Ninja Gaiden II

Ninja Gaiden II is the sequel to Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox 360. This is the first Team Ninja-developed game to not be published by Tecmo. The game was not released in Germany due to the lack of a USK rating. An enhanced version called Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 will be released exclusively for the PlayStation 3 in late 2009.

Ninja Gaiden II keeps most of the core elements of its predecessor, Ninja Gaiden. Protagonist Ryu Hayabusa (voiced by Josh Keaton) engages the world in a third person over-the-shoulder perspective, beginning the game with basic, low-level abilities and weapons that can be upgraded as he progresses by discovering or buying items. Ryu can interact with the game environment by running along and jumping off walls, swinging from pole to pole, or running across water. Unlike its predecessor, which used a city designated as a hub, Ryu travels around the world, ranging from New York, Tokyo, the familiar Hayabusa Village, the Aqua Capital (with an environment similar to the canals of Venice), and regions of non-human origins, such as the Northern Purgatory, Lifeblood Shrine and Niflheim in a progressive stage-by-stage setting, reminiscent of the style of the original Ninja Gaiden platformers. Aside from fighting enemies, Ryu will need to find keys and solve puzzles in the various environments, so as to progress through the game.

In-game cut scenes serves as the narrative to the story, and dragon busts can be used to save player progress, permitting gameplay to be resumed at a later time. Certain busts enable the player to record films of gameplay and upload the videos onto Xbox LIVE for users to download and watch. Ninja Gaiden II uses the same scoring system, based on the player's speed in clearing encounters, the number of kills achieved, the number of unused magic spells (or ninpos) remaining at the end, and the amount of cash collected. Players can compare their scores on online ranking boards.

The Story Mode for Ninja Gaiden II consists of four difficulties: Path Of The Acolyte being the easiest, followed by Path Of The Warrior, Path Of The Mentor, and Path Of The Master Ninja being the hardest.