Temco/Koei's first double team effort is to bring us a polished version of the Xbox 360 Ninja Gaiden 2 to the PS3 in th shape of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 , but is this new version worth getting excited about? 

 

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 would essentially be a director’s cut if it was a movie. The majority of the single player mode is almost identical to what came in the Xbox 360 version. The story is based on Ryu and his attempt to stop a rival ninja clan from resurrecting a Demon. As Ryu you will be running around villages, cities and even airships battling a huge variety of foes and pulling off mad ninja combos.

 

 

There are a few subtle differences from the original, for starters the camera seems to be a lot more manageable and sadly the gore has been toned down a little. Even right at the start you can tell a lot of care and attention has been put into making this an AAA title. Even the installation screens have been thought about and rather than a 10 min stagnant screen you are given a beautiful moving comic detailing the prologue of the game and an early fight involving Joe and Ryu Hayabusa.

 

Interspersed in the single player mode are a few new boss fights plus the extra playable characters. These pop up at intervals and allow you to control one of three female characters for one level. They are all Temco characters like the slow but powerful hammer wielding Rachel or the faster Momiji and Ayane.

 

The difficulty is always going to be a problem with Ninja Gaiden games and it is still tough as nuts. That said, once you get into the moves and start to second guess the camera you begin to feel for Ryu and get well and truly stucked in, and from then it appears to be slightly less punishing than before, but even on the easiest difficulty it is a challenge.

 

As you play through the single player mode you start to unlock plenty of extras and this is where Sigma 2 starts to really separate itself from the Xbox 360 version. The inclusion of an online mode is very welcome, here you can play in co-op in small arena based combat situations. The general idea is to clear the room of baddies as quickly as possible and to link up your moves and magic to unleash some awesome attacks.

 

 

Graphically the game is generally the same as the Xbox 360 version, so although it is very polished, in places some levels feel quite empty and there is also the occasion where some screen tearing will occur. That said it does look a lot crisper in places that the Xbox 360 version.

 

In the end a choice has to be made for this review, if you are fortunate enough to own both consoles then this version is the favorable one. The Xbox 360 version is still good buy, but this is just a better and more polished version.