The nostalgic yet timeless high-speed action unfolds once more, on current day hardware. Ryu Hyabusa is back to slash, hack and dismember his way through ninjas, demons, and people with guns.

The Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection brings both Sigma and Sigma 2 as well as Razor’s Edge to current platforms for a whole new generation of play to experience, and for veterans to experience again. There is a glaring problem with this; in that these are not remasters, or remakes, but more so direct ports to modern consoles.

Admittedly, I went into these games with some nostalgia for the Sigma games, remembering them to be difficult but fun. Janky but good. Something horrifyingly apparent in playing Ninja Gaiden: Sigma is that these games have almost definitely been taken in their original form and moved across to modern consoles, without much thought put into some quality-of-life improvements.

The first Sigma game is abysmal to play. The camera control is janky, the visuals seem so far outdated that I was questioning whether this was the game I remembered playing on the PlayStation 3 over 15 years ago. Perhaps the way of the time, the first game of the Sigma collection is obnoxiously dated. Whilst the story has aged semi-decently, the gameplay itself is atrociously unbearable.

With the Master Collection, this game needed a new coat of paint. It needed some love, and quality of life updates. This is not far-fetched in asking, with so many other games getting ported and re-loved and touched with a new definitive edition, updating graphics, gameplay and giving these games some quality-of-life adjustments to ensure that they are worth playing in this modern day. This may be more problematic on the Switch, where the direct camera controls are not the most acute.

Thankfully, this gripe only rings true for the first game. I was dreading picking up Ninja Gaiden: Sigma 2 after having such an abysmal first few hours with the first game. I was afraid I’d be slugging through 3 incredibly outdated games that felt as clunky as they looked. I was quickly washed over with relief. Sigma 2 plays flawlessly. The combat feels flawless, it looks visually impressive and plays exactly as I remember it. Like a difficult action hack n’ slash should. Zipping around the screen, cutting limbs off enemies, watching as blood gushes from their wounds. Perhaps in that this game feeling so good, in a seemingly untouched manner led to the decision to just directly port the games with all their DLC and artwork, rather than remastering them. It’s hard to make an argument against this, when experiencing Ninja Gaiden: Sigma 2 which plays flawlessly and would hold its own against modern day juggernauts.

The contrast here, is that it shows how horrendously outdated the first game is, and really suggests that you just skip over the first game to play Sigma 2 instead. Impressively, playing this on the Switch feels like the correct way to be playing. Taking the game with you for a long car trip, or a long transport commute to work, you’ll easily lose yourself in the almost techno neon world of Sigma 2 and be reminded how good Ninja Gaiden is. Even more impressively, this extends to the 3rd game in the collection, Razor’s Edge.

Ninja Gaiden: Razor’s Edge is the penultimate version of Ninja Gaiden 3; improving even slightly over the original release of Razor’s Edge which fulfilled all the things missing in the original Ninja Gaiden 3. Easily the most action-packed and gripping story of the collection, this game alone makes the Master Collection a must-buy for any fan of the series, or of Team Ninja games in general. The game starts of quick and fast and gives you that heart pounding intensity right off the bat.

Despite Ninja Gaiden: Sigma being a bit of a dud in this collection, Sigma 2 and Razor’s Edge make up for that completely. If there was any reason for you to consider picking up this collection, it would most definitely be those two games. Sigma 2 and Razor’s Edge play flawlessly on modern platforms, whilst still being somewhat visually dated. The sound design and world design still holds up to today. The gameplay in the latter two games of the collection perfectly embodies what makes action Hack n’ Slash games an exciting challenge that is fun to pick up, crack away at for a few hours, and then get on with the day. The story is thrilling in both of them and keeps encapsulated in the weird topsy turvy world of Ninja Gaiden.

Dodging rockets whilst carving people up with a whole array of weapons previously not seen in Western releases, or outside of DLC breathes even more life and replayability in these games. The internal scoring system of the games keeps the content fresh and always gives you something more to strive towards. Can you beat your previous clear times? Can you kill things even more efficiently and take less damage doing so? The games themselves are fun. They keep on giving and there is always more to do, a way to get better. It’s unfortunate that the first game of the collection is outshined by the other two so heavily, but it holds its niche and defends it valiantly. Despite it being so dated and janky, there is a certain pride that also comes with being able to play the game efficiently.

The Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection could have done with some quality-of-life improvements, but the decision to remain true to the original design of the games is also not a bad one. Sigma 2 and Razor’s Edge have aged beautifully and should reignite a fire in players for a return to this punishing but rewarding series. In a world always looking for the next Dark Souls or Nioh, Ninja Gaiden holds its place and throne. It is worth giving the first game a go and discovering for yourself if you can get past the outdated gameplay, but there is nothing wrong with picking this collection up purely for Sigma 2 and Razor’s Edge. Whilst not a perfect port, the games hold up today, and make the Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection the definitive version to pick up to experience these games.