Ninja Gaiden

Intruder is a Class A ninja!

HIGH Pulling off the dual-sword finishing combo that turns your opponent into the second-best thing since sliced bread.

LOW Stupid, pointless fetch-quests.

WTF Big-boobed sidekick gets her own helicopter and a bazooka, while I get little throwing stars and arrows.

Ninja Gaiden has become some strange sort of initiation rite for self-proclaimed hardcore gamers. "You don't like it? You're simply not good at it!" seems to be the tagline. While that might be true in some cases, it's also a very annoying rhetorical trick to turn every criticism of the game into a proof of the reviewers assumed wimpness.

Of all the hideous monsters and hellspawn that haunt Tecmo's third-person action game Ninja Gaiden—mace-weilding zombies, giant fire-breathing worms, faceless samurai—nothing frightened me more than demon hunter Rachel's ridiculously oversized breasts. No kidding. When I first encountered them—they're seriously the size of small Third World countries—I let out a ninja-like cry—something like "Aiieeeee!"—then braced myself (left trigger! left trigger!) for their attack.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Blood and Gore, Violence

Game Description: Ninja Gaiden—the classic 2D action series has returned with bleeding-edge graphics, intense fighting action and thrilling gameplay! You take on the role of Ryu Hayabusa, a young ninja who survives the massacre of his family. The Vigor Empire is responsible for their deaths, and he'll use his ninja skills to make them pay. Experience even more combat action as you go online for multiplayer ninja battles. Also includes the 3 original NES Ninja Gaiden games.