The first Ninja Gaiden Sigma was an excellent upgrade to one of the best action games ever created. Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 suffers from two problems, the first being that Ninja Gaiden 2 was a lesser game than the original. The second problem is that the additions just don't improve upon the original experience in any significant way. The playable women are pretty, but their missions are short. The multiplayer is a great idea, but ultimately not conducive to Ninja Gaiden's style of combat. And lastly, for a game that is based completely around brutal violence and life or death confrontation, removing the blood was a bad idea.

Closing Comments
Minor complaints aside, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is an immensely satisfying action game. If you enjoy a good challenge it offers plenty of content to keep you happy. Beating the game will take a few days, but mastering the escalating difficulty levels could take weeks, or in my case, many months of enjoyable practice.

Rating	Description
out of 10	click here for ratings guide
8.0	Presentation The storyline is nonsense but that’s secondary to the beauty of the overall package.
8.0	Graphics It’s a shame the occasional screen tearing interrupts this otherwise excellent visual display.
8.0	Sound The music is appropriately dramatic but fades to the background against the screams of dying ninjas and the clash of swords.
8.5	Gameplay Some bosses are repetitive and fighting the camera can be painful, but you won’t find many action games that stand up to Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 in terms of overall quality.
8.5	Lasting Appeal This is a meaty adventure, and one that is worth repeating.
8.4 Impressive	OVERALL (out of 10 / not an average)

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/102/1027436p1.html

For comparison, the 360 version got an 8.7: http://xbox360.ign.com/objects/686/686645.html

It scored under a 9!? *GASP* not getting it, i only buy games that score 9's and above from video game websites because there opinions are the god hand of all! /lulz

OT: really though neat score, sounds worth it, but the screen tearing thing is really iffy if it happens alot...

so the sigma 2 was an improvement, not significant but an improvement, so they deduct .3 of the score because it has less blood

I've never noticed screen tearing in games. Is it that obvious? (if so...Im blind!)

i ll try the demo but i really wanted to play Dante inferno or bayonetta this year as my hack and slash fix for this year.

they both got delayed :(.

I don't understand how the 360 version received 9 in graphics and PS3 version 8.

what did the 360 version get?

8.4 is not bad at all.

oh and they must be blind.cause they gave a higher score to X360 version in graphics.

or it might be uncharted 2 effect.No game looks impressive after they reviewed uncharted 2.

Was this reviewed by a different person than the original NGII review?

If so, that explains the difference in score.

EDIT: Yes they were. NGII was reviewed by Erik Brudvig. And NGSII was reviewed by David Clayman.

Different times, different standards. NG2 looked awesome back then; now, not so much when you compare it to Uncharted 2 and among others. The PS3 version suffers from screen tearing.