Something's missing...
It plays the same as the original with the addition of extra weapons and the dismembered limbs feature on enemies when they are attacked, which is great; it adds some level of realism to the gameplay.
Although the camera issues haven't been fixed, that's actually not my main complaint (I actually didn't think much could've been done to the camera system without changing the core gameplay, so I didn't really see that as a fault).
Now to my point... No matter how absurd the story was in first Ninja Gaiden as it is in this installment, that didn't matter. What really captivated me from playing the original game were the cutscenes-the CG animation in the original were some of the best put forth at the time, on any platform. They were so gorgeous, they sucked you into the story and made you need to play the game. Remember the second round Alma boss fight when she crashes through the church window, glass shatters everywhere, and it starts to slow motion-it feels like the whole world slows down with that one scene. It's art in motion and you don't get that same level of awe from the second of the series. I was expecting the cutscenes in Ninja Gaiden II to better (if not on par?) than most games today-it's not-and in my opinion, that's where it failed to meet expectations.