Ninja Gaiden 2 Playthrough Part 1/5: From City Slicker to Arachnophobia to Pitch Black

Guess what this title have in common with each other.

After many attempts at trial and error, I finally bring to you my playthrough of Ninja Gaiden 2: The Dark Sword of Chaos. The game takes place a year after the events of the first Ninja Gaiden as Ashtar, the new leader of the forces of darkness, plot to devour the world in evil by use of the very evil and dangerous weapon known as the Sword of Chaos. However, this plot requires the "assistance" of the last Ninja Dragon, Ryu Hayabusa. To make matters worse, Ashtar has also kidnapped Irene Lew, Ryu's "good friend", for purposes that are yet unknown. Thus, it is up to Ryu alongside his new [non-playable] partner, Robert T. Sturgeon to get to the bottom of this new dark plot as well as find out about the mystery surrounding the dark Sword of Chaos before it's too late.

Ninja Gaiden 2 is the next entry in the NES Ninja Gaiden trilogy and is considered to be the best of the three games by many. Every aspect of the game is great from its level design to its music and plot, and most of all, its difficulty which has been toned down enough not to be as brutally hard as the first game, but still tough enough to test the most skilled platform player.

This game will be played in its entirety without the use of any tools as it is done via emulator as per the usual. There will also be no commentary throughout this playthrough. That may come in Ninja Gaiden 3. As such, I will be giving my stage notes as I progress through the game. However, I will be doing annotations to make up for having no commentary. So let's see how this goes. Enjoy.

Part 1 of the Ninja Gaiden 2 playthrough contains Acts 1 and 2 in full in addition to Act 3-1.

Stage Notes:
-Act 1-1: Your basic stage to get used to your moves and a few ninja arts. This game also introduces the Ninja Body Double ninja art as it is essential to make the experience of the game smoother. It has the ability to mimic all of your movements and attacks, including ninja arts which can be very useful in dealing with multiple enemies, getting items or enemies that are out of reach, and more. For the most part, the enemies are basic. Just be wary of the Spider Wights that attack from above and the Dark Ninja that attack from below. The Art of the Fire Wheel is suggested for this stage.

-Act 1-2: Dando the Cursed is first boss of the game. He your basic slow-moving, heavy-hitting type of boss that can be evaded easily. Be aware that he can move quickly to the other side of the room after a while, so get your hits in and get to the nearest wall and repeat the assault. He'll fall quickly.

-Act 2-1: It's a mad dash to the train engine as swarms of enemies attack from all sides... including those infamous birds of Ninja Gaiden fame (called "Harpy" in this game). At least they take one unit of energy and not three like the first game, but they can still be highly annoying to deal with so take them out quickly. Aside from a few Dark Ninja and some Jacksons (the running enemies) it is fairly straight-forward, literally. The Fire Dragon Balls (new weapon that shoots a fireball at a downward angle) and the Invincible Fire Wheel is suggested for this stage.

-Act 2-2: This stage can be very treacherous if you don't recognize the wind patterns in this mountainous area as the winds can do some very interesting things blowing you forwards and backwards. Falling into pitfalls can be easy to do because of that, and purposely placed enemies don't help much either. This stage introduces those particular scroll items that boost your Ninja Power meter by ten so that you can use your arts more frequently. Use the winds to your advantage (especially at that long gap you have to jump across near the end of the stage) and destroy or avoid all enemies to get to the boss. Fire Dragon Ball and Art of the Fire Wheel is suggested.

-Act 2-3: Baron Spider is the next boss as he mostly throws spiders at you from above. However, the wind will still be a major factor. He will continue to attack until you climb to the top where he will take to low ground to avoid your attack. That is the best time to attack, but be careful of the wind and don't hit him at any cost as the wind may increase the knockback that you will fall to the side and die. It is best to come with the Art of the Fire Wheel for a ground to air assault.

-Act 3-1: As you make your approach to the Tower of Lahja, you must first run through it's courtyard... in total darkness! However, the area is lightning-heavy and will occasionally flash giving just enough light to make pathways visible. Falling into pits is a certainty if you're reckless especially as there are tricky jumping areas in this stage, so if you need to, take a moment to collect yourself, then continue forward. Continue on going by all enemies until you reach the tower's entrance. The Fire Dragon Ball is suggested.

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• Ninja
• Gaiden
• Dark
• Sword
• of
• Chaos
• Tecmo
• Ryu
• Hayabusa
• Robert
• Irene
• Lew
• Nintendo
• NES
• emulator
• playthrough
• LordVucious

[Lycanthrokeith]

Protip (sorry, couldn't resist): If you pause on level 3-1, the storm continues, and you don't have to burn the clock waiting for the next lightning flash.

[LordVucious]

@Lycanthrokeith Don't worry about it. To be honest, I already knew that. I just forgot to add that to the stage notes at the time and didn't think about adding that fact when I remembered deciding to leave it as is.

[shinobixa2]

Thanks for doing this playthrough of ninja gaiden 2. Are you going to do one for ninja gaiden 3?

[LordVucious]

But of course. Couldn't complete the trilogy without it .

[thegameplaygamer]

@LordVucious your good at this game lordvucious keep it u man

[Nukemon]

dude nice skills i went back and played one and two like a year or two ago and was able to beat them but not as well as u lol

[ViolentRose9]

the music to this game is so catchy amn i love it. specially the monutain level :)

[Hellstinger]

"Wa waaa My name is 'Betty' " LOL

[Drewisgreat1]

wow, you pwned it lol