It's in my top list of favorite action games of all time. The dopamine hits are unmatched, with some of the finest animations and visual chaos to ever grace a screen.

It's so painfully unbalanced and overly brutal sometimes, but it's easy to look past these things when you are having such a good time.

Play on Xbox Series X for a 4K presentation, with a locked 60 frames per second.

Is ninja gaiden black an objectively better game? Probably. Do I like Ninja Gaiden 2 more? Oh hell yes.

Ninja Gaiden black is a masterfully crafted, beautifully made game polished to a mirror shine. Ninja gaiden 2 is an exercise in insanity, and I love it all the more for it. It's so completely unhinged and so unapologetic in how over the top it is with its combat and encounters that I can't help but adore it.

Its my favorite game of all time. All killer no filler, cuts the fat from the first game, and smartly moves the focus to what we're all here for: the combat.

It's been changed quite a bit from Black. The speed is ramped up greatly and foes are way more agressive. The game has shifted from being all about good defense and exploiting holes in enemy attack strings to you being on the offensive all the time. The game relies heavily on your knowledge of which moves grant you invincibility frames and when to use them in what situation to survive. This is ESSENTIAL on high difficulties. It's a far cry from Black's defense and counter based combat, way more fun and allows for much more free-form fighting.

Other things have been changed for the better also, no more tedious item fetching, snore inducing puzzles or weird, wonky platforming sections that killed the pacing of the first game. This game starts at 100 and doesn't let up until the credits roll. It's a non stop gauntlet the whole way through of ruthless enemies, ultraviolence and some of the most intense, high speed fighting I've ever enjoyed.

This game gets alot of heat because of how ruthless it is. Hate to say it, but it filters people like no other game I've ever seen. This game ruined action games for me, no other game since has lived up to the thrills of NG2 on master ninja mode, other games come and go, but I always find myself coming back for more NG2 as the years wear on.

you play as the grim reaper even before the scythe.
i could always easily see why itagaki held this as the best. master ninja isn’t for people who like action games, it’s for literal warriors prepared to descend into to the depths of hell & desperately cling onto every very inch of their life while doing absolutely anything to overcome the presumptive existence of being just a worm, sprawling their enemies blood in the most adrenaline-pumping way possible at every single encounter within this carnage no matter how long it takes to reach the beautifully catharsis-providing end. loving ng2 doesn’t mean you like action games & loving action games doesn’t mean you’ll like ng2 because it’s so brutally disconnected from every last one (they even added a fighting tag lol). black is for action game fans, this is for people who undilutedly love constant split second pitilessness ultra-violence on both sides no matter the foes. you really thought you wanted an action game? it will show you an “action” game alright, where you’re doing mind boggling amounts of joint/reflex/memory/ training so much so you feel like you’re actually ryu himself absorbing all the pain & ecstasy alike. the hate is understandable ofc however , this will always be the most intricately thought out game i’ve played. it has been an absolute joy to me for around 12 years. absolutely adore the man behind this (obv) & his mentality.
my existence peaks here btw https://youtu.be/AMnyDgQMDx0?si=mwMELKopLnaPSZGO (if you finished it ofc)

love this to death, big respect Itagaki and Team Ninja for creating this

xbox360 release was a disaster because of the bad framerate, but it is much better with an emulator 

Ninja Gaiden > Devil May Cry

sigmas can suck ass