Joystiq [Xbox]

Most Disappointing: Ninja Gaiden II

Ninja Gaiden, on the original Xbox, was a masterpiece. Beautiful, smooth, responsive, and hard as hell, Ninja Gaiden was an old school action gamer's dream. While it was difficult, it was also perfectly balanced and the enemy progression was spot on. The interconnected level design was also well conceived.

Ninja Gaiden II retains the same solid controls, but it fails to surpass or, in many cases, even meet the same levels of quality in all of the key areas. Overall, what drags it down is inconsistency. In particular, the difficulty and enemy design was incredibly inconsistent. Some early boss battles are incredibly difficult, while later bosses are complete pushovers. The same goes for the enemies. There are also times in the game where the difficulty seems to be increased artificially -- by using tons of nearly unavoidable projectiles, for example -- rather than by introducing smarter, more deadly enemies.

It's a shame because Ninja Gaiden II isn't a terrible game. The problem is that it pales in comparison to the first, which is what makes it so disappointing.

29/12/08