Ninja Gaiden Sigma (PS3)

The old NES Ninja Gaiden games might be little known in Europe (where they were called Shadow Warriors) but on the Xbox the series found itself a whole new generation of fans with its stunning graphics and intense combat. This is a remake of the Xbox game Ninja Gaiden Black - itself a re-release of the original game with extra content. It's essentially a third person fighter not too dissimilar to Devil May Cry, although the combat is more technical than Capcom's freeform style, with every enemy putting up a considerable fight. Indeed without significant amounts of practise the game seems almost remorselessly difficult, even on the disparagingly named "ninja dog" mode.

The major addition in terms of content here is a new player character called Rachel, who trades the graceful combat of ninja Ryu Hayabusa for a gigantic hammer. In the end though the most import changes to the game are the apparently endless series of small refinements to each stage, with almost every element of a level tweaked, from different power-ups to new bosses, enemies and even weapons. Naturally the graphics have also been improved and despite the Xbox origins this is one of the best looking games on the PS3.

Despite the difficulty this features some of the most graceful combat seen in any game, against a surreal array of different backdrops and enemies. Once you start to master the controls, and realise that almost every attack can be blocked or dodged relatively easily, the whole experience becomes almost balletic.
Harrison Dent