Great action and a deep, well thought out combat system marks Ninja Giaden Black as the epitomy of Greatness on the XBOX
With this release, Team Ninja has seamlessly interwoven the content from the Hurricane Packs, added an immense amount of re-playability, a new difficulty setting capable of testing even the best of Ninjas, a second new difficulty allowing those new to the game to enjoy it, and finally little tweaks and adjustments to the overall game play and battle mechanics.
What is amazing about this release is the amount of content that is crammed into the game. Whereas, in most games, changing the difficulty simply meant increasing/decreasing the "accuracy" of the various enemies, Team Ninja has rearranged items, added new encounters (with new enemies), and changed the weapons layout that Ryu can attain. All this provides a fresh new experience every time a different difficulty is attained. Finally, when bored with story mode, players can try the all new Missions Mode consisting of 50 tough, varied, and fun missions testing your skill as a Ninja Master.
The gameplay is top-notch, featuring plenty of weapons ranging from the average Katana to the huge War Hammer, to Incendiary Shruikens. Added to all the fun is also a magic system featuring four varying and destructive magic attacks. What Team Ninja has achieved is a fine balance between all the weapons and all of Ryu's abilities. Furthermore, enemy AI is formidable, but never becomes cheap, as if enticing the player to continue and experiment with new methods and combinations in hopes of defeating them.
The graphics and sound are spectacular, with every swipe, kick, throw, and explosion looking every bit as painful as it should. The game holds up on the XBOX at a very steady frame rate (although it does run into problems on the XBOX 360) and loads very quickly.
Team Ninja has achieved perfection with Ninja Gaiden Black. Every aspect is beautiful, fun, and incredibly well though out. For the naysayers, I recommend reading the Advanced Combat FAQ on GameFAQs to see just how deep the combat system of Ninja Gaiden Black is. This game was a pleasure to play, and I feel humbled that I was able to have such entertainment and fun out of this release! An absolute must have for any XBOX collection.