Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2
Read more about Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Game Guide
By Bryan Dawson
The wait is finally over! PlayStation 3 owners are heading to stores to pick up the latest from Tecmo; what’s the final verdict? Well, it’s certainly different from the original Ninja Gaiden II, but that’s not a bad thing.
When I was working on the Ninja Gaiden II guide, I tried to make sure that everything I would want to know as I progressed through the game was included in the guide. This meant everything from maps of the stages to details on how to defend against every enemy and the best way to take them out. The locations of all 30 Crystal Skulls were also a must, but I found that the boss battles were where I could really get detailed when explaining exactly how to conquer each boss.
In Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 there’s a different focus. The new Team Ninja has removed a lot of the excessive difficulty found in the story mode. It can still be challenging on the harder difficulty levels, but the strategy this time around comes in the form of using the ideal weapon for every situation and maximizing your combat effectiveness. This goes as far as to monitor your Yellow Essence (currency) in order to ensure you have enough items to make it through each battle. Throughout the guide , we use icons to flag all the available items so you know where each item is coming up and when you can use ninpo. You won’t have to wonder if you’ll run out of Ki before you get to the boss because you’ll know when Red Essence or Devil’s Way Mushroom items are coming up.
The boss battle strategies are still included, as well as all of the other things that people enjoyed about the Ninja Gaiden II guide, but I was able to fine-tune the strategies to near perfection. There were enough changes between Ninja Gaiden II and Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 to make this guide very different from the original Ninja Gaiden II guide.
I would like to discuss the Team Missions a little bit though. For the most part, the weapons and general strategies found in the guide can be used throughout the Team Mission mode. In addition, there are tips for the harder missions to make sure you know the path to victory. However, there are no tips that can improve the skill of your AI partner, so I highly recommend playing with a friend online. The missions can get extremely difficult if you’re limited to only the AI partner, but I know many Ninja Gaiden fans strive for that difficulty. In that case, go at it alone because you’ll get the challenge you were craving.
I was seven when the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series first aired. I’ve probably seen every episode, and for a time I could sing the theme song in my sleep. Eleven years later, Super Smash Bros. would hit the Nintendo 64 and I’d log in over 200 hours in less than a month on the Japanese import. Now, ten years later, the two have merged into the upcoming Nintendo Wii title, TMNT Smash Up. You can imagine my joy when I discovered that Smash Up would be my next project.
