This game gets exponentially better once you unlock Hotsuma.
User Rating: 8 | Nightshade PS2
Playing with Hibana has its quirks, and her character design, in my opinion, adds to the challenge of this game. Once Hotsuma is unlocked, it's havoc on a different level. He doesn't have to dive-kick opponents to break their armor, plus he controls a lot more smoothly to me. The graphics and overall design of the game aren't as dark as the first Shinobi game, which takes away from the overall feel and makes this game feel a lot less like a sequel. If you can ignore the difference in the overall atmosphere of this game, playing with Hotsuma is very satisfying, and in my opinion, way more fun than playing with Hibana. Especially when you defeat the final boss. Too bad Hotsuma doesn't have any cutscenes of his own. This is definitely one game that Sega needs to bring to the next-gen systems. The game mechanics are top notch, they just need to tweak a few things to make the game seem less repetetive. 
