Includes Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 and Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge

The three core titles in the trilogy are here…sort of. The Master Collection includes the Sigma versions of Ninja Gaiden 1 and 2 along with Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge, which itself is an enhanced version of the third game. While this may not seem like a huge deal, Ninja Gaiden Sigma changes levels, bosses, puzzles and so on along with adding more save points and vendors. Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, on the other hand, reduces the number of enemies (and raises the health of those remaining) and removes Karma Scoring in the Story Mode and Tests of Valor. It also heavily tones down the violence. As for Razor’s Edge, it actually looked to improve on several issues with its predecessor, adding new weapons, the Karma Counter and an upgrade menu among other things.

Long story short, the Master Collection doesn’t offer the original versions of the classics, which are often cited as being the rest. The reason, as per Team Ninja’s Fumihiko Yasuda to Famitsu, is that the original code for Ninja Gaiden Black and Ninja Gaiden 2 couldn’t be salvaged.

Stories and Settings

The story in each title remains more or less the same as their base versions. Ninja Gaiden Sigma sees Ryu Hayabusa seeking revenge for the raid on his village by Doku, who also stole the Dark Dragon Blade. Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 has Ryu working with Sonia, a CIA agent, in order to stop Elizebet, the queen of the Greater Fiends, after Hayabusa Village’s Demon Statue is stolen.

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge takes a slightly different approach. Ryu works with the Japanese Self-Defense Force to battle a terrorist group but is subsequently cursed by their leader, the Regent of the Mask. With the Dragon Sword now part of his arm and slowly killing him, Ryu must stop the Regent and his plans to annihilate the world.

Combat

Ninja Gaiden at its core is a difficult, fast-paced hack and slash series of games. Unlike other similar titles at the time, you couldn’t cancel out of attacks. However, Ryu had a number of different techniques and weapons at his disposal, from wall-running to flying slashes and spinning piledrivers. Along with swords, he could utilize staves, heavy weapons, shuriken, arrows, Ninpo and Ultimate Techniques for annihilating foes. Blocking and evading are key but so is moving and reacting fast. Of course, it’s also worth noting that in terms of exploration and puzzle-solving, Ninja Gaiden Sigma is a fairly big step back from the original and Ninja Gaiden Black.

Ninja Gaiden 2 introduced limb severing, which could weaken but not outright kill some foes – Obliteration Techniques were thus necessary to finish them off. Several new weapons have been added along with lasting damage which provides some manner of healing after each battle. Ultimate Techniques also return and are charged by absorbing essence. Along with toning down the gore, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 tweaks the controls slightly, adjusts some weapons and adds new ones. As noted before, enemies are fewer but have more health to compensate.

Ninja Gaiden 3 made several controversial changes to the series’ formula. Ryu now only has one Ninpo spell in single-player; items have been mostly removed; and his Ultimate Techniques have been replaced by the Grip of Murder which is charged by slaying enemies. He can also throw kunai onto and climb up certain walls. Razor’s Edge speeds up this mechanic while also adding new weapons, more aggressive foes; limb severing and Obliteration Techniques; less quick time events; and much more. In short, it’s more like the previous games (which is a good thing).

Hero Mode

Added in Ninja Gaiden 3 and brought over to the first two games with Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus and Sigma 2 Plus, Hero Mode makes the game easier. When enabled in the first game, it triggers when a player’s health falls low with automatically guarding and evasion active. Unlimited Ninpo is also available, allowing the player to turn the tides. In the second game and third games, it’s more about blocking and evading automatically, making the games easier to get through.

Multiple Playable Characters

Each of the Ninja Gaiden titles included in the Master Collection features additional playable characters. Ninja Gaiden Sigma had Rachel with three new chapters and new bosses to tackle. Rachel also had her own chapter in Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 while Ayane and Momiji were added, each with their own unique chapters. All three guest characters returned in Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge with Kasumi also added to the mix. Each could be played in Chapter Challenge and Ninja Trials while Ayane received her own two story chapters.

Ninja Race and Tag Missions in Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2

Introduced in Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus, Ninja Race is about clearing a map as quickly as possible. Attacking enemies and creating a “chain” will increase one’s attack, allowing for faster clear, while items could also increase speed and grant additional time. Tag Missions are also available, letting you choose from Ryu and one of three other characters – Ayane, Rachel or Momoji – to complete a mission with the ability to switch between them. Aside from Ryu, all three guest characters can also be used in Ninja Race.

Ninja Trials and Tests of Valor in Ninja Gaiden 3

Ninja Trials in Ninja Gaiden 3 offer challenges to beat a set number of enemies and are grouped into different difficulties, Acolyte being the easiest and Ultimate Ninja being the toughest. Earning Karma will unlock subsequent trials for play. Then there are Tests of Valor where players must locate Crystal Skulls hidden in each chapter that lead to tough challenges with powerful foes.

Includes All DLC

The Master Collection includes all of the DLC released for each title, which ranges from new costumes for Ryu, Ayane, Rachel, Kasumi and Momiji to new hair-styles. You’ll also experience new battle scenarios, surviving against as many enemies as possible, in Ninja Gaiden Sigma’s Speed Master, Weapons Master and Rachel Master DLC.

No Online Multiplayer

Not everything has made the jump over though. Turbo Mode from Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus isn’t here and players can’t engage in online play for Tag Missions in Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 or for Ninja Trials and Clan Battles in Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge. In an interview with GamingBolt, Team Ninja’s Fumihiko Yasuda said that implementing the exact same multiplayer systems would “require a great deal of time and money” along with placing “limitations on the platforms we could release it on. And given that dilemma we decided to increase the number of platforms we would release the collection on in order to reach as many players as possible rather than pursue the multiplayer feature.”

Runs at 4K/60 FPS on PS4 Pro, PS5, Xbox One X, Xbox Series X/S and PC

Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection will run in 4K resolution at 60 frames per second on PS4 Pro, Xbox One X, Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC. PC performance ultimately depends on one’s hardware. Switch players will have to be satisfied with 720p resolution on both docked and undocked modes at 60 FPS. While there may be fluctuations during gameplay, the focus is on a stable frame rate.

No PS5, Xbox Series X/S Enhancements

Unfortunately, Xbox Series X/S and PS5 players won’t be seeing any enhancements – the Master Collection is playable through backwards compatibility and won’t have any specific features for any of those consoles. Yasuda confirmed this while speaking to GamingBolt and even dashed hopes for a proper current-gen version. Doing so “would actually require a complete remake. We did consider it, but we also wanted to get the games into the hands of players sooner than later. Also, if we had the time and resources for a remake we felt it would be a better served opportunity to create a new game, so that’s why we decided to go with this collection at this time.”

No 120 FPS or Keyboard/Mouse Support on PC

PC players should also note that there won’t be any options for 120 FPS or ultrawide monitor support. Yasuda confirmed to PC Gamer that the Master Collection will run at 1080p/60 FPS for standard systems and 4K/60 FPS with the appropriate hardware and display. It also can’t be played with a keyboard and mouse – you need a controller for the PC version.

Deluxe Edition Details

In terms of Deluxe Edition content, there isn’t much beyond the ordinary. Along with the Master Collection, purchasers receive a digital art book and soundtrack with still images and music from across the series. On the flip side, it’s $44.99 compared to the Standard Edition’s $39.99 so why not?

Total Playtime

Playtime for games like Ninja Gaiden can be difficult to gauge. HowLongToBeat.com notes that Ninja Gaiden Sigma 1 and 2 will require 14 hours and 12 hours to complete respectively if you’re just focusing on the story. Meanwhile, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge only requires 7 hours. A completionist run for all titles would amount to about 120 hours of gameplay in total. However, playing on the standard difficulty for the Sigma titles can drive that up quite a bit (depending on one’s skill, of course). Even attempting to complete the toughest challenges in Razor’s Edge should keep you busy for a while. Either way, if you can get into its gameplay, then the Master Collection has plenty to offer.

And while we saw games like Uncharted, ModNation Racers, Assassin’s Creed, and Call of Duty falter in the transition to Sony’s handheld, Sigma Plus made it through mostly unscathed. Sure, there were a few cutbacks, and of course there were a few compromises, but of course there would be some, it was a launch game, and the developers first time with the hardware.

So of course, Sigma Plus had a few drawbacks, but on the whole it was a great port of a great game, now available in full on the go. It was hoped that the inevitable Sigma 2 Plus would fix the few glaring flaws of Sigma Plus, and deliver the quintessential action game experience on the PS Vita.

With Sigma 2 Plus, that has unfortunately not happened. The flaws that plagued the original Sigma Plus are all here, and sometimes they are even more noticeable. Having said that, however, it does not change the fact that Sigma 2 Plus remains one of the most ambitious PS Vita games, one of the most thrilling and amazing ones, and flat out one of the most recommendable ones, simply because of how good the core game is.

For those not in the know, Sigma 2 Plus is the port of the PS3 port of the Xbox 360 original Ninja Gaiden 2. The sequel to the celebrated Xbox original was criticized for not living up to the impossible expectations set by Itagaki’s masterpiece, but was nonetheless an appreciated addition to the series.

Sigma 2 Plus, like the original game on which it is based, takes place a year after the first Ninja Gaiden game, and it involves Ryu Hayabusa, the series protagonist, looking into an attack by a mysterious rival ninja clan. The story is long and harrowing, but ultimately pointless. It serves as an excuse to take you from one locale to the next, fighting one wave of enemies to the next.

That fighting is thrilling in how precise, clinically lethal, and technically complex it is. The battle system of the original game has been preserved here with all of its nuances, and more importantly, the blood and the gore that define the series (and made the Xbox 360 version of the game much more superior to the PS3 port) are all here too.

Of course, it is worth noting the combat, good as it is, has not aged all that well, and there are times when what were initially lauded as some great enhancements now stand out as poor design decisions. Oftentimes, the game can feel outright cheap, especially because of its own inconsistency; the same move will have a different effect different times, and the enemies themselves seem to be relentless in their swarming to the point where it just feels like bad game design as opposed to real challenge.

The combat issues are exacerbated by the other issues the original game had, and which Sigma 2 Plus retains, such as a bad camera, some really poor and confining level design, overpowered moves from Ryu that can often clear off the entire screen at once, and so on. Add to all of these the issues that are specific to the Vita version- to get the game running on the hardware, the framerate has been cut from 60 FPS to 30 FPS, and it doesn’t even hold steady at that, often dipping to dangerously unplayable sub 20 FPS levels; the number of enemies on screen seem to be reduced, there are more jaggies everywhere, bad textures, more flickering and even what felt like pop ins- and you see that there are issues galore with Sigma 2 Plus, possibly more than the original Sigma Plus.

And yet you find yourself returning to it repeatedly. If you want to show your Vita off to friends, this is the game you use. If you want to recommend a good, deep game to your friend on the Vita, this is the game you recommend. That is because, in spite of all the issues that plague this game, both in general, and the ones that are specific to the Vita game, the strength of the core game is so good that it shines through. Like Metal Gear Solid 3D: Snake Eater, the 3DS port of the PS2 game that suffered from similar issues, the integrity of the core game design is what shines through here.

Ultimately, that’s the reason you should get Sigma 2 Plus. While there are issues, loads of them, the game itself is great to play; while it’s a pity that what could have been the definitive version of a good game has been so held back by so many unnecessary issues, the game itself is among the best on the platform right now. Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus is a cautionary tale against too much ambition, but in the end, it is that same ambition that makes this title stand out.

This game was reviewed on the Playstation Vita.

I don’t really have much to complain about here. It displays in a nice 1080p resolution, the characters look really good with nicely detailed modeled with overall pretty good textures. The enemy design is kinda lame. Not that they look bad(other than the werewolves, they look pretty horrible), but they just look incredibly generic. Boring demons, boring dogs, boring ninjas with guns… I don’t know, the cast of enemies wasn’t interesting to look at. The environments look okay too, nicely detailed, but I found they were really bland. Overall though, the game looks really good.

The sound is okay. Normal sword slash sounds, normal shuriken sounds, normal explosion sounds. Nothing really special here. It sounds good, but not great. The voice acting is the low point of the sounds though. In cutscenes, the voice actors couldn’t sound and LESS involved with their characters. Their voices are bland and emotionless. It doesn’t help that the script sucks either. Can I be totally honest here? I have no idea what’s going on. Maybe it’s because I didn’t read the text between chapters, but the cutscenes are a big jumble of nonsense and random. I know there’s something about an Archfiend coming back to the world because of some girl trying to summon him back or something, and Ryu going around beating up Greater Fiends and… That’s seriously all I can make of it. The dialogue is crappy, the writing is subpar and it just makes no sense. Nor is it trying to I think… The characters are boring as well, and the bad voice acting doesn’t help at all. I could really not get into the story here… if there is one…

The basic gameplay hasn’t changed since the first Ninja Gaiden (the new series). The fighting is the most important part in the game. You can do normal slashes, stronger slashes, throw shuriken, aim and shoot other long-range weapons, and, using a combination of normal and strong attacks, you can do different combos. For defensive measures, you can jump, block and do short dashes. Adding attacks to jumps while pressing different directions can do different attacks as well. Pressing Circle and Triangle at the same time will use 1 Ki and the currently equipped spell will launch. Some require you to target in front of you, others will attack all around you. There’s a bunch of different spells you can use, each with different effects, and there’s quite a few weapons you can use, which have different uses and combos, so you can play different styles using different weapons.

Ninja Gaiden on the PlayStation 3 returns with a new cast…

An interesting aspect is the upgrading. By visiting stores, sometimes you’ll be given to option of upgrading on weapon, and eventually you’ll be able to upgrade them a second time to master them. Upgrading them can make them more powerful, and sometimes gives you new combos. Magic also has an upgrading element. By finding certain jewels, you can level up any of your spells, up to level 3. Leveling them makes them stronger, but can also change the way they work.

The platforming is also pretty good. It’s simplistic, but it works nicely. The jump button can make you swing around poles, (of course) jump, wall run, jump from wall to wall to higher areas… It’s not the best 3D platforming ever, but it’s at least functionnal, and a BIT less linear than some other 3D platforming. The controls are a bit too loose sometimes, but overall they work well. I guess I could mention the 3 extra playable characters, but they play just like Ryu with different weapons and a unique spell each. They pretty much add nothing to the game play.

and some old faces…

I have 1 complaint here: the overall difficulty of the game. Frankly, this is the easiest Ninja Gaiden game yet. Normal enemies are really weak except when they’re in a group. The stronger versions are a bit too tough for nothing, but the big problem is that killing enemies is really easy. Randomly slashing at groupds of enemies is the best way to go, since they can be dismembered. What does that do? Well, technically it makes them more annoying, but it gives you a chance to instantly kill them with one hit. Landing a strong attack on a dismembered enemy goes in a scripted kill animation. It always works and you’re invincible during that animation. That makes normal battles really easy.

There’s a huge abundance of healing weapons as well. You can just make sure to use items at the right time and you can pretty much never die. You can find tons of items in the stages, and using essence, which you get from killing enemies, you can buy more in stores. And this time there’s no need to buy ammo for weapons and such, so you can use all your money for healing items. You’ll never die, really. Maybe in the higher difficulty levels where the enemies will do more damage and have more health, but in normal mode you pretty much can’t die.

The enemies are another problem. Instead of being tough or challenging, they’re annoying. The only way they might kill you is if the game uses the crappy camera system to hide enemies with rocket launchers from you. That’s just stupid, of course, and impossible to avoid. And the game just throws horde after horde of enemies in hopes of defeating you. It replaces actual challenge with annoyance, which is never a good thing. And they’re relentless, but to the point where they’re not even fun to fight. They’re never hard though, just really annoying.

and with the same old classic action!

The bosses are also really disappointing. Knowing when to avoid their attacks is really easy, and of course the number of healing items you have at all times makes it near impossible to die. The fights I did like was against the really big enemies. They felt really epic and were actually quite fun. What annoyed me is that about 1 tenth of the life bar is fully used for the final hit you’ll inflict on the boss, which will go into an animation for the kill. It actually feels like they added a QTE at the end of each boss fight, but they forgot to actually add the button presses to those segments. It’s a pretty good game, but it’s really easy in comparison to any revious Ninja Gaiden game. The “one-hit kill” mechanic is just stupid, the abundance of healing items make you near impossible to kill, and the fact that you’re constantly getting healing in some way just makes it that much more impossible to die. Even bosses are a walk in the park with their super-easy patterns… or the fact that you can just button-mash and use healing items against most of them…

I don’t know exactly what the changes are, but I know a few. 3 new playable characters, each with a chapter in the story mode. This can give some value for people who have already played the first game. The other highly publicized feature was boob kiggling…. and it sucks a lot. It’s imprecise and… well… completely stupid. The overall gameplay is fun enough, the fighting system, while not one that REALLY interests me, is quite good and requires good skill to play properly. Not much more to say here. Great game, especially if you were a fan of the previous game (any of the million versions of it).

Many Thanks to our friends at thesaveppoints.com for this great review and especially to the author: Jobocan

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 3.