What new ideas the game brings to the table and how well old ideas are presented.
How good a game looks, taking into account any flaws such as bad collision or pop-up.
Does the game’s music and sound effects get you involved or do they make you resolve to always play with the volume down?
Basically, the controller to human interface. The less you think aout the hunk of plastic in your hands, the beter the playability.
Flat out, just how fun the game is to play. The most important factor in rating a game.
Back in 1993, controversial arcade fighter Mortal Kombat released on home consoles. The SNES version replaced the gore with sweat, but was graphically superior to the bloody Sega Genesis port. Guess which one everybody liked? Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is the SNES version in this case, replacing spraying blood with blue smoke while adding co-op play, streamlining the gameplay, and introducing new chapters and characters. With all these great advances, why did Tecmo give bloodthirsty gamers an excuse to blow off this edition? It’s still rated M, so what’s really gained out of this decision?
While the dried pools of blood may disappoint some, Sigma 2 features many gameplay improvements. The bow and arrow has unlimited ammo so you no longer have to collect arrows, plus the streamlined controls make shooting way more appealing. It’s nice not having to track down keys to open locked doors, and there’s a nice path indicator you can bring up if you get lost. While it stinks that you’re blocked from maxing your weapons completely until late in the game, at least you don’t have to spend orbs on them anymore (you just choose one per level).
Rachel, Momiji, and Ayane’s new chapters are a fun diversion from Ryu’s quest and offer a chance to experiment with different play styles and alternate bosses. It is slightly lame, however, that these environments are mostly backward versions of Ryu’s stages. The co-op mode is a large collection of plotless arena missions featuring waves of enemies and various boss compilations. Be sure to beat the main game before you delve into this mode or you won’t have any weapons or bonus characters. Unfortunately, team play is online only; otherwise you’re stuck with an AI bot.
Sigma 2 is a longer, more action-packed edition of Ninja Gaiden II, and if you’ve never played the original you won’t notice the missing gore.
While the first Sigma featured a drastic graphical improvement thanks to the console generation jump, Sigma 2 doesn’t have the same immediately noticeable upgrade. Because it’s not jumping generations, the changes are less about visuals and more about subtle improvements to the controls and inventory system. The method of aiming your projectile weapons is vastly improved, and the new characters and enemies add variety to the campaign. The decision to tone the gore down is confusing considering that the visceral kill animations were one of the most striking aspects of the original. Violence alone can’t make a game good, but there are certain series that just don’t feel right when it’s taken down a notch (see MK vs DC). The notoriously spastic camera is still a hassle, and the story is as incoherent as ever, but Sigma 2 improves upon enough of the original to be worth checking out.