The world is in danger: the Black Spider Ninja Clan (with the help of a demon) wants to conquer the world. The player again plays the part of Ryu Hayabusa who not only wants to take revenge for his own clan but also tries to keep the Black Spider Ninja Clan from doing what they plan to do.
In Sigma 2 he's accompanied by Rachel, Momiji, and Ayane, the new characters for the Playstation 3 porting.
After Genshin, leader of the Black Spider Ninja Clan stole an artefact from Ryu's town, the latter's travel all around the world begins. You come across places that look very much like places in reality, even though most of them have different names (besides Tokyo and Mount Fuji).

In 2008 the Game has been first released for the Xbox 360 under the title "Ninja Gaiden II". Every Xbox360 version worldwide contains the uncensored version. However, in 2009 an extended PS3 re-release hit the scene. The PS3-Version is titled "Ninja Gaiden: Sigma 2". Like with its predecessor, the PS3 has been censored. But this time, the censorship regards every single PS3 version, even the US version.


A brief overview of the alterations in Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2:

• The degree of violence was toned down
  
• The prologue is given in form of a comic (which is shown while you install the game)
  
• Texts and subtitles were altered
  
• Enemies were placed at different spots
  
• New enemies
  
• New (mini) bosses
  
• Weapons were placed differenty
  
• New weapons
  
• Weapon-upgrades are no longer connected to orbs
  
• Techniques were placed differently
  
• 3 new chapters (plus new cutscenes)
  
• 3 new playable characters (Momiji, Rachel, and Ayane)
  
• Several levels/sections were altered
  
• There are no more keys (doors are just open)
  
• The game is slightly less difficult
  
• The cameramovement was improved (only slightly, though)
  
• Slighlty better graphics
  
• Co-op mode (both online and offline; can also be played with an NPC)
  
• Video with InGame-scenes (follows if you don't do anything for a while during the startup screen)
  
• supports SixAxis (breasts react to the controller movement)

Which version is the better one?
(Personal opinion)

You could argue endlessly about which version is the better one. Can gamers even accept a censored version?
Actually - yes, I do think so. In my opinion, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 for the PlayStation 3 actually even is the better version. Even though the violence was toned down, the PS3 version includes quite a few good and useful extensions/additions (see the list).
Especially the new bosses and chapters fit in nicely with the game. I can do without extreme usage of pixelated blood if the gameplay itself gets better. During the fights you actually don't even (negatively) notice the lower amount of blood. Only during the cutscenes you actually notice that the PS3 version misses out on a few details. If this actually is an annoying factor or not is up to you.



This is a comparison between Ninja Gaiden 2 (Xbox 360) and Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 (PlayStation 3).

Comment about this comparison::
This comparison only focuses on the altered degree of violence in Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. The differences in terms of content won't be mentioned in greater detail.

Altered Violence

Blood
The amount of blood was drastically reduced for the PS3 version. While in the original Xbox 360 version there was tons of pixelated blood that colored the surroundings, the lifeblood only moderately splatters around.
This concerns both the red (e.g. Ninjas) as well as the green (e.g. Demons) blood.

Note:
- Not all types of enemies will be mentioned here
- Blood textures on walls and the floor are not illustrated separately since you can already see it quite well on the following images
- Image 4 shows the animation when Ryu wipes the blood of his blades. In Sigma 2 the amount of blood was reduced during this animation.

Ninja Gaiden 2	Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2

Splatter Effects
The splatter effects were also reduced for the PS3 version. Notice that I only say REDUCED, not deleted, because in Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 you're still able to cut arms/heads/etc. off. However, there no longer comes out an immense amount of blood as it is the case in the Xbox 360 version. In Sigma 2 you instead see a sort of “energy beam” coming out of the wounds.
(Fittingly to the demon's green blood they also colored their energy beam green.)
Also, the body parts do not stay on the ground in the PS3 version.

Note:
- Not all types of enemies will be mentioned here
- In both versions, the enemies dissolve into little orbs
- The bugs explode bloody and uncensored – even in the PS3 version

Ninja Gaiden 2	Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2

Indication of Hits
The indication of hits was colored blue in the PS3 version. In the Xbox version, hits are displayed by a red lettering.

Ninja Gaiden 2	Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2

Game Over Screen
The game over screen was colored blue for Sigma 2.

Ninja Gaiden 2	Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2

Note:
- The complete menu of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 was colored blue!


Cutscenes
The lower degree of violence is also apparent in the cutscens. Here, almost all the blood effects (despite very few exceptions) were deleted. Dissected enemies are only included in the 360 version.

Note:
- Since Sigma 2 offers 3 new chapters, the chapters are no longer according to each other from chapter 5 onwarsd.
- The images only refer to those scenes where Sigma 2 was censored.

Intro Sequence
Right from the start you will find some differences between the 2 versions. All the blood was deleted for the PS3 versions and the credits are only shown in the 360 version.

Ninja Gaiden 2	Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2

Chapter 3 - Starting Sequence
The starting sequence of chapter 3 misses out on a few bloody details:
The blood that comes out of the wound when Ryu hits the dragon with the arrow, as well as the arrow itself (when the dragon falls to the ground) were edited out. Additionally, Ryu no longer decapitates the dragon in Sigma 2.

Ninja Gaiden 2	Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2

Chapter 3 - Cutscene
Before you fight a demon for the first time, you get a little cutscene-introduction to those types of enemies. In the PS3 version, this cutscene lacks all the blood.

Ninja Gaiden 2	Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2

Chapter 5 - Starting Sequence
Chapter 6 - Starting Sequence (Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2)
The pretty bloody sequence of chapter 5 is rather harmless in the PS3 version. Volf and his werewolf-henchmen kill the water city residents without spilling any blood and the werewolf which originally was split in half by Ryu now only falls to the ground.

Ninja Gaiden 2	Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2

Chapter 6 - Ending Sequence
Chapter 7 – Ending Sequence (Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2)
After the last fight against Volf you have to defend yourself against some more werewolfs for a while. If you survived this attack wave, the ending sequence of this chapter starts. Again, all the blood/splatter was edited out of the PS3 version.

Ninja Gaiden 2	Ninja Gaiden Stigma 2

Chapter 8 - Cutscene
Chapter 10 - Cutscene (Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2)
If you want to be exact, this is not really a censorship. During the second battle against Goliath, only the Xbox 360 version has some more enemies (ninjas). Since these additional enemies were edited out of Sigma 2 (easier boss battle) there are no ninja's Ryu could split in half.

Ninja Gaiden 2	Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2

Chapter 10 - Ending Sequence
Chapter 13 - Ending Sequence (Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2)
In Sigma 2, Elizabeth “loses” her wing without a blood effect.

Ninja Gaiden 2	Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2

Chapter 11 - Cutscene
Chapter 14 - Cutscene (Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2)
During the last third of chapter 11 you see this cutscene. After Ryu fought several ninjas off, the sequence starts in a similar way as in chapter 6.
Ryu is surrounded by several ninjas and gets ready to fight. Just in this moment he gets some help by Muramasa who kills the enemies (with a lot of blood effects). In Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 all the blood/splatter is gone.

Ninja Gaiden 2	Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2

Chapter 14 - Cutscene
Chapter 17 - Cutscene (Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2)
While the blood was only reduced in the game, it was completely edited out of the animation this time.
After the final battle against Genshi, Ryu wipes the blood of his blade. In the original version, there's a bloodstain on the floor which was completely taken out of Sigma 2.

Ninja Gaiden 2	Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2

Chapter 14 - Cutscene
Chapter 17 - Cutscene (Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2)
At this point, the blood which you see after Dagra Dai was impaled was edited out.

Ninja Gaiden 2	Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2

Chapter 14 - Cutscene
Chapter 17 - Cutscene (Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2)
The blood on Ryu's arm was slightly reduced.
However, this was probably not done due to censorship but rather because of the alteration of the overall graphics of the game (both the InGame and cutscene graphics).

Ninja Gaiden 2	Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2

End Credits
Let's have a quick look at the end credits of Ninja Gaiden 2. This is quite different in both versions.
If these alterations have anything to censorship I can't really say for sure.

Ninja Gaiden 2	Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2

However, since there's a lot of blood splashing around one can assume that the alterations were done due to censorship. However, that's quite a sad thing, especially because the Xbox version's end credits look better than those in the PS3 version.
If you look closely in the 360 version you will also see a few scenes which were toned down for Sigma 2 (see last image).
The sequence which you see during Sigma 2's end credits was also included in the Xbox version – here you see it AFTER the end credits, even though it's a little shorter than in the PS3 version.


Note:
Is there a third part? After all, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 slightly hints at a sequel at the very end of the game.