Sigma 2+ also doesn’t remember how silly it can be. Sigma 2+’s extra scenarios that let you play as Rachel, Momiji, and Ayane actually do a good job of keeping things to the point. If Alexei just sat on top of the Statue of Liberty in New York looking scary, it might be more intimidating, but instead he drones on and on before beating down Ryu. These guys need to boast about their crazy demon lives before getting to the fisticuffs. Take the Greater Fiends Ryu throws down with, like Lightning god Alexei and werewolf-Incredible-Hulk-hybrid Volf. The first game mitigated that silliness by not explaining itself, but the characters don’t keep their traps shut for too long in Sigma 2+. It’s personal too, and the game culminates with Ryu alongside his lady pals, like demon hunter Rachel and Dead or Alive’s Ayane, descending into the underworld to save Ryu’s CIA girlfriend. Evil spider ninjas are trying to resurrect the Archfiend, the big king of demons, and doing so involves tearing about the Dragon Ninja clan Ryu belongs to. From the start, there’s a greater emphasis on story, with ridiculous anime bad guys aplenty posturing in front of Ryu. Ninja Gaiden 2, unfortunately, throws that balance out of whack. Dialogue scenes were infrequent so when something as ridiculous as lead character Ryu Hayabusa riding a gondola onto a giant blimp to fight a morbidly obese cyborg happened, you just kind of took it in stride. Ninja Gaiden for Xbox was always a weird game, but its relative quiet gave it an air of mystery that bellied its silly story of ninja families and demon lords. But while it struggles under the technological limitations of the Vita itself, it’s an admirable work by director Yosuke Hayashi, even though the inherent flaws of the original still hold the game back. It’s not as dramatic a remake as Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 on PlayStation 3, nor as daring and comprehensive as Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge on Wii U. It’s a listless, muddled game that reflects the turmoil that nearly broke the band up for good.Īlways refining its work-only a few of the games in its catalogue haven’t been remade or repurposed in some way-Team Ninja Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus (or Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2+ if you prefer) for PS Vita is its second attempt to make Ninja Gaiden 2 the game it might have been. Something broke between that game and Ninja Gaiden 2 though, and you can see how Team Ninja was set adrift after finishing it. Tomonobu Itagaki’s group of funny, pervy game makers stumbled onto something truly special when they made Dead Or Alive 2 for the Dreamcast, and they polished their talent for fluid animation and thick, physical video game martial arts to near perfection with 2004’s Ninja Gaiden. It’s the game that halted the franchise’s incredible momentum that spanned four original games and an almost equal number of modified iterations of those games between 20. Ninja Gaiden 2 will forever be Team Ninja’s albatross.
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