Nightshade

It’s got flashy combat, an undeniably well-designed lead character, and a lot of ninja action. It’s just that the further you go, the less fun the game becomes, so you’d do better to rent this one.

Challenging opponents, extended "tate" combos, and difficulty settings for any skill level make for extensive replay value and plenty to like in Nightshade.

I still believe that there'll be a faction of pansy gamers, weaned on infinite continues, save points and GameSharks, that bitch and moan about how hard the game is and fail to appreciate it as a result. That's lame, really, because even if Nightshade doesn't do enough to fix everything that was wrong with Shinobi, it's still easily one of the top action titles on PS2.

Improves on "Shinobi" in every respect, resulting in a fast-paced, pure action game with a fresh feel to its gameplay that's unique in a genre lacking in new ideas. [Apr 2004, p.32]

The control scheme is sublimely genius, letting you perform midair attacks and dash around foes with poetic ease. The manual camera is still a bit too loose, though, and leaping and running against walls isn’t as reliable as you’d like it to be.

Those who like their games nice and easy shouldn't bother with Nightshade. As for the rest of us, we can heartily appreciate it for its monumental challenge and tight, responsive controls.

This game may not be on par with its predecessor, but it has done a fabulous job of becoming a far more accessible game to a number of different types of gamers, be they newcomers or seasoned veterans.

With an improved control scheme and fluid action, the game fixes the problems plaguing the first title. Unfortunately, the action is broken up by unnecessary and frustrating platform challenges forced upon by linear level design.

This leaves Nightshade’s appeal divided pretty evenly between those who will play at it, improve, and get better, and those who will quickly dismiss it as too hard. For those who stick with it to get high ratings in the stages, there’s a lot of value.

It does decrease the barrier of entry enough that the average gamer has a better shot at enjoying it. Combine that with superior level design and attractive graphics and my preference for it over "Shinobi" is obvious. It's still chock full of frustration and teeth-gnashing.

Somewhere between Shinobi 1.5 and a full-fledged Shinobi sequel. Nightshade has all of the Shinobi gameplay elements you grew to love two years ago. It also has new moves, a better camera targeting system (better meaning improved – it's still not perfect, and will likely drive you nuts from time to time), and more enemies to kill than you could ever desire.