If you're in to Ninja games, this is the best you can get! Unless you aren't bothered to die up to 100 times to win this
Story:
The game begins with a video about the dar dragon blade, a mythical blade which has hardly anything to the story till about two thrids of the way through. Ryu Hayabusa who you play as runs to his burning home village after he ( you) slaughter some ninja bastards and start a friendship with Murai, a nunchuck weilding bad ass. You go out on revenge to kill the guy who did it, making friends and enemies along the way.
Gameplay:
The gameplay is slick and smooth as the controls as near instant except when you are in a long combo. Decapataion is possible and nothing is better than knocking two or more heads off in one blow. The camera sucks but can be controlled slightly and the bow controls suck as well. Most of the game is action but there are platforming bits as well such as running up a wall to strike down a powerful blow or running along several walls in one go to reach some areas.
Graphics:
The graphics are amazing even though it's an old game. The water effects are brilliant and so are the blood splatters and heads rolling on the ground.
The FMV cutscenes have even more life like graphics and are a blast to watch. One note of warning, Sigma has better graphics.
Difficulty:
This is one of the hardest games of all time. Even normal is fricking hard but for the ultimate challenge try master ninja which is unlocked by finishing the game on Normal, Hard and Very hard in that order. There is an easy mode but it is only unlocked by dying three times in a row on chapter one. You will have to wear multi coloured ribbons for the rest of the game though.
Content:
The game has a **** load of content which they squeezed on to one DVD5 disc. After story mode there is mission mode which offers you another 3 - 4 hours of gaming. There is a movie thearter where you can watch every cutscene in the game.
Sound:
The game has a very good sound to it. The sound effects of the sword slashes, all the enemies around groaning in pain and some quite good voice acting. Plus you can play the game with Japanese Seiyuus instead of English voice actors.
Overall this is a fantastic game not to be missed no matter how hard it can be.