Ninja Gaiden Black

Closing Thoughts: Thanks to the return of the infamously poor camera system, it's not the "definitive edition" Team Ninja was hoping for. And yes, there's still a reduced number of enemies compared to the original, but I find that inconsequential. At the end of the day, despite its somewhat dated gameplay, I was still impressed by the time the credits rolled. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black reminds us why the franchise was formerly the gold standard for 3D action. It's fast, furious, and a bloody good time. I can't think of a better way to prepare for Ninja Gaiden 4.

Ninja Gaiden 2: Black is the definitive way to play Ninja Gaiden 2. It's a reminder that the Ninja Gaiden series was ahead of its time when it first hit the shelves, with it still having some of the best combat of any game in the genre. The adrenaline one can get from pulling off lengthy combos and dismembering groups of enemies is something that is rarely matched in the industry these days. After playing through the game, it's hard not to want to travel back in time to a period when games pu...

Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is an unmissable title for fans of the genre and those seeking a true challenge in gaming. It modernizes the classic while staying true to its brutal action. It remains one of the best hack-and-slash experiences ever made, delivering relentless difficulty and rewarding mastery that few modern games can match.

While the name may be slightly misleading, Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is a fantastic way to experience one of the best action games ever made.

Despite the glossy Unreal 5 sheen, Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is unapologetic in its 360-era game design that is as frustrating as it is refreshingly no-nonsense. While modern audiences might bounce off some of its old-school quirks, when its blood-gushing, limb-severing action clicks you'll understand why it deserves to be as highly regarded as Bayonetta or Devil May Cry. For the definitive experience, purists may still want to stick with the original (which is backwards compatible on Xbox) but this is still a superior remaster to the last-gen collection that offers the best of both versions.

Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is a surprisingly beautiful remake that rights many of Sigma’s wrongs to become the next best thing to the original release.

Fewer enemies with more health may mean Ninja Gaiden 2 Black isn't quite the definitive version, but it's a definite and gorgeous improvement over its Sigma 2 release, and still an excellent action game all around.

Its camera might remain somewhat skittish and the upgrades here aren't exactly seismic, but Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, rebuilt using Unreal Engine 5, certainly looks the part and delivers immediate, lightning-fast ninja action, replete with buckets of blood and viscera. It was, and still is, excellent.

Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is like a time machine back to the halcyon days of PS3, featuring over-the-top violence, ridiculous action, and a globe-trotting campaign. Black sparkles up those graphics for PS5, and while fun, it isn’t quite enough to counter how much this hack-and-slash experience has aged.