I have to completely disagree with you. Ninja Gaiden 1 is quite a fantastic game. It's actually better than any game in the other series besides perhaps DMC 1, which I would give points for being innovative for the time.

Ninja Gaiden 2 is, imho, far better than DMC 2 and 4, however, it is slightly worse than DMC 3 and 1.

Certainly there is no doubt that NG1 destroys all of those games, and NG2 does move the series forward in many ways, creating a better fighting system than the first game.

The stories are all throw-away in these games(except GoW which actually depends on the story to make up for shoddy gameplay), and the NG fighting system, while not as flashy as DMC4, is much deeper and more intricate, and therefore funner for the hardcore player to master.

Basically, it comes down to this. If your good at DMC4, big whoop. You can blow through that game even on the surprisingly easy DMD mode, in a few hours, and it really takes very little skill or even effort once you figure the game out.

Beating NG2 on even the easiest difficutly level is quite a feat, and that's a huge step in the right direction for fans of this genre of game.

Visitors to the genre would certainly probably prefer the much more user-friendly DMC4 or GoW2, however. If you're old school, though, and actually want to play these games for years to come, there is no doubt whatsoever that Ninja Gaiden 2 is the superior game for you, and you would be remiss to even play those other games because their casual user-friendly nature will leave you feeling empty or disgust you entirely.

However, DMJ, even on a casual, userfriend level, I still think NG2 is a little better than DMC4 and much better than God of Puzzle 2, which from time to time, literally bored me to tears. I'm a grown man. I don't cry easily. At the point when I was moving corpses on conveyer belts so I could kick a freakin stone platform in water simply to jump across it, I could have puked. GoW isn't even the same genre of game as far as I'm concerned. It's like comparing Metroid Prime to Halo. It's a puzzle game with a great story, and some clunky fighting and minigames in it. All you have to do is see Kratos double jump to realize that, lol.

Anyway, you're entitled to your opinion, but you should know that the hardcore underground fans of the genre certainly reflect my sentiments in this post.

They don't none too much like God of War, either, lol. I personally think that it's the most over-rated series in the history of gaming.

Also, did you ever play the first Ninja Gaiden, because I can see how daunting and unappealing the series could seem if you started part 2 with no knowledge of the first game and the treasures and rewards the game has to offer at higher level play?

Well I haven't gotten that far yet. I've only done the first two ToV's, but I think the toughest ToV that I faced was the first one, simply because I had no idea what a ToV was and I was surprised at enemies just constantly coming at me. The second one I got through once I started using my jump + attack with the dragon sword.

I didn't notice there were camera adjustment options in the menu, either. I've been doing alright with the standard camera though. ;-p

I never played the original Xbox NG/NG Black (as I never had an Xbox 1), so this is my first chance getting a crack at the new NG games (I played the old NES NG games). I was looking to pick up a used copy of Black, but I couldn't find it for a reasonable price and by the time I decided to just get the Xbox Original download of Black, NG2 was going to come out. Maybe once I finish 2 I'll dl the XBO Black :)

To respond to the OP.

My top 5 most under-rated games this gen are:

1. Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

2. The Darkness

3. Gun, Xbox 360 version

4. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney series of games

5. Ninja Gaiden 2

Honerable Mention: Folklore, Eternal Sonata

As you can see, even very under-rated games like Lost Odyssey(which lost points in most reviews due to the review builds load times) didn't even make honerable mention, but Ninja Gaiden 2 made the actual list. Coming from me, that's really saying something.

I echo this statement completely. The DMC games I enjoyed even though the combat felt a little more shallow to me compared to NG1&2.  They seem more about offense and style then anything else but the combat is still fun and never got stale.  GOW on the other hand had combat that felt like a button mash-a-thon and annoying puzzles to boot.  The story however is quite strong and the boss battles were awesome.  If you prefer a strong story with shallower gameplay then I think you would enjoy the series over others such as NG and to a lesser extent DMC.

I will unpack my copy on Weekend... need to finish Rainbow SIX first

I agree with the OP. I love this game. I don't want to bore anyone with why....it's already been said by everyone else. It's just a terrific title and definitely the best thing I've ever bought for my 360.

I had trouble with the camera until about half way through the first level. After that I felt like I got used to it and it hasn't been an issue since. I do use the right trigger option, but it's not often that I feel the need to. Only in really tight spots.

As far as frustration, yes, it's a hard game. But I like the combat in this game so much that I usually don't mind getting sent back to my last save. The fights are so bad ass that I love doing them again, and it gives me more practice on mastering my techniques with each weapon.

So anyway, yes. I agree, this is an amazing game.

OK, after playing this game for a little while longer I have to comment a bit more on this game vs its predecessor.

1- The biggest noticeable improvement is in the music, and I don't remember seeing any reviewers mentioning this. While the previous game had ambient music, this game has a much more interesting soundtrack, which makes you feel more involved in the action. It totally pumps you up. Someone created a thread about this, and now I see why. It's a pity that game music isn't as valued as it used to be, fortunately there are still some games which deliver in this area.

2- The number of enemies in each fight has also increased greatly... This alone should make the CPU/GPU sweat much more (especially with the improved AI), which makes any technical comparisons with Ninja Gaiden Sigma pretty much worthless.

3- The fighting system has also been perfected (from what felt like an almost perfect system in the previous game).

All in all, this is a definite improvement for the series... It's not revolutionary, but I don't expect a revolution when I buy a sequel to a good title (especially on series which are already far above others in the genre). For me, it delivers so far :)

NJ5, what chapter are you on?

Because regarding your second point, in chapter 10 there's a moment where I honestly thought my 360 was going to RRoD. The game really struggles when going up a set of long stairs while fighting what seems to be 250 ninjas. Although it might be a good thing (and maybe even intentional? doubtful.) because the slowdown gives you a bit of an advantage. I don't think it'd be possible to get through that fight with the frame rate not dropping.

And, yes, the soundtrack is better than in the previous games. Most reviews I saw didn't highly rate the game's sound, but that was probably due to the pathetic English voice-overs. Word to the wise: play the game with the Japanese audio w/subtitles. A far better experience.

I loved the Demo, im buiying this game after i beat MGS4 im in Act 4 so i'll probably be getting NG2 over the weekend