sworn the 04 orginal had hard and very hard.

[@mactin7214]

Whoa, did not expect this today but I not gonna look a gift shuriken in the mouth. :)

[@adny02]

@2:49 I've NEVER played Ninja Gaiden II Sigma. And I've beaten Ninja Gaiden II vanilla. Before playing Sigma 2, I decided to research the differences between the two games. That said, you mention the dismemberment system. I'm not sure if you've played the vanilla version on the Xbox360, but I clearly remember heads, arms, and legs falling off while attacking the baddies. If their legs are cut off, they would still crawl up to you and try to bomb you, or attack you in some other way. So yes, this is not only on the sigma version as you stated in the video. It's very much a feature on the original Xbox360 version also. :)

[@samuelhayden5163]

And there is nothing random about the dismemberment, every combo you use will cut off a limb in part of the combo, depending on what you hit. There are sweet spots that guarantee it, but it isn't random. You play the Ninja Blender, and everyone is getting blended.

[@michaelwestmoreland2530]

DMC 5 level attention to depth, detail, and polish for a ninja Gaiden 4 with all current mechanics kept, and only new and expanded ones added, would be a day 1 preorder from me. And I despise preordering.

[@samuelhayden5163]

I love the second game, but there were two enemies that were pure cancer. The Bomb Dogs, and the exploding shuriken dark ninjas. If anyone remembers the werewolf level, you know, THE ROOM, that I speak of.

[@thosediamonddreams]

Great video!! I love these games and agree with basically everything you said - OG Ninja Gaiden 2 is where it's at. Sigma 2 has its strengths but changed a little bit too much for the worse IMO to completely replace it (my biggest issue with Sigma 2 is the neutering of the gore and enemy count. The battle on that stairway on NG2 is EPIC...not so much on Sigma 2). If you get an Xbox Series X or an Xbox One X you can play Ninja Gaiden 2 at 4k locked 60fps and ZERO slowdown. It was the main reason I got a Series X last year. Also the reason for there being no fast weapon switching in this game (and the reason a lot of games of that era locked you to 2 guns/weapons at a time) is because the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 infamously only had a pitiful 256mb of system memory, which a lot of the time was the culprit between not having fast weapon switching in games up until the PS4/Xbox 1 era when they got more RAM.

[@RetropolisZone]

Thanks for the comment! That memory limitation makes sense, actually. Especially since there are already so many enemies present in this game at once.

[@stacetheface47]

I can also confirm in works really well on xbox series s as well. I encountered no slow down.

[@a_pencil_and_a_piece_of_paper]

The 360 had 512mb and it also had vram which is the reason of the amount of enemies in comparison with ps3 . Also another factor which was also important in my opinion is that sony never gave full access to the developers over the console to take full advantage of the hardware ( at least those years). So it was very difficult to programme in that console in comparison to 360 that was somehow compatible with direct x and gave full access to the developers. When the ps3 hardware was fully unlocked we saw games like uncharted and the last of us taking full advantage of the console's power!

[@zander2758]

I don't think that's true tbh, DMC4 had dante switch between his 3 main weapons,3 guns and 5 styles, by that point i think it was more than feasable for them to have done on the fly weapon switching.

[@silverstone3228]

@@stacetheface47 hey man , i have an xbox series s , would u recommend the ng2 or master collection? Am afraid the ng2 will look bad on my 4k tv …what would u recommend ?

[@pancakes2726]

Probably won't read it but I appreciate the effort of playing 2 version and reviewing them

[@bibigreen6533]

NG2 on XB360 is in my top 3 ever. And my 1st game was the original super mario bros when it came out. NG2 was a true hard game. Beat it on Master Ninja without extending my life bar until the last bosses. It demanded godly reactions, analysis and strategy, plus perfect execution. Man I loved that game. Played nearly 400h.

[@kharlopena7512]

You can fight the water dragon in the water in vanilla Ninja Gaiden II. Lunar can make quick work of him this way.

[@thealmightyultimus3832]

Honestly my biggest complaint about the shift from II to Sigma 2 was the censored blood and gore. There was always something satisfying about literally painting the ground with the blood of your enemies ( and your own when you get hit). It's a pretty minor critique honestly and more nit picking than anything, but eh

[@darknesswithin38]

Just don't nitpick this masterpiece. We don't get something like this anymore

[@dc7981]

Nah, I’ll nitpick it since black is more polished

[@neverenoughgames72]

​@@dc7981True, but vanilla NG2 is way more fun.

[@Draguum]

good to see you back bro

[@ayrtonjoga]

Ok, I did not expected a new video so soon

[@LUNA-zn7ep]

A new video after only a month that’s nearly an hour long? Nice. Looking forward to watching this!

[@RetropolisZone]

Hope you enjoyed the video!

[@psycholuigiman]

Ninja Gaiden 2 was actually the game where I realized that Devil May Cry 4 doesn't let enemies use projectiles or even attack very much from off screen. I just kept getting my ass blown up on Mentor mode and could not for the life of me understand why until I stopped flailing and really paid attention to what was happening. Man, what were they thinking? Sometimes, it felt like playing a child's first video game level ever. What with how ridiculous and messy the encounters become. Like when a kid makes a level in Mario Maker and just fills it up with crap.

[@realamericannegro977]

Yeah NG 2 legit made me want to beat up the programmers. Its hard for the dumbest reasons. On hard mode tje issues you mention is extra annoying cause dang near everything is a exploding shiryuken

[@BlackheArt-lo1up]

Path of the mentor is the sweet spot for doing fun stylish combo run. Enemies are tough enough to take a full combo (especially when doing shuriken juggles) and have just enough aggression to keep the challenge.

[@charliewebster7726]

I respect NG2. Bear with me: The transition to NG and NG2 kind of reminds me of the move from Chrono Trigger to Chrono Cross. CT is minimal, elegant, CC is much more maximal. Each game has a very different philosophy. In the case of NG vs. NG2, for me, I much prefer NG (NG Black, specifically), but I do appreciate how the sequel wasn't just more of the same.

[@dc7981]

This, black is just a different style of game from 2 and some people prefer one over the other

[@gjtrue]

Good review. I personally like NInja GaIden II (2008) over it's Sigma remake. A lot of changes in the latter I didn't like, such as limiting weapon upgrades to certain shops, forcing the player to stay on the platform during the fight against the Water Dragon which in my opinion makes the fight harder for the wrong reasons, etc.

[@DarKKnightt07]

I'm half way through the first game and can't to play this one it looks absolutely insane lol

[@desmondscott2882]

I am here to let the internet know, after being stuck on Chapter 3 since middleschool, I recently brought the Xbox 360 Arcade out of retirement and finally beat GigaDeath at 24 years old.

[@lucianocruz3383]

Ninja gaiden sigma 2 was a pleasent surprise to me wen l was a kid because l like action games a lot but the only one that l loved was devil may cry 3 and 4 at the time l always thought that nothing could be as good but then this game showed up and l was mind blown😊

[@CFEntertainment1]

What a fantastic video. Thank you so much!

[@ganonman8]

It's good to see you back, king. Can't wait for the NG3 review (if you decide to go through with it) and I'll always appreciate the amount of time and effort you put into these beautifully crafted reviews.

[@RetropolisZone]

Thank you so much! And yeah, absolutely, I am doing NG3 + NG3:RE next.

[@TypicallyUniqueOfficial]

NG2 is the best action game ever made imo. I love the mechanics, such as the obliteration mechanic and each weapon's charged attacks, it was all so perfect.

[@dc7981]

Except the bosses, the core combat is still fun

[@Stew91]

I hope you continue to make videos after the third game in the series. I saw your tweet from recently about you being discouraged about the lack of views. I'm not going to pretend that I know what it's like to put over 200 hours into a video, only for it to get poor reception (because I don't). All I can say, is that I hope you can find the drive to make videos once again, even if you do stop after the third entry. If not; I hope you can find a passion in something else.

[@RetropolisZone]

Thanks for the encouraging comment! I was pretty frustrated when this video just released, but I'm feeling a bit better now and do want to continue making videos. Just gotta get back a decent amount of consistency and hopefully that will get things back on track somewhat. :)

[@Dwayneff]

back on the Xbox 360. I spent weeks playing NG2, let me tell you about the Ultimate Techniques, the vigoriaan flail and the falcon talons (both level 3) UT saved my ass so many times, so as such I use them whenever I got the chance to, watching Ryu do what I commanded him to do was awe inspiring, so i never took the UT's for granted.

[@Ninja0492]

I absolutely like Ninja Gaiden 2 on Xbox 360, Beat, Finished & Completed the Story & the trials of valor 58 times in a row from 2015, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21 - 23. Gave it a year off in 2022. Path of the acolyte - easiest difficulty. All weapons collected & maximized to their highest level, 30 crystal skulls collected as well. Ryu Hayabusa have proven within himself that he is a legendary dragon Master Ninja. They really don't make Hack N Slash games like this anymore.

[@RyuGoomba]

the best description for this game a friend told me is "Ninja Gaiden 2 is one of the most kami kamikusoge ever" and it's probably the best description of it ever

[@JonathanPaspula]

What does that mean?

[@RyuGoomba]

@@JonathanPaspula kami = god kusoge = shit game

[@camw6519]

Ninja Gaiden 2 is around 1960p 60fps locked on series x now, looks way better than Sigma 2 in the master collection

[@preposteroussvideos]

amazing channel never stop

[@tbxvividos]

3:44 the phrase you're looking for is "cannot be OVERstated"

[@HystericalCruelty]

I played ninja gaiden 2 as a kid and couldnt get passed stage 6, i looked it up and realized i was only halfway through the game and felt so intimidated. I picked it back 12 years later and finally beat it

[@Debiano_Banano]

Despite the annoying flaws, vanilla NG2 combat has no equal imo, methodically using the insane combos to rip through ultra massive waves of enemies - splattering the walls with blood and limbs - is just a sublime experience no other game has given me so far.

[@noconisaune1580]

Cool to see you again!

[@macuma5533]

This one is pure, unadulterated madness, no wonder its more hit and miss than the first one.

[@realamericannegro977]

They had development issues. I wish they did a Black upgrade to 2, Sigma is cool but still

[@DTaze]

I got this game for my birthday when i was 9 and some of the missions literally made me cry because of how unforgiving they were 😭😭

[@VesDegree]

LOVE Ninja Gaiden 2. One of my favorite games ever.

[@dmo848]

This game still holds up strong today. Looks great plays great, what else is there to say. I mean damn

[@JustABegginer]

For some reason I always used the parry move in the 1st game whereas I used it sooo less in the 2nd game as using the dodging/dashing away felt more safe and easy to use

[@BonzerMrT]

The countering was a bit easier in 1 because it was a little slower and felt easier to get off, but NG2 everything is so damn fast and the timing has to be perfect or you get fucked

[@YouTubeCensors]

Played both Sigma games on Gamepass and honestly sigma 1 is worse than I was led to believe, while sigma 2 was everything I was told it would be aka bad but with a few good QoL changes.

[@macgyvermac2344]

I agree with you played it today a visual and gameplay is not on par with the vanilla version on my Series x

[@squall116]

I wish we had a middle ground with ng2....That opportunity was lost entirely with the collection release....

[@kingdomkey2262]

The collection should have had an option to switch between the orginal versions and the Sigma/Razors edge versions.

[@KEANUWHITE]

there will never be another game as good. Ninja Gainden 3 would sell a million in one day. This game was ahead of its time. The launch with the sword, OFF WITH YOUR HEAD, was next level

[@evil_cupcake2386]

I remember when I bought Sigma 2. Before that I played only original trilogy on the NEW, so I was excited to look on the new Ninja Gaiden. And nothing shocking this game tear my arse in no time. When I finished it I said "never again I will touch it" but as credits ended I looked at the main menu and said "okay to hell with it, one more time" and wow it was much easier. What I love about Ninja Gaiden 1 and 2, is that those games are forcing you to learn. If you just button mash, you will have many troubles, you gotta think. And now Ninja Gaiden is my favorite game in the genre and no new Devil May Cry can convince me otherwise. It's a shame that Team Ninja doesn't want to bring Ninja Gaiden back. Nioh and Wo Long were nice games, but they are not Ninja Gaiden. And I know that Sigma is controversial for people who played original and Sigma, but since I played only Sigma, I still love it. Would I have money for more consoles, I would gladly take XBOX and all original games.

[@RationalMinded]

My most favorite game of all time. Littered with issues, but so goddamn fun(and maddening). I actually enjoyed every single encounter with Genshin, his moveset was amazing to watch. Elizabet on the other hand, excessive amounts of i-frames destroyed that boss fight. Beating her came down to rng, where the AI allowed itself to get hit. NG3RE had the same issue with regular enemies 🤦🏾‍♂️.

[@dc7981]

The Genshin fight is amazing but Elizabet right afterwards is a train wreck lmao. The best fight in the game right next to one of the worst lol

[@RationalMinded]

@@dc7981 Yeah man. She would tackle, you dodge, immediately go for a punish, attack whiffs. NG3RE version had i-frames while standing still after tackle lol. Team Ninja trolled us hard.

[@brianberk12]

definitely can tell he didn't play master ninja. "on sigma two some hits are almost one hit kills"..... sigma 2 on master ninja half the hits that connect are one hit kills lol.

[@JozefLucifugeKorzeniowski]

Ninja Gaiden 2 is one of very few video games that would earn the approval of the corporeal manifestation of Satan/Living prophet of destruction; The Judge character from Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian (who makes a disturbingly convincing argument in the book that War is God)

[@robertwood1689]

abusing i-frames has been a NG staple forever. If u want to play the higher difficulties u just have to ride that train lol no escaping that

[@JoonKimDMD]

NG2 has more enemies but they are much weaker and die fast. I prefer sigma2 because enemies are more challenging and allows me to do a long combos.

[@guitarspud1723]

Gay

[@Vadim_Slastihin]

Super gay

[@TheMiddlechild79]

IF U GOT ANGER ISSUES, DON'T PLAY THIS GAME. u think Elden Ring is hard? Pshhhhhh think again

[@PeanutButterAndJellyBros]

ninja gaiden 2 the original might go down as the best fun flawed game ever. Like that game's frame rates starts dropping in one chapter necessitating you to run up the stairs filled with enemies rushing at you but the madness of the combos makes it unproblematic. Unfortunate that we'll never get Ninja Gaiden in this fashion ever again.

[@shanedoughty6844]

Ultimate techniques never get old

[@helvete_ingres4717]

disagree w/ what you said about the flying swallow being more balanced - my main memory of this game is spamming that move and it rendering bosses trivial. I was pretty surprised as this series has a rp for finely-tuned difficulty. The only good boss fight I remember was the dark samurai guy you fight 2 or 3 times b/c you had to use the precision block to effectively counter him

[@TheSouthernStocking]

I forgot how much I love your videos man.

[@RetropolisZone]

Thank you! That means a lot!

[@GamingNightsNeoMasaki]

I’m just glad they upgraded the Vanilla through the backward compatibility program, playing this on modern console is a privilege now

[@TheBoodercg]

I think the risk/reward of spamming UT’s is the fact that essence is not gained when used to charge the UT. In that regard I have to play carefully and catch red/blue essence when necessary, but also using instant Ut charge to get out of jail and resume the neutral. Honestly, any gatekeeping of the UT would turn the game backwards, this system is perfect for newcomers who may not know how effective spamming UT’s can be. Its really fun.

[@RyuGoomba]

actually, you do gain money from charging from a yellow essence, just to a very reduced amount, around 10%-20% of what it would give you. the real risk is you take double damage while charging and the damage can stack up real fast and you can just find yourself dead from one regular grab

[@mickeybreezy]

NG2 life hack: Wear the white suit. When you're surrounded by enemies being in black makes it very hard to see your character.

[@mikehustle3513]

Definetly on my mount Rushmore of action games. Ryu is soo bad azz. If you die here you always feel like it's your fault due to the sheer dope Ness of your character

[@dc7981]

Which is why the best version is still the Xbox version. People these days need to be reminded who Ryu is

[@UltimateCarDrawer567]

Metal gear rising revengeance and ninja gaiden are my favourite action games

[@luismarquez4757]

Wow now that I see them side by side I noticed how much blood has NG2 compared with Sigma. I hate that the sigma versions removed the windmail shuriken and explosives ones, they were awesome and the addition of Enma´s Fang doesnt fill the missing

[@dmo848]

I think I'm on board 3 on this game on Xbox 360. It's got blood also. Great game

[@camw6519]

If you use incendiary shuriken, the armadillo fights are a cake walk

[@RiderWithTheScarf]

**Insert Donkey Kong 64 Armadillo boss fight rants** It was a different back then Retro, it was a different time. As for why Ryu is simping for Sonia, you have to play : Ninja Gaiden NES, Ninja Gaiden NES2, Ninja Gaiden NES3, Dead or Alive Dimensions(no, I'm not kidding) and read interviews about an anime based on Ninja Gaiden back in the 90s about why Sonia, Volg and Muramasa are giant fanservice machines in the game. No joke.

[@user-fy1nq3nf1q]

Another review almost as hot as sonia. Insert the obligatory comment about you being one of the best videogame reviewers on youtube because well, its true. Not many do as well of a job as you do at getting to the point or showing good examples for potential fixes and the like. Thanks for the content RZ!

[@RetropolisZone]

I appreciate the kind words! I certainly try my very best with every video, so I'm glad the effort is recognized in some way. The views in general have been pretty terrible.

[@12w0]

Almost 20 years after its release and I have yet to beat it. One day though, one day...

[@sunflow57]

This is definitely my favorite NG game. I'm more into action than puzzles.

[@calibvr]

Nice video! Might not be a big thing, but if you use manual saves in Ninja Gaiden II, you can have a robust chapter select.

[@maysen51]

Uhh just to let u know Sonia is ryu’s love interest in the ninja gaiden manga and older games they included her in 2 without context what’s so ever. Another thing to note which ninja gaiden 1 did not tell u is murai the uncle of ryu told the fiends where the dark dragon blade is and he manipulated ryu into killing em to bring back the blade’s power which was abit crazy. Things they never address in the games is that ryu is a part time ninja, he mostly spends his time selling stuff in his store with his lover Sonia.

[@robinsonsuarez6334]

I remember watching an Interview where they said they took out the blood because after itagki left they felt it was too much, smh, also I heard another podcast from gametrailers where they hung out with the creators of ninja gaiden and they all played by absorbing orbs and unleashing ultimates. Weird how they design the game and how they play it

[@thenonexistinghero]

Sigma 2 on Master Ninja is absolute trash. It's basically like normal mode... except the enemies have way more health and you die in 1 throw or projectile. While Sigma 2's mentor mode is easier than the original 2 on Warrior difficulty... its Master Ninja mode is just as hard. But for the wrong reasons... damage is much too high and until you get to the late game and have enough health, just about any throw or projectile will kill you in a single hit. Honestly, while Sigma 2 makes a few minor improvements... it's such a huge step back in so many ways compared to the original 2 that it's significantly worse overal. It's still a good game compared to other games, just nowhere near as good as the original 2. The original 2 can feel cheap on Mentor, but there's quite a learning curve. Once you learn how to play, there's actually not a whole lot of cheap stuff about that difficulty at all. Master Ninja is a bit... mixed. The majority of the game isn't cheap at all, it's mostly just a few sections. Still, until you learn how to play Mentor and Master Ninja properly in vanilla... they can feel very cheap. Personally, I think Mentor is the most fun difficulty and provides the best balance between fun & challenge.

[@austinstringfield8854]

I first played ninja gaiden dragon sword on the ds as my first ns game as a 9 year old. Imagine my surprise when I seen this game at Walmart not knowing anything about it and exposing my virgin 9 year old eyes to the most brutal shit you’ll ever see at the time. I loved it and will always prefer it over sigma 2.

[@AeonAxisProductions]

Just a slight correction to what you said about enmas fang, technically its only the second most powerful weapon, blade of the archfiend is first, enmas fang second, and true dragon sword third, with 4th being kind of a toss up between lunar staff and scythe

[@jazzytaye]

Once again, great analysis!

[@Hououin_Kyoma]

I have an xbox one, and I'm planning on getting the Madter Collection. I don't know if I would be better by simply buying Black, II and Razors edge separately. Those changes on sigma II kind of throw me off.

[@zaymac117]

Yeah I do recommend buying and playing NG Black, NG2, and razors edge on the Xbox one or series X since it's backwards compatible.

[@ingratotoxico]

I would rather have NG black and NG2 PC ports without any graphic upgrades or extra features, than the watered down sigma versions. It seems that they really wanted to erase Tomonobu Itagaki from the NG games history by making these watered down versions, and going in the direction of the infamous NG3

[@titus6573]

Koei Tecmo despise him and vice versa so it's really not surprising that they do everything in their power to make as many alterations as possible, some of them being changes just to make changes to distance themselves from his work. Regarding the blood and gore, Sigma 2 was censored so it could be sold in more countries. I'm not sure if you are aware, but the original Ninja Gaiden 2 was banned for sale in Germany because of the blood and gore, and if you know Koei Tecmo like I do, they value profit above EVERYTHING, they are the Activision of Japan.

[@allainegaming2472]

The most annoying things in this game is that ryu got blown by explosive shurikens of spider clan's that has blast radius in mid-air and got stabbed while performing OT