[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] After the smashing success of the first Ninja Giden, it seems only natural a sequel would be made. And fresh off the heels of the first game's release, Ninja Gaiden 2: The Dark Sword of Chaos was released in 1990. This game is just as wellknown as the first, but does it compare to the first game, and where does it improve? Well, that's what I aim to find out in my review of Ninja Gaiden 2 for the NES. The first thing I got to say is in comparison to the first game, Ninja Gaiden 2 has better box art. I mean, this kneeling pose and the dragon in the background makes the game simply look cool. The dragon's almost daring you to try and play this game. Go on, just try and beat this game. But uh you know, I'm I'm supposed to be talking about the game here. Well, there isn't really much to talk about. Ninja Gaiden 2 control-wise is almost exactly the same as the first. The controls are just as precise as the first game. So, if you happen to be used to the first game, you won't have any problems adjusting here. The presentation in this game is definitely improved from the first. There's more enemy variety, more unique animations, and even moving backgrounds in some levels. In regards to Ryu himself, there is one aspect that has changed, and that's the magic system. Ninja Gaiden 2 completely reworks said system to have a cap. It starts at 40 maximum, but can be increased through finding scrolls in the levels. The value of no has also been changed with blue no giving you 10 points, while orange no fills up your magic to full. I believe this is a welcome change as it does help to streamline the gameplay a bit. Plus, you can increase the amount to over 100, more than enough to defeat anything in your way and way more than you could ever get in Ninja Gun one. Whether you're intended to do that, I'm not too sure. The saw weapons themselves have also received some changes. The spin slash is unfortunately gone in this game. Every other weapon from Ninja Gaiden 1 is here. You even start out with smaller shurikens already in the item box. The invincible firewall received a rework in this game as well. Instead of activating it automatically, you can activate it manually with it lasting for a short time and it allows you to have more control over the weapon. New to this game is Dragon Balls, or well, not Dragon Ball, but Dragon Balls, which act like the upward fire wheel, but they go downwards instead. This can be used for enemies that are below you in really inconvenient spots. Of course, the largest change is reuse shadow clones. You see, by collecting these orange ninja powerups, a flickering clone of Rio will appear and copy your exact movements. You can have up to two of these on the screen at a time, and they do not disappear until you die. They will also copy any subw weapon you have, which allows you to flood the screen with projectiles and annihilate bosses with ease. I must admit, it is fun watching them follow right behind Ryu, copying his exact movement. And they are also orange, which is always a positive. But I take a lot of the challenge away from the game, especially the bosses. Suppose it could be seen as a reward sort of thing, as in you're rewarded for carrying them throughout a stage. But they're pretty easy to come by. They don't go away upon clearing a stage. At least with the spin slash, you have to be wise on when exactly to use it. But the Shadow Clones just feel brainless. Just like the first game, Ninja Gaiden 2 utilizes in-game cutscenes to tell its story with the same sort of rules as the first game. You beat a stage and watch a cut scene. The game opens with a new villain, Ashtar, the Emperor of Darkness. I enjoy the use of another villain to take Jako's place, and I think Ashtar is a very intimidating villain. He plans to conquer the world with his dark sword of chaos, in contrast to Ryu's own dragon sword. A year after the defeat of Jako, demonic presences start to rise once again. Irene is kidnapped, and Ryu rushes in to save her. Along the way, he meets Robert, a military man, who informs him of his next objective. A neat little subversion that I like is that the scene where you meet Robert sort of mirrors one from the first game where someone steps from the shadows and points a gun at Ryu. However, in this game, Ryu is not shot, but rather a monster that was creeping up from behind him is shot instead. Ryu must make his way to the tower of Laha. Along the way, learning of Ashtar. Upon climbing the tower, he comes face to face with Ashtar. Ryu is easily defeated by a powerful blast from Ashtar's sword. Soon after, Ashtar is surrounded by Robert and special forces, so he slinks off to the maze of darkness. A character I think is done really poorly in this game is Irene. She was quite a badass in the first game, but in this one, she's just been reduced to a damsel in distress role. Most of Irene's dialogue is just screaming Ryu's name. It's really boring. I feel like she could have done a lot more. Of course, now would be a good time to start talking about the gameplay, wouldn't it? And there have definitely been improvements. For one, getting one-ups is way easier than before. Not only can you earn them through points, almost every stage has at least one one-up. This makes the game a lot more forgiving, provided you can find each of the one-ups. Almost every stage has some sort of stage hazard as well, and I quite like this aspect. allows each stage to be unique from one another and the way the gimmicks are utilized weave with the basic gameplay of Ninja Gaiden. Well, there's wind in stage two which allows the stage to have a nice flow if you know what you're doing. Ice in stage five which is very slippery of course and waterfalls at stage four which slowly push you along. The best gimmick is definitely stage three's lightning. The stage is pitch black when you first enter and it's only illuminated by flashes of lightning. The stage is very short, but you'll often have to stop and wait for the lightning to show where the next platform is. When you memorize the stage, though, it's a lot of fun to simply blast through it. An issue I have is with enemies. It feels like the enemies just get thrown at you half the time, with the intent being to simply hack and slash your way through them. I mean, it's like that in Ninja Gaiden one as well, but with that game, it felt like it meshed very well with the level design. But here, it just feels spammy. Not to mention hit boxes, which don't really make sense in comparison to sprites. And yes, this game still has the problem of the sword passing straight through enemies. At least some gripes are fixed, such as the birds only dealing one point of damage. Also, the new enemies are pretty creative, such as the shrunken version of bosses from Ninja Gaiden 1. They're pretty cute and very fun to fight. Speaking of bosses, I think the bosses of Ninja Gaiden 2 are a lot more fun and challenging than the first games. They're definitely more mobile and are very good at keeping the player on their toes. Like I said earlier though, the shadow clones completely wreck any challenge they have. Here's a fun challenge. Try try beating them without the shadow clones. Makes them a lot more fun. One boss that sucks though is Ashtar whom you catch up with and fight in stage five. All he does is teleport around the screen and shoot out eight fireballs. I mean, it can be pretty unexpected to try and predict where he shows up, but his fireballs only deal one damage, so you can simply just tank it. And with the clones, you can just waltz up and knock off over half of his health bar easily. So much for being intimidating. Speaking of that climatic battle with Ashtar, before it happens, Ashtar kills Irene on screen, complete with blood dripping down his sword. And well, let's just say after that, something spicy happens. Whoa. All right, Ryu. Whoa. Robert takes Irene away to a safe area, not realizing the presence of an old foe that's looming over them. Meanwhile, Ryu presses onward. After fighting the Kelber, he notices that the boss seems familiar, and then sees Robert laying on the ground wounded. Robert states that the gate of darkness must not be open and urges Ryu to go while he fends off some of the monsters. Ryu makes it to the end and discovers an old foe. That's right. Jako returns. And I kind of have problems with it. I liked Ashtar uh a lot more. Jako does have a pretty imposing design in this game, but the reason he comes back is pretty shittily explained. At least you get to kill him off for good in this game. I mean, just look at that pool of blood that flows into the dark sword of chaos, which causes Chaquia to turn into a wall. And then he turns into a demon, similar to the first game's final boss. This final boss is about as equal as the first games with me. The first game's bosses were definitely more cleverly designed, but I do like how this game's final boss keeps you keeps you on your toes. And of course, the punishment for dying isn't as brutal as well. You're only sent back to the start of 7-2 after dying. And I forgot to mention that there's seven levels in this game rather than six. I think the third phase is the best of the three, though. Jako's first form can be very tricky to figure out how to fight properly. And the second form is very annoying with the constant stream of acid droplets. I like the flow of the of the third phase a lot with the hands reaching out at you. It forces you to consider when it is best to attack and when it is best to retreat to safe spots. I think this game, while not being as good as the first, is definitely still a great game for the NES. It's not The story is definitely not as good. There's a lot of exposition, and when there isn't, it's pretty poorly explained what's happening, but the gameplay makes up for it easily. Ninja Gaiden 2 still is as action-packed as the first, and honestly, I think it's more action-packed. The stages are all pretty fun to blast through, even with iffy enemy placements, and the music is also just as good. I can't deny the improvements this game brings, such as the bosses and the magic system. I think the Shadow Clones, while being fun, take a bunch of the difficulty out of the game, and I that kind of sour the experience. As for my rating, I'd have to give Ninja Gaiden 2 an 8 out of 10, just like the first. With all my gripes, I still believe this game is just as good as the first. I just don't like it as much. That'll be it for Ninja Gaiden 2, and I hope you enjoyed the video. I'm really sorry for the long wait between Final Fantasy and this. As you can see with the video length, it really didn't take that long once I got started on it. Let's just say some um other things got in the way of me making this video. As for my next review, whenever that happens, I'm actually planning a look at Ninja Gaiden 3 next. I believe playing this game directly after the second will help me to better compare the two and also see where it improves and falls flat. Plus, I just really want to do other series, so I might as well tackle the remaining Ninja Gaiden game before starting one of those. I don't have much to say regarding other plans, although I hear talk fan wants to collaborate with me once again, so I might be too occupied to plan much else. Anyways, this has been Meme John. Take care and see you.