4.5/5 ★ – playboifarti's review of NINJA GAIDEN 2 Black.

BEAT: (10/31/25) Used to play the demo for this on my Xbox 360 so much. Was so taken by the over the top gore & flashy combat — as a kid that’s just my stuff. Thankfully this remake gave me a reason to revisit & finally play through (with DLC included in the original game structure). Goofy & superfluous (but enjoyable) story takes a backseat as the main course, which is the combat, takes you through all 17 missions in what ended up being just short of 24 hours of gameplay for me. Combat scenarios are intense and challenging with a wider variety of enemy types, weapons & great boss battles with an accessible but deep combat system that keeps the game engaging from start to finish. I think I’ll try to platinum the game, or at least try to beat the other challenges and game modes the games has to offer. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black ends up being a surprisingly meaty and comprehensive package for a hack n slash. & ultimately, probably, my favorite action game of all time.