Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos NES

Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos is Tecmo’s 1990 sequel, continuing directly from the first game’s story with Ryu Hayabusa investigating his father’s death and a cursed sword capable of resurrecting an ancient demon. It keeps the original’s wall-jumping, sub-weapon system, and elaborate cinema-style story cutscenes between stages, expanding the cast with a new ally character, Irene Lew.

It’s frequently regarded by longtime fans as a refinement of the original rather than a departure — tighter enemy placement, expanded moveset options, and continued heavy use of the story-cutscene format the first game had pioneered for the platforming genre. Like its predecessor, it retained a reputation for steep difficulty, particularly around enemy respawn patterns during platforming sections.