Choppy-Chop

I usually don't buy new games. I'm patient, I can wait 3 or 4 months and by that time 60-dollar games magically become 40-dollar games. I'm cheap like that. Cheap like a whore. a Man-whore.

Dr. Strange-whore.

But I digress. The last time I bought a new game was Might and Magic: Dark Elements. Bought it for my birthday. 60 bucks. I haven't played it yet. It retails for 30 bucks now. Fiddlesticks!

If nothing else, I'm a sucker and I bought Ninja Gaiden II last Thursday. What can I say, I bought into the hype. I've not played the original Xbox Ninja Gaiden, but was (am) a devoted fan to the original series of nigh-impossible games. 60 bucks later I'm sitting in my house with a brand new game.

It's a brawler. Sure it looks pretty, and my ninja wields a sword instead of relying on his fists, but the core gameplay is brawler, i.e., Streets of Rage, Final Fight. But, seriously, it's a game, and this is exactly what I wanted form it: Old-school brawler action! The gameplay reminds me a lot of last year's Conan game too, and that's nothing but good.



Ryu, the player character, just may be the worst ninja on the face of the planet, but at least he's fun to control. The control scheme is similar to the first Prince of Persia not in layout but in fluidity. It's really easy to pull of "complicated moves". By this I mean a few button taps will cause Ryu to run sideways along a wall across a chasm and back flip on to enemies. An especially easy, yet dramatic, move has Ryu vault over an enemy and bisect them in the air. It looks complicated on the screen, but the controls make it a breeze.

Ninja Gaiden 2 is a game people will either enjoy or not enjoy; weak assessment for a review I understand, but an accurate one. As good as the graphics are and as solid as the gameplay is, the main reason for playing Ninja Gaiden 2 is the challenge. The entire game is a challenge to the player: how many items and secrets can the player find on a playthrough and what difficulty levels can be completed are the biggest questions posed by the game.

I'm playing on the easiest difficulty level. I got through the first level without dying. I'm quite proud of that. I'm sure the ass-kickings will come though. And then the cursing. Oh, the cursing. Regardless, I'll have hella fun doing it.

Play this sucka!