I?ll start this review out by stating that I really enjoyed Ninja Gaiden 2 on Xbox 360 and the PS3 port dubbed Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. They were both a lot of fun, and I actually liked a lot of the changes made when Team Ninja carried the sequel over to the PS3. The additional bosses were pretty fun, outside of the somewhat lame statue fights, and the visual differences were appreciated, along with the elimination of that annoying projectile spam that plagued the 360 game. So assuming that you?re in the same boat as me, why wouldn?t you look forward to a portable version of that release?
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus for the PS Vita certainly tries to give you one major reason. With the game being out in the wild for a week now, you?ve probably heard about the framerate issues, which are absolutely the worst thing about this particular port. There are aspects that I enjoy, and it?s a hefty amount of game to pack into a portable format, but for a game that does require a decent amount of precision and timing, the framerate problems evident just 15 minutes into the game ruin a lot of the appeal.
You?ll hit your first framerate wall when you face off against the very first fireball projectile ninja in the opening stage. If you?re playing on the Acolyte difficulty level labeled as normal, you won?t see a significant hit but you?ll definitely notice the slowdown. Acolyte as a whole doesn?t suffer nearly as much when it comes to the framerate issues, but considering that a lot of folks interested in picking this title up are probably somewhat experienced with the Ninja Gaiden series, Acolyte isn?t going to present much of a challenge. But when you try to ratchet the difficulty up, you?ll really start to see that framerate drop, at times resembling the equivalent of a slideshow made from still images.
And while I?ve ranted about the framerate issues found here for about 450 words or so, I do want to mention that I?m usually not that up in arms when a game fails to maintain its framerate at the cost of on-screen action. I don?t know if it?s because I grew up with the NES, where slowdown was almost a feature you could slap on the back of a box, but I?m usually pretty forgiving. What makes it such a difficult pill to swallow with NG Sigma 2 Plus is that Ninja Gaiden really requires some very specific inputs to be followed during combat in order to excel at the game.
If you?re willing to get past this flaw then you?ll be happy to see that the majority of the original Sigma 2 does seem to be intact. Outside of the story mode you have access to a handful of alternate modes, including the returning Challenge mode that counts Karma points when running through campaign stages. There?s also a tag mode that teams you up with an AI controlled partner as you run through areas and shoot for a high score by chaining together kills. This mode would have been a little more fun if they could have implemented some sort of online play, considering your AI partner isn?t that good. You can swap between both characters at will in order to pick up the slack, but it isn?t much of a substitute.
Other content, like the additional characters of Ayane, Rachel and Momiji are still present and playable, along with some Vita specific costumes for everyone. The added weapons from Sigma 2 make their way over as well, and one featured removed from the original Sigma 2, blood, returns here. Limbs still disappear when they hit the ground, but considering the framerate problems this game already has, that?s for the best.
As much as I’ve ranted about the framerate in this review, it’s also worth stating that the previous titles on consoles weren’t always steady in that department. But for whatever reason Sigma 2 Plus seems to really suffer here, making this a tough sell for me. I’d say that if you really love the game, and aren’t too particular about the framerate, then this is worth picking up. And for those of you new to the game, or series even, looking for something new to play on the Vita, you could definitely do worse. But I can’t help but harbor some disappointment in the overall product, and sincerely hope that Tecmo and Team Ninja can potentially patch this mess up.
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