Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos - Reception

Reception

Electronic Gaming Monthly previewed Ninja Gaiden II in late 1989 and early 1990. The game first appeared in its September–October 1989 issue and again in its November 1989 issue; they noted the new levels, power-ups, and an "explosive story that's loaded with twists and turns". In the magazine's January issue, Steve Harris praised the game for its new power-ups, scrolling backgrounds, and more detailed cinematic cutscenes. He said that the game was going to take the series "one step further than before". The game was shown to the public for the time at the Winter 1990 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, in which Nintendo Power gave "four star ratings for its great cinema scenes and challenge". The same magazine previewed the game in its "Pak Watch" section in their March–April 1990 issue. They said that at first look the game had better cutscenes than the first Ninja Gaiden game, and they noted the great and diverse gameplay and high level of challenge. After the game's release, it debuted at #4 on the magazine's "Top 30" list for September–October 1990. In March 1991, the game was nominated for the "Nintendo Power Awards '90" in the following categories: "Best Theme & Fun"; "Best Play Control"; "Best Hero" (Ryu Hayabusa); "Best Bad Guy" (Ashtar); and "Best Overall". It did not win any of those categories. Later, in its 100th issue in September 1997, Ninja Gaiden II was listed as the 49th best game of all time on its "100 Best Games of All Time" list. It was also listed as having one of the best 100 cheat codes of all time, which was pressing a series of buttons on the title screen to enable various sound tests. In a 1991 issue of Game Players in its list of Annual Awards, the game received the "Game Player's NES Excellence Award" as one of the best NES games of 1990.

Ninja Gaiden II was reviewed in the July 1990 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly and received very high ratings. Steve Harris said that the game improved on its predecessor's gameplay, graphics, and cinematic cutscenes; he praised the diverse level environments and the new abilities that Ryu has received, but he noted that some power-ups from the first Ninja Gaiden game were missing in this one. A reviewer under the pseudonym "Sushi-X" echoed Harris' praise but pointed about that some of the bosses in the first game were reused; he added afterwards that "it's still worth the price of admission". Ed Semrad called Ninja Gaiden II one of the best video game sequels to ever be released; he referred to the graphics, difficulty, gameplay, and storyline as "near-perfect", though he points out that the game does get very difficult in the latter levels. Martin Alessi called it one of the best NES games ever and one of the best video games of 1990. In the same issue, Ninja Gaiden II was featured on the front cover and was denoted as the "Game-of-the-Month". The game received further praise for taking the Ninja Gaiden series to new levels and featuring other surprises. They showed a partial walkthrough of the first Act and provided short tips for the second through fourth Acts. Near the end of the feature the staff pointed out rumors of a third installment to the series (which would eventually become Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom). At the end of the feature rock band Anthrax members Charlie Benante and Frank Bello were shown with Tecmo developer Jason Magness playing Ninja Gaiden II in a private showing.

Ninja Gaiden II was reviewed again in 2007 when the game was released for the Virtual Console and received some praise as well as criticism from reviewers. Austin Shau from GameSpot compared the game with the first Ninja Gaiden game as examples of "mean-spirited games" on the NES with high, unforgiving difficulty and excellent controls and gameplay. He applauds Tecmo's artistic detail in the cutscenes, saying that it enhances the storyline and offsets the tedious dialogue. He said that the visuals are better than those in the first game with the usage of "dynamic environments" such as speeding trains, and he praises the game's fast-paced sound. He and IGN's Lucas Thomas praised the improvement in the controls from its predecessor, more specifically Ryu's ability to freely climb up and down walls and use special weapons while on the walls. Thomas enjoyed the game's "chief innovation" of Ryu's ability to clone himself and use them to take care of enemies – something in which he says "make progressing through levels and taking down bosses much easier and quicker". Reviewers said that the game's difficulty remains high for players as with the previous Ninja Gaiden game. Shau noted that the game is still difficult as was its predecessor but said that the sequel is slightly easier. Thomas stated that the sequel is not any easier to beat than its predecessor and that players will still get frustrated, especially with new environmental features such as blowing wind and rain and absolute darkness in which flashes of lightning illuminates the platforms. Thomas' only criticism of the game was that the storyline was not as good as its predecessor, saying that the plot seemed more predictable and that the cutscenes seemed more generic the second time around. Overall, he noted the lasting appeal of the game, saying that Ninja Gaiden II is "a challenging experience the likes of which gamers in the 8-bit era lived and died for".