Best combat in gaming. Buy it. Play it.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is always a double edged sword when reviewing because on one hand, Its Ninja Gaiden -- and Ninja Gaiden is hands down the best action series period. Yes, saying best can be "an opinion" but it is the overwhelming majority of opinion for both legacy players and those who go back and play it today that NG2 is the best action game, period. NG1 Is like the dark souls of action games before dark souls was around in terms of cultural relevence, level design, and gameplay - so it too holds a special place in everyone's heart.

But There is a complicated discussion over the various versions of Ninja Gaiden 2 that muddles the waters for players trying to decide whether to play it or not.

The TLDR is that There are a lot of differences between the original Xbox 360 release of NG 2 (OG NG2) and the Playstation versions (Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, or NGS2). This is the playstation release version.

The playstation release version, when compared only to itself and what it delivers, is not a bad game. It is s till Ninja gaiden 2 - and it has a comprehensive tag mission mode, chapter challenge, and the achievements require 8 play throughs -- so you're going to be here for a while.

The trials are ruthless and tough, and theres a lot of extra play time with extra characters. On it's own, its a feature-complete title, with solid action gameplay and a lot of things "to do", for enthusiasts.

The negative about sigma, is that on the higher difficulties, theres a lot of instant death. nearly every enemy can one shot kill you at any point by grabbing you - and this can feel cheap or tedious at time. Boss rush sections (5 bosses in arow for example) also feel like its really stretching you on healing items - requiring you to really up your gameplay despite some of those very bosses being assanine to learn how to fight at times.

This isn't a bad thing necessarily, but these are problems that didn't exist to this degree in the original version, and thus you see plenty of complaints, calling it a bad version. You also will see debate about enemy density - the original had a level of fun not present here simply due to the overwhelming number of enemies on screen at any time. THey have trimmed that down for fewer, but more deadly enemies - rather than just an ocean of them.

While it is true some elements of the original that were fun have been lost in this version, there are also several elements from the original that are archaic, poorly designed - or serve no purpose - that were cleaned up and removed.

Just the same, this version introduces three new bosses that do just that: Are archaic, serve no purpose, or are poorly designed.

And finally, the way item stacking works in the original allows you to manipulate the boss rushes a bit better - so this one adds a level of challenge not present in the original. However, you also lose trials of valor - which primarily are boring waves of 100 enemies requiring pretty specific low-agency gameplay to survive - with a few pretty fun outliers.

The reality is though, that whether or not the removals were justified or not - it always feels bad to lose something - and alot of gamers have not recovered or been able to logic their way through something that -- so they just feel that "I lost things" even if in some cases, change was warranted - debatly not so with other things.

So, can you recommend Sigma 2 to someone?

Absolutely you can and should - the master collection gives you three games, and while Sigma 2 is my least favorite version ofn Ninja Gaiden 2 - I only have issues with it becasue I've played the other versions.

On it's own, it stands up just fine - and for someone whos just looking to experience Ninja Gaiden, it gets the job done.

However, for a modern new player, Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is going to be your best prep for Ninja Gaiden 4.
Ninja Gaiden 3 is going to be your best prep for Master Ninja difficulty in Ninja Gaiden 4 - But The Master Collection retains a lot of value because it gives you three games - and theres no reason to fear playing Sigma 2.

I will say, in the last 20 hours of gameplay, my sigma 2 had a lot of graphical glitches. Why they started showing up then and not in the first 80 hours, I couldn't tell you - but something to note anyway.

Solid game, its Ninja Gaiden so you can't go wrong.

Brother, this game is just straight up fun. Its a good time - you can play it for a little while or a long while and it works for whatever you're looking for. Combats fun, platformings fun,bosses are fun. Its a great time.

If you're looking for more challenge rather than pure unabashed fun, it has that too! Hard mode, costume unlocking, S++ Rank Grinding and perfect runs - all of that is baked in as well.

With collectable, secret missions, and secret endings? Whatever it is you might be looking for here, its probably here and in a satisfying way.