Ninja Gaiden - Episode II: The Dark Sword of Chaos (1990 Video Game) User Reviews

Ryu's path is a bit easier this time, but still incredibly challenging

[Aaron1375 · 7/10 · 11 May 2012]

This game is a followup to the fun, super fast game for the NES. It is a lot easier to find here at IMDb considering the first one is a bit harder to find thanks to there being a couple of versions of the same game. One for the arcade and the NES version. This one is a bit better than the first game, mainly because it is a bit easier to get through. Still really hard, but the stages are much easier to navigate and there is not a level as insanely difficult as the final stage in the first game. I say the music was better in the first game and this one's story is kind of more of the same. Still, the graphics are good for an NES game and it is satisfying to win this challenging game and you will pull less of your hair out accomplishing this feat!

The story has Ryu the target of a mysterious man named Ashtar. Much like Jaquio of the first game, this person has many minions ready to defeat the dragon ninja. Irene is captured nearly right away, but a stranger named Robert appears to assist our hero. The game once again relies upon cinematic sequences to advance the story. The game play is nearly identical to the first game with the only real addition being a power up that creates shadows of Ryu. These shadows are not, however, a small addition as they are used to fight and conquer some of the more difficult bosses in the game.

So this game is basically the same as the first...the story has a few twists and turns and the game play for the most part is still insanely difficult! There would be one more game to the original trilogy on the NES and I have not yet played it, but my guess is that it is basically the same thing as it will be a fast paced side scroller that is difficult to win. Especially, since that one features limited continues. This game and the first were hard enough with unlimited continues, I cannot imagine how difficult the third one must be! This one though is the easier of the two I have played and from what I have heard the easiest of the three. This one though is still hard and what makes this series, probably the most difficult trilogy on the NES.

This Ninja Gaiden Sequel is easier to play with phantom clones except for the hard knock back.

[crosswalkx · 7/10 · 8 December 2019]

I have played this NES game Ninja Gaiden 2 on NES and I like it alot more, for starters the player can now climb any wall, they have new powers like the downward flame thrower. The player can collect scrolls that extends magic powers by 10 points and also the player can now get 2 phantom shadow ninjas which makes this game much easier to play than the first game.

I like the cutscenes in this game and I'm very impressed with the cutscenes but there's a scene where Jaquio's blood is shown which slipped past the Nintendo censorship at the time.

The first level starts off easy but the second level gets super hard with the wind blowing left and right. You then have swarms of enemies attacking you especially those annoying eagles and those enemies that constantly leap out at you. You'll want to have the upper or downward flame thrower magic spell, or windmill shrunken star. Or better yet use the fireball wheel barrier which makes it easier to get past enemies who constantly re-spawn.

Once again I do not like it when enemies knock back the player which I find very irritating and frustrating since your player can be knocked into a pit or enemies like the eagle re-spawning. Also you can't thrust your sword upwards which should've been included for flying enemies above the player.

I like that the player can have 2 shadow ninja phantom clones attack which makes boss fights so much easier especially the final boss fight which reduces the game challenge, it's too bad they were removed in Ninja Gaiden 3.

Overall this game is slightly easier and less torturous than Ninja Gaiden 1 with unlimited continues. But it's a little harder than Ninja Gaiden 3. You can replay this game but there are some frustrating spots in this game, not as bad as Ninja Gaiden 1 is. If it wasn't for the 2 Phantom Ninja clones I wouldn't recommend playing this game.

The level is on medium so players can still enjoy it without getting too frustrated. This isn't quite the best game that video game critics and Ninja Gaiden fans praise as there's some bad gameplay design with the enemy hard knock back and Ryu's sword is still like a knife weapon. But I did enjoy playing it.

This game is on Wii U Virtual Console which makes it even easier to play. So I would recommend getting this game with Ninja Gaiden 3 NES.

The most balanced game in the series

[LannaDrewzetich · 10/10 · 25 November 2007]

As I said before, this game is the most balanced of three. It's long, with a decent story that can even surprise you sometime, great sound and graphics.

The main character, Ryu Hayabusa, is a ninja warrior who is very agile and skilled in combat. After his father got killed in the first game, he met Irene Lew(He met her before, but only in the end you get to know her real name), who (guess what) disappeared, and Ryu has to rescue her(OK, sounds boring and predictable so far, right).

The story starts when Ashtar(the main bad guy)hears from one of his minions that Jaquio(the main bad guy from Ninja Gaiden)is dead. The intro leaves you a little bit confused, but don't worry, everything will be explained in the end. The game starts in an urban area next to the Railway station, where Ryu meets the first boss, and Robert T.S., a new friend who will help him throughout the game.

Gameplay: 99/100

This game has the best balance between length/difficulty. It's not as hard as the third, or the first game for that matters, but it still requires you to try hard in order to finish it. Ryu learned some cool new moves, and controlling him is much easier now, due to more comfortable control scheme. No other game in the series or wider can compete.

Graphics: 96/100

Well, you can't say that this game doesn't have terrific graphics(animated scrolling backgrounds are the most appealing, say snow, slime, or fire especially). I'm not saying that the graphics is not great, it is, just that the third game used all of NES-es potential, and looks even more better.The environment of the game is very rich, with all the colors matched to make the game very vivid and colourful, so good that you'll forget that Nes can show only 16 colors(this solved the problem from the first game that had really bad matched backgrounds). Cutscenes are superior compared to the ones in "Ninja Gaiden". There are much more sprites, and it all looks very smooth.

Sound & music: 95/100 Sound fits well in all of the environments, and the music really adjusts the atmosphere right(Say, in the castle level I really got the feeling that the wind is blowing through every window). Again, the third part is technically better. Sorry.

All in all 97/100. A game that appears only once in a lifetime, a true gem of its genre.