Ninja Gaiden II

Developer: Team Ninja
Publisher: Microsoft
Release Date: June 3, 2008
System: Xbox 360
ESRB Rating: M
Official Web site

In a nutshell: Actually the fifth or sixth Ninja Gaiden game, believe it or not.

0:00 My exposure to this series is limited pretty much exclusively to the Ninja Gaiden Sigma demo I played for lunch almost exactly a year ago.

0:01 A shot of a rumbling sea before the camera shoots up through the clouds. The Team Ninja logo sits at the top of a mountain. Awesome!

0:02 Straight to the title screen, with a field with swords punched into the ground. That's it? Where's my long-winded opening cinematic?

0:03 My difficulty choices are "Path of the Acolyte" and "Path of the Warrior." I'm a definitely an acolyte, especially considering how hard Team Ninja makes its games.

0:04 Chapter 1: Sky City Tokyo. The loading screen displays text of a story about Sonia searching for Ryu in a sword shop. The Black Spider Ninja Clan is taking over the city. That would be a good name for a rock band.

0:05 Cherry blossoms over a small creek. Japanese temples mixed in with skyscrapers. An MGS-style jet copter thing makes the controller rumble as it buzzes by the camera. "So, let me get this straight, you don't have a clue where I can find Ryu Hayabusa?" asks the sexy Sonia. The swordmaker she's talking to says Ryu "could be half way around the world" for all he knows. Her business concerns the Archfiend, and that's all she'll say. She has a silky smooth voice, body and outfit, but her eyes look dead.

Read the full review at Crispy Gamer