Ninja Gaiden 2: Black

13 February, 2025 - 4:20 pm by Joseph Whitfield
About 11 mins to read
Reviewed on: Xbox Series X|S

Ninjas.

Ninjas are cool.

In fact, for a period of time the UK Government banned the word ‘ninja’, along with references to specific weaponry. This meant for a time, ninjas were more punk rock than actual punks, which led to a generation of kids growing up thinking that Michaelangelo from the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles used a string of sausages as his primary weapons. Thankfully, ninjas are more accepted these days, and are regularly represented in the world of video games.

As my fascination with the ancient assassins grew, I surrounded myself with numerous games like Shinobi, Mini Ninjas and The Last Ninja 2, and I loved them all. When Team Ninja snuck up on the world and shadow-dropped a remake of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, you better believe I wanted to slice my way through Ryu’s world of corporate monsters and ninjas for hire.

Ninja Gaiden 2: Black – At a Glance

Positives	Negatives
+ The ninjas (and environments) look top notch + Tight action controls + Great difficulty curve	– The story isn’t as fluid as the combat – Secondary characters not utilised enough – Swimming is a nightmare
Available on:	PC (Steam) PlayStation Xbox
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Ninja Gaiden 2 Black starts with a Sonia, a CIA agent looking for a ninja warrior called Ryu Hayabusa, master ninja, a descendant of the Dragon Ninja lineage, and protagonist of the game. Unsurprisingly, Hayabusa is notoriously difficult to find. Soon, Sonia is attacked by the rival Spider Clan, where Ryu must come from the shadows and find out why the CIA is tracking him. The nefarious rivials lead him back home to find it under siege, with only his father, the leader of the Dragon Clan holding off the onslaught of fiends.

From here, the action quickly spreads, leaving Hayabusa and Sonia to trek around the world, trying to stop the evil clansman from unleashing the untold horrors of the underworld, and it’s up to us to hack, slash and brutalise our way through the swathe of enemies.

The opening premise of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black feels like a mix of fantastical mythology mixed with a modern twist. It’s not often you play a game where a ninja, equipped with the weapons from Feudal Japan, and fight demons from the underworld on top of a helicarrier, but it somehow makes sense. Along with the daft story, the graphics really stand out here. Despite Ninja Gaiden 2 Black being a remaster of Ninja Gaiden 2 Sigma, Team Ninja has given the near-20-year old game such a decent lick of paint that makes it feel almost like a current gen game. There are moments, particularly in New York, where the game doesn’t look as polished as something built from the ground up, but considering the game hit the Xbox 360, this is by no means a bad looking game.

The story is laid out across multiple chapters and is primarily told through an opening paragraph of text, followed by a short cutscene. These are used to frame the gameplay in such a way that you can purely focus on the action, stomping your way through hoards of ninjas and monsters. While I liked the idea of being left to slash through the game, having a block of text at the beginning of each level left itself open to some big gaps in the story. Ryu would be in modern Tokyo one moment then appear back at home, before setting off to Italy (for some reason). While there is some logic to the plot, I felt it could have been better explained if Ryu was given clear objectives throughout each level. Just having someone say, “Oh no, the baddy has escaped to New York, get after them” would have been enough.

In fairness though, you play a hack and slash game to, well, hack and slash things, and here is where Ninja Gaiden 2 Black excels. There are a lot of enemies to take down, and luckily Ryu has the toolset to do that. Using a combination of the Dragon Sword, trusty shuriken and Ninjitsu powers, you’re able to carve your way through enemies with ease and it’s not long before the limbs are flying and blood is spurting like something out of a Tarantino film. The gameplay is slick, and throughout my time I found no issues with the framerate. What really got me excited about how Ninja Gaiden 2 played was that Team Ninja expected a level of skill from you. Mashing X will only get you so far; enemies will soon get tough enough that you’ll have to rely on dodging and parrying while looking for an opening to attack.

Thankfully, the controls don’t hinder your playstyle and actually work with you to help get you through some difficult situations. This is also helped by the various weapons you can find throughout the adventure. If you find that the sword wasn’t to your style, then you can use a staff to keep enemies further away from you. My favourite weapon was the chain, a fast weapon that is very good for crowd control and quickly removing fodder enemies. With the controls, the weapons and the various upgrades scattered through each level, it felt like Team Ninja was encouraging me to battle on. Towards the end of the game where the difficulty really ramps up, I found I had the tools to beat what was in front of me, I just had to work out which tools were best for each situation.

When I wasn’t making everyone a meat fountain, it was time to explore each level and put Ryu’s ninja skills to the test. Each level makes use of his sneaky skillset as I had to leap, wall run and flip through environments, which ranged from the rooftops of a futuristic Tokyo, to the winding streets of New York and a deep forest setting. Each location feels unique, with the different surroundings forcing you to use your skills in different ways; the urban setting of New York relies heavily on using Hayabusa’s jumping abilities, whereas the dense forests require a more aquatic approach. Much like combat, each action can be performed effortlessly, that is, except for swimming. Moving through water feels more like moving through custard; it is hard to see and navigate. Mercifully, there are only a few underwater sections and most can be avoided by tapping the B button repeatedly, which makes Ryu stride across the water like Jesus on jet skies.

Ryu’s campaign is broken with a few side stories, featuring a cast of supporting characters, Momiji, Rachel and Ayene. It’s here where I will say the design represents relics of the past, with full jiggle physics that could be straight out of Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, on full display. It felt like the design choice wasn’t even done for any reason other than for laughs. During cut scenes, no matter if it is a calm discussion or action-heavy sequences, there would be two flesh-coloured beach balls hilariously bouncing in different directions. I think if you’re going to include any kind of fan service elements, try not to draw attention to them. Keep it classy, like how Ryu’s backside naturally draws the eyes thanks to his taut leather outfit.

Costume choices aside, the supporting cast have their own unique weapons that they bring to the table, from Momiji’s Heavenly Dragon Naginata (a big staff with a sword attached), to Rachel’s Type 666 Machine Gun, which mixes up the gameplay nicely. It’s a shame that these support levels are only sporadic, as I had more fun using Momiji’s Naginata to calve through enemies than any of the items in Ryu’s arsenal. Thankfully, on completing the game, a Mission Mode is unlocked, allowing you to speed through each level with any character of your choosing.

Speaking of the end game, once the credits roll on Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, there are numerous challenges and tasks to tackle. Chapter Challenge tasks you with running through one of the previously completed levels and earning as high a score as possible. You can use everything you’ve unlocked during the campaign, but it acts more like a pseudo-speed run challenge than anything. Tag Missions, however, are a different kettle of ninjas. Here you team up with an NPC of your choice and battle through enemies to complete set goals.

This mode became rather addictive, as I tried to chase down as many gold medals as possible. Each mission gives you a set objective, like defeating 100 enemies or completing a run as quickly as possible, and I found the success was reliant on the loadouts chosen at the beginning of each mission, along with the skills earned during the playthrough. It’s one of the few times where I’ve found myself completely engaged with the post-game content, rather than thinking it was a cool throwaway mode. As the review was about to be published, Team Ninja also added a New Game+ and photo modes to the game, which further expands on the games’ longevity.

Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is a tight hack and slash, full of fluidity that sees blood, guts and dismembered limbs fly all over the shop. The story is very wobbly, much like the under utilised support characters, but among the over the top violence is a challenging game designed to test your skills as a ninja, and while the game is tough, even on its easiest setting, it never feels unfair. Team Ninja encourages you to try different approaches to boss fights so that when you do ultimately prevail, there is a great sense of achievement.