Videogames journalism… sometimes, it really can be the best damn job in the world. But then a huge game like Ninja Gaiden Sigma comes along and totally screws with your Chi. It’s the reason you can’t sleep easy for nights on end. It just messes with you, keeping you awake when you should really be asleep. Your eyes deserve to be closed tight, your resting mind dreaming of times passed or times that will never, ever, come to fruition, because you’re just not as handsome as you think you are and Eliza Dushku would never want to sleep with you so get over it and join a gym. You aren’t being kept awake because it’s an awful game – far from it. You’re counting sheep that now range in six figures because this is just one hell of a tough cookie to review.

On the one hand, we have a PS3 exclusive – something you just won’t find anywhere else but Sony’s console. On the other, it’s actually the second remake of said exclusive, despite its first appearance on a Sony platform. And then, in the middle of both arguments, there exists one of the greatest modern action games ever created, and one that still packs a punch three years after its original release on Xbox. So do we evaluate Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden Sigma as an original release, given that the franchise is marking its next-generation debut on the PlayStation 3? How about the fact it isn’t actually a remake of the original Ninja Gaiden, but Ninja Gaiden Black? More importantly, what additions have been made to the game, and do they make it worth picking up for those that played both on the Xbox?

Generally speaking, did the industry really need yet another remake of the same bloody game, or have numerous awards and plaudits given Tecmo even bigger ball bags than before? Does the developer really think it can just churn out yearly updates of its amazing action adventure and we won’t mind? And, most important of all, where the hell is our proper, fully-fledged sequel to Gaiden anyway? It’s been three years and all we have to show for it is silence from the developer and these two remakes. But we digress; you now see the reason we’ve been having sleepless nights, and several factors we truly must consider when it comes to criticising and evaluating Ninja Gaiden Sigma. You may also notice the aforementioned problems give birth to another important element that is worth considering: if the original Ninja Gaiden on Xbox was so gosh darn amazing, then returning to replay it as we do with all our favourite games – but with the added benefit of new features and next-gen gloss, surely means Ninja Gaiden Sigma is the best version ever conceived?

So the life of a games journalist is not all shits and giggles. Sometimes, we actually have to knuckle down and use our heads a bit. With that in mind, we think it’s safe to establish right from the off that if you haven’t played any of the previous incarnations of Ninja Gaiden, Sigma is the absolute best version to start with. You really have no excuse not to pick this up on your PS3, and if you read this and still decide not to purchase it then we hate you to hell. With Ninja Gaiden, you’re looking at one of the greatest action games ever created, irrespective of version, and if you want something to tide you over until Devil May Cry 4 and other big boys appear on the console, Sigma is it.

Graphically, it may look more like the prettiest Xbox game you’ve ever seen, rather than a proper PS3 title, but the visuals do an adequate enough job of supporting the action. And, let’s be honest here, kids, this game could look like an absolute stinker but it wouldn’t matter one iota when the gameplay is this stellar. The visuals are secondary to the action. That’s the way it works. You should also drop all hope of a decent narrative too. Sigma’s story is little different to the one seen previously… which is our way of saying it’s still just a massive pile of guff. It’s unfortunate that, in light of games like Devil May Cry 3, which know they’re spinning rubbish tales and therefore choose to have as much fun with them as possible, Ninja Gaiden Sigma remains as pofaced as ever. It tells of the fabled Dark Dragon Blade, an ancient sword that has been sealed away and protected by the Hayabusa clan for generations. When the sword is naturally stolen by evil wicked folk, Ryu Hayabusa needs to recover it with the help of Rachel, a lady with massive breasts whose sister is now an evil fiend that deserves a good killing.

Absolute tosh, but it’s told surprisingly well with a number of in-game cut-scenes showing Tecmo’s adeptness at telling cinematic tales. All that gets in the way is the general quality of the story itself, Rachel’s fairly gargantuan cleavage and some rubbish FMV scenes here and there. But look, as bad as that all sounds, it’s actually part of Ninja Gaiden’s batshit crazy charm. This is not a game that takes itself seriously, and Tecmo would be the first to admit it. All the story serves is its purpose of nose-ringing the player from one location to another – all of which are diverse enough to keep players interested. But much like the plot, there’s little consistency to those locations. Ninja Gaiden Sigma begins in what appears to be the beautiful mountainous regions of Feudal Japan, just before Ryu abruptly swaps his purple pyjamas for some leather duds. Quicker than you can say, “What the fu-“, Ryu is hitching a ride on a massive airship soaring high above a city at night, with several dozen soldiers onboard – all of which are wielding futuristic guns and laser swords. From there, Ryu hits the streets of an architecturally rich town that wouldn’t look out of place in one of Miyazaki’s animes. There’s a cathedral, the catacombs beneath it, and a brief stint in what appears to be an ancient Egyptian pyramid.

We won’t spoil any further locations, but suffice it to say; you should have an idea of how nuts this game is by now. The only other title in recent memory with a story, characters and locations rivalling the disparity and sheer lunacy of Sigma was Clover’s wonderful and ballsy God Hand. Again, a game that has no aspirations of being anything other than complete arse in its story department – and yet, it made for an intriguing, entertaining and amusing plot in the end… something Tecmo should pursue in future with this franchise.

Sigma has a sense of gleeful abandon when it comes to consistency, and that extends to the kind of enemies and boss characters you’ll be fighting too. Every enemy type has a different attack scheme, and part of the game’s fun comes in learning the attack patterns of your foes before letting rip with the way of the ninja yourself. Like all games of this ilk, you begin with close-to-no power and the worst weapon in the whole adventure. But as you progress through it you acquire bigger, better powers and more awesome tools to boot. You can level up your power and weapons by collecting certain items, as well as the golden matter left behind by fallen enemies. Though Ryu changes his attack scheme exclusively per weapon, and some enemies do call for different weapons to be used, you’ll find yourself warming to certain tools more than others. We were particular fans of the awesome Lunar – a long, double-ended spear that unleashes devastating 360 degree attacks and makes us look far cooler than we actually are sometimes.

The action and combat in Ninja Gaiden Sigma is the real heart of the experience, and it’s still strong three years after its original release. There’s a level of fluidity to it that may seem rudimentary at first. But stick to it, and you’ll find it’s one hell of a complex beast. The game isn’t quite entry-level material, either. In fact, the previous remake, Black, came with an Easy mode because people found Ninja Gaiden so bloody hard. Sigma sits somewhere in between the two, though it’s still manages to stretch your patience to its very limit every now and then. That’s never a product of the combat, however, more the truly awkward camera – itself a reaction to the troublesome fixed perspectives in the original Ninja Gaiden – and some preposterously terrible platform bits.

These serve to highlight our fundamental problem with Sigma, and the reason we didn’t give it a score in the 90s: despite the new gameplay stuff, it still suffers from several problems left over from the original game – problems that weren’t even amended in Black. The camera is one and the platform bits are another. But several other gameplay-specific features, such as how Ryu ultimately has little way of interacting with the world, denigrate the experience quite drastically. But as we mentioned earlier, if you had the chance to return to one of your favourite previous-gen games, but with next-gen graphics and several new gameplay additions to boot, surely you would opt for the latter.

On the basis of Sigma, and the fact that it’s essentially an old horse but with new tricks, we certainly would. Irrespective of platform and which version you have or want to play, Ninja Gaiden is an absolute classic and Sigma is the reinvention of that. Perhaps now we’ll sleep easier… like a ninja.

Craig Gilmore