Ninja Gaiden II Review: Swan Song or Death Knell?

Last month when I spoke with Tomonobu Itagaki in San Francisco he told me that Ninja Gaiden II represented the culmination, the absolute height of the franchise and because of this he would no longer be making any more Ninja Gaiden games. Ninja Gaiden has always been about perfection of timing, on some level the art of the sword, this is no more evident than in this latest game.

But is Ninja Gaiden II really the franchise’s swan song or is Itagaki’s decision to ditch Team Ninja and sue Tecmo over unpaid bonuses the real reason he won’t be making any more of the titles?