Ninja Gaiden (NG) was among the best reasons to own an Xbox back in 2004, as was its director's cut, NG Black, when it came out in 2005.
Now long-time Playstation loyalists can finally see for themselves what the fuss was all about in NG Sigma, a second director's cut featuring numerous tweaks and brand new content.
Action games of this type are about striking down enemies while simultaneously evading their attacks. But because the enemies attack at predetermined intervals, it was a decidedly pattern-based structure that grew boring over time.
To spice things up, action games today focus on stylish means of overcoming these structured challenges. For instance, Devil May Cry encourages players not to simply defeat a group of dim-witted foes, but to do so while racking up an insane combo count.
Super Ninja Ryu Hayabusa stars in a PlayStation 3 remake of one of the best action games on the Xbox, which adds new content such as new weapons and a newly playable heroine. -- SCREENSHOTS: TEAM NINJA
The makers of NG found this approach laughable, and chose to offer an alternate solution: rather than coming up with cool ways to kill enemies that were rarely a threat, make every enemy an intimidating existence and evoke that intense feeling of fighting for dear life.
Throughout super ninja Ryu Hayabusa's adventure, you will face military soldiers, demonic fiends, rival clan ninjas and more.
And while the different categories of enemies each possess varying degrees of intelligence and idiosyncrasies, they all share a universal trait - that of the conniving schemer.
They do not simply stand around and take your beatings happily. They block. They evade. They backstab when you get careless. And when you make the overly-cautious mistake of blocking for too long, brace yourself for a tight slap in the form of a back-breaking grapple.
Boss encounters are even more exciting - they put the 'super' in 'super ninja'.
Picture evading bombs and missiles while attempting to shoot down a helicoptor with - what else? - a bow and arrows. Or taking out a massive bone dragon limb by limb while dodging beasty swipes and red hot dragon flares.
As if that were not feisty enough, alongside new weapons, missions and a new playable heroine, Sigma introduces several subtle fighting system tweaks that will make even the veterans sweat. However, the atrocious camera controls and backtracking puzzles could have been better addressed.
Nevertheless, the problems should not dissuade anyone from enjoying this classic. Newcomers might not be used to the initial world of pain here. But keep at it and, like a good plate of chilli sauce, pleasure is sure to follow.
Cheat sheet
HERE ARE TWO techniques that the game does not tell you about:
The rolling thunder
Against attacks that strike consecutively and are unblockable, use the rolling thunder, a dodging manoeuvre that involves jumping the moment you recover from a roll, and rolling the moment your feet lands (hit L1 at the precise moment).
On-landing ultimate techniques
Ultimate techniques let you deal massive damage. They can be performed without charging by simply pressing the triangle button as soon as you land from a jump.
