Finally...

User Rating: 8.5 | Ninja Gaiden Black XBOX
Gamespot was right. I did not appreciate the condescencion... but I can finally play the game the way it was meant to be played - all the way through without having to repeat the same areas 50 times. You know, some of us out there in gamerland just don't have the capability to be super-gamer ninjas. Sorry to let you down Tecmo. There are a vast majority of people that play games not to accomplish something, or hone their skills, but rather just to simply have a good time. And before 'black' you were closing an entire market due to your elitism. Well, I will say that I'm impressed - the game does look extremely good compared to other games on the XBox - it really harnesses the XBox's capabilities well, although now that the next-gen systems are coming out these graphics good as they are are starting to show their age. The sound is alright,... the learning curve has been dropped from 20 hours down to about 30 minutes thanks to the "Ninja Dog" mode that you have to unlock. They even ask you three times if you want that mode, then Tecmo even shows some disapproval in your decision. Pathetic. Anyways, if you always wanted to test it out - it's worth $29.99