Ninja Gaiden 2 is part of a trilogy of side-scrolling action games on the Nintendo Entertainment System and is my personal favorite of the series.  One needs only watch the rousing opening cinematic cut-scene (don't press start for a bit after starting the game!) and listen to its phenomenal background music to know the polish, style and love that was crammed into every detail of this frenzy of 8-bit ninja violence.  

Clearly inspired by the Castlevania series, Ninja Gaiden took the formula of a sidescrolling hero who takes down a horde of baddies and substituted a sword for his whip, added a faster walking (run) speed and  mixed in some incredibly fun wall jumping/climbing.  The result is like Castlevania on crystal meth: moving at mach 8 and staying up all night disregarding food and sleep, completely engrossing the player in a barrage of ninja-versus-demon mayhem.  Ninja Gaiden 2 took this formula and perfected it, adding more ninja weapons, more-accessible wall-climbing, improving on the end-of-level bosses (they are even more demonic and their attack patterns are more complex) and lessening the unfairly steep difficulty of Ninja Gaiden 1's finale, resulting in the pitch-perfect NES action game.  

Not surprisingly, the story of Ninja Gaiden 2 is the best in the franchise, narrowly improving upon the story in the first game.  No one will be unmoved by the twisted, violent situations these beloved characters will find themselves in between levels.  As a child, when Ashtar stabs one of the main characters and says that his Demon Sword trembles with delight as it drips blood onscreen, I thanked the maker that the USA had not started rating games yet, or I may have been denied access to this game by my parents.  Suffice to say, the game pulls no punches and will emotionally move the player in between testing his reflexes and ninja cunning every level.  

If you read this review till the end, you clearly did not understand the gravity of my opening statements, this game is a must-play.  Stop reading, spend your Viz and fight like the crazed ninja that you are until you have beaten this game (just don't forget to watch the opening cut-scene, chill out for a bit at the title screen!)

 

Ahh ninja Gaiden
the best classics with ninjas yes?
A wounderful choice,
Ninja gaiden is a tough but
addicting game!! : DD

This was definitely my favorite of the Ninja Gaiden trilogy for the NES, mainly for the music. The music was just awesome for an NES game. Especially that first level. I get that stuck in my head at times.