One of the most beautiful games ever made. Also a great action game, and very challenging.
User Rating: 9.5 | Ninja Gaiden XBOX
Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox contains a spectacular mix of great action gameplay and breathtaking visuals, with some replay value to boot. Team Ninja really did a great job crafting this game, and their effor really shows. Attacking, blocking, and just controlling Ryu works like a charm, and you really start to feel like a ninja once you start to feel in tune with the gameplay. You can perform wall-runs, use nunchucks, throw shirukens, use magic...anything you'd want to do if you were a ninja, you can do here. The game feels very arcadey, which is a good thing. You can utilize combos to rack up "Karma Points" (your score which determines your ranking at the end of the level), and whenever you kill an enemy it yields "essence," an orb that varies in size and type which either gives you currency, life, or magic power, all of which are useful. The story is interesting, but nothing really to write home about. Your main mission is to reclaim a legendary sword that was stolen from your home village, and kill the one who took it. The story becomes more complex than that, but it is easy to play through the game without paying any attention to the storyline. At the end of each stage is a boss, and most of them are pretty challenging. Each has a different attack style, and they usually have some sort of strategy you need to use in order to take them down. If you are a "real ninja," you will be able to defeat them, but Ninja Gaiden is very difficult nonetheless. Of course, there are some secrets in the game. If you collect enough Golden Scarabs (small golden bugs that you can trade in at the store), you can unlock the original Ninja Gaiden, and eventually Ninja Gaiden 2. This game is tough, but extremely addictive. You really do feel like a ninja when you get immersed. There's plenty to do, many enemies to slay, and lots of unlockables to be had. If you own an Xbox, Ninja Gaiden is a must. 
