I’ve loved Ninja Gaiden for as long as I can remember. When I saw the film The Wizard as a child, Super Mario Bros. 3 wasn’t the highlight for me, the brief showing and subsequent mentioning of Ninja Gaiden was. I read the Worlds of Power book cover to cover multiple times. And I, of course, played the NES game (and to a lesser degree, its sequels) over and over again (never finishing any of them).
Years later, when Ryu Hayabusa appeared in the Dead or Alive games, it was a big deal for me and got me into that series (especially DOA 2 on Dreamcast). Shortly after that, Ninja Gaiden on Xbox reignited my love for the series in a big way. I’ve played most Ninja Gaidens released before 2025 in at least one iteration. This is a series generally made for people who are good at video games, which isn’t me. And yet I will play on the easiest difficulty, use every exploit possible, and manage to crawl across the finish line.
In 2008 I finished Ninja Gaiden II on Xbox 360. In 2026 I’m playing through Ninja Gaiden II Black, its remake / reimagining (over a year late, but hey man, times are as tough as a Ninja Gaiden game).
I’m currently on chapter 7 and playing on Path of the Acolyte, which is considered the game’s “normal difficulty.” It’s been pretty manageable for me so far and seems easier than I remember the original game being at this level. There have been a few bosses that took me a couple tries, but, knock on wood, I haven’t hit any challenges that I’ve been unable to overcome so far. I know the sweatiest of gamers may be repulsed by this, and that’s cool man, go be a master ninja elsewhere and leave me to enjoy my ninja doghouse.
So if I’m not into these games for the difficulty and bragging rights, then why do I play them? The vibes, obvs. Ninjas are cool and controlling them running through city streets and slicing dudes will always kick ass. And Ninja Gaiden II Black has vibes for days.
The game looks and runs great on my PC. My fps are always well over 100, which results in extremely responsive action. Additionally, the game is aesthetically gorgeous at times, from cherry blossoms to blood splatter.
Most of all, Ninja Gaiden II Black is just fun. While some platforming bits aren’t quite as smooth as I’d like, the main event here is combat, which is consistently intense, yet well-paced. The dodge/block/counter then unleash a string of attacks cadence is consistently rewarding. I’m stoked to play more and then take a well-deserved rest until the next game in the series dro- wait there were HOW MANY Ninja Gaiden games released last year?!
All screenshots and video captured by me on my PC. PC specs:32 GB RAM, AMD Ryzen 7800X3D 8-Core Processor, GeForce RTX 4080 Super 16 GB.
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