The best game to hit the PlayStation 3 so far is a spruced up version of a three-year-old Xbox title. That says a lot about the lack of quality titles available for Sony's black beauty so far, but it says even more about the groundbreaking quality of the original Ninja Gaiden, which is to my mind the only title that can hold a candle to God of War in the action stakes.

Ninja Gaiden is an epic-scale adventure with gorgeous graphics, endlessly varied but constantly beautiful scenery, a host of high intelligent and lethal enemies, and multiple bosses per level that put most end-of-game bosses to shame. Best of all though is Ryu Hayabasa, Tecmo's character from the Dead or Alive series who was given his very own spin-off game. Not only is Ryu hard as nails and armed with a stunning range of combination moves, but he's got access to over half a dozen varied weapons with which he slashes through hordes of fearsome foes with the grace of a ballerina and the style of Neo from The Matrix, the Prince of Persia and God of War's Kratos combined. Seriously, this is a guy who makes the Prince look like Chris Moyles in comparison!

For those of you who haven't already rushed off to buy Ninja Gaiden Sigma, the newly revamped version of the original with enhanced graphics and plenty of extra content, including a second playable character and dozens of uber-tough challenge levels to complete, I suppose I'd better go into more detail - although really you already know all you need to know to make the purchase. Ryu's quest begins in the gorgeous grounds of a traditional Japanese house, with picturesque views and blossom falling from the trees. Right from the very beginning, the ninjas you face are very tough - don't be surprised if you die a few times before the end of the level. When I reviewed the original Ninja Gaiden, the only thing that stopped me giving it a 10/10 was that its difficulty made it inaccessible to all but the hardcore gamers - and even they would need patience, dedication and all their skills to persevere (it's probably the toughest game I've ever completed). That's not an issue any more though, because every few times you die, you're given the option to abandon the way of the ninja, which reduces the difficulty level of the game and opens it up to regular gamers. Not that any self-respecting ninja would abandon their way, of course...

Anyway, Ryu battles his way through the house and the caverns below it, before coming face to face with a white-haired beast of a man whose arms are thicker than most people's legs. As he brandishes his nunchukas in a stunning display of skill, you know you're in for a battle - and it's still only the first level! It turns out that this man is actually your master, but you don't have long to discuss your success in this training mission, because a cute, pink-haired girl arrives bringing ill tidings. You make your way back out of the house and over to Hayabusa Village, which is in ruins, your comrades bodies lying slain on the ground. It's worth checking every corpse, as they always hold something useful, be it arrows, a health elixir, a devil way elixir for recharging your magic power, and more. You'll also find chests scattered around every level, some of which are very craftily hidden, like the one behind the waterfall in Chapter 2, and the harder they are to find, the better the prize. Over the course of the game your health bar will extend dramatically as you pick up gems to increase its limit, while your magical symbols will multiply, allowing you to cast more spells than you could before. New weapons are discovered too, along with a host of secondary weapons like exploding shuriken, smoke bombs, armour piercing arrows, the windmill shuriken (you need to search this out by the Tavern in the Vigoor Captial City, look for the blue and do some wall running to find it), and even a spear gun for when you're swimming underwater.

As you work your way through Hayabusa Village, beating back the guards that assault you, some of whom are on horseback, you come face to face with a flaming-faced demon samurai, who's tricky to deal with to say the least. He's not the main boss though - after fighting your way through a burning building with stunning flame and heat shimmer effects, you come face to face with Lord Vega, the Fiend behind your village's assault. At this point you are defeated, and when you awake, you're told that Vega has gone, taking the fabled Dark Dragon Sword with him. Now it's up to you to infiltrate the Vigoorian Empire and retrieve the sword, before it can be used to bring about the end of the world. The story is a little obscure and hard to follow at times, but all you really need to know is that people from a certain bloodline are transforming into demons, known as Fiends, and that this process is just the beginning of Armageddon if you can't put a stop to Vega's plans.

You set off for the Vigoorian Empire and just when you thought your adventure was going to be set entirely in ancient Japan, you find yourself aboard a plushly decorated airship, which has been boarded by a huge behemoth with cannons for arms and all manner of metalwork on his cybernetic body! Working your way around the airship, you'll be stunned by the gorgeous retro look of both the decoration and the technology, almost Victorian-era in style, but far in advance of the technology of that era. This contrast in settings continues throughout the game - the grand architecture of the massive Vigoor city is modern, while the Monastery you visit is just as impressive but more traditional in style. There's a sprawling underground labyrinth that takes you into the depths of the caverns below, where you just know that the massive dinosaur skeleton you pass is going to come to life at some point, making for one of the game's largest bosses. Your journey sees you travelling through ancient temples and underground caverns, through sewers and aqueducts, into a modern military base where you face off against tanks and an assault helicopter, and beyond to Zarkhan, where things become even more impressive and ethereal.

The designs of the bosses often rival Resident Evil for grandeur and twisted mutation, especially Alma, the twin sister of demon hunter Rachel, a character you meet along your journey. Given that this is from the team behind Dead or Alive, Rachel is one of the sexiest and most kick ass heroines ever to grace a game, with her flowing blonde hair, china doll complexion and those big, big... eyes. Okay, she's got huge breasts too, and they jiggle around as enticingly as any of the DOA babes! The first time you set eyes on Rachel, she wipes out a demonic fiend inside a tavern and this cut scene will take your breath away. As with the original game, there are many CGI quality cut scenes that are a cut above the in-game graphics and always directed with breathtaking skill and style; the moment Alma bursts through the stained glass window is one of the greatest scenes in any game, and there are many more mini-movies to watch and enjoy, with eyes agape.

But as spectacular as the setting is, it's Ryu who steals the show every time. Armed with only his Dragon Sword at the beginning, his many combo moves make for incredible displays as he slashes, slides, dives, leaps and thrusts his way around the screen, using combinations of the jump, light attack, heavy attack and directional controls to string death-dealing combos together. Never has a game had such responsive, flowing controls and combat; pressing the block button, a feature that you either learn to use or repeatedly die and quite the game, results in an instant block, and if an enemy does hit you with a block-breaking attack, you can flick the left thumbstick to dodge Ryu out of the way and come back on the offensive, or with a standard attack you soon gain the ability to strike back the moment after you block a hit, in a very effective counter that knocks your enemies flying.

The combat is more intense and satisfying than any other action game I've played - including God of War. It's reminiscent of old-school Streets of Rage style gameplay, but with a far greater array of weapons and dozens of moves to learn. Some moves see Ryu flying through the air to slash a fiend's head off, or he might run them through with his sword, or launch them into the air and carry on slashing at them until he drives them back down into the ground. Soon you get the nunchukas, which move super fast and get in masses of hits into multiple foes in seconds, and the Lunar staff, which when powered up fully (each weapon can be enhanced to unlock new moves and increase its power), results in moves where Ryu twirls and spins the twin-bladed staff so fast that the air around it blurs like a whirlwind as it slices through foes like rotor blades. Holding the triangle button charges up a special attack too, which is different for every weapon and fantastically satisfying to pull off, if you can find a time to do so in the flurry of enemy action.

You see, the enemies in Ninja Gaiden are no slouches - in fact, I don't know of any game that has consistently tougher antagonists. Every enemy has multiple moves, some are armed with machine guns and rocket launchers, and most will take advantage if you block too long, like the troops that slip behind you and slit your throat, then kick you forward to add insult to injury. Hovering fiends leap around, jumping back to dodge half your attacks then swooping in at breakneck speed to slash you to ribbons, even submerging themselves beneath the ground in a pool of black smoke to come back and get you when you're distracted by other foes. Large, red dinosaur-like demons charge around, breathing fire, spinning to face you and knocking you flying with their tails, and if you block for too long they'll bite your head, flail you around a bit and then throw you flying for good measure. Rival ninjas are superfast and some use exploding shuriken as they gang up on you and whip all around the place. Then there are the bosses - while some are a little formulaic, they're never dull or easy and you'll have to learn to recognise what attack they're about to pull off and how best to dodge or block it before charging in to get a hit while they're vulnerable. Yep, combat in an action game has never been so challenging, so intense or so rewarding when you succeed - especially in the bonus challenges, where you are assaulted by groups of three or four enemies that keep beaming in as you kill them, until you've defeated sixty of the suckers or died trying, your reward being a nice max health increase or a jewel to enhance your magical powers.

That's something else that adds to the mix - scrolls that you can equip, which grant you abilities like whipping up an ice storm, launching a fireball or blasting every nearby enemy with lightning. These magic (or Ninpo as they're called) attacks can be a real lifesaver later on, but you have to use them in moderation, as you don't get orbs to recharge them that often, and purchasing recharges is fairly pricey. Supplies and weapon upgrades can be bought at the regular statues of an old man that crop up, and they're purchased using the yellow orbs that linger after vanquished enemies vanish, while blue orbs restore a bit of health and the infrequent red orbs give you another ninpo attack to work with. You can also purchase armbands that can be equipped, one at a time, to increase your attack, defence, yellow orb absorption, special attack charge time and more.

As if all this wasn't enough, Rachel the Fiend Hunter is now a fully playable character, complete with her own array of combo moves and equipment to purchase. Her levels are fun and make for a good change of pace, but she's a lot slower than Ryu and her massive axe is a slow, clunky weapon, meaning that you'll have to adapt quite a different strategy when playing as her. Still, she has some wicked combo moves, such as the move where she spins the axe around, with an enemy stuck on the jagged main blade, and throws them through the air. Or how about her five hit attack that culminates in impaling the enemy with the axe, swinging them into the air and slamming them back to the ground with a crash, sometimes with a close-up movie-style camera angle for super cool effect.

The game is massive too, with loads of secrets to discover - hidden Golden Scarabs can be exchanged with the merchant (who you access via those statues) for extra rewards, and if you backtrack the level you just came from during a new chapter, you'll often find one of the challenge areas with a nifty reward at the end of it. The level design is phenomenal, because although the game is split into chapters (your performance is ranked at the end of each), the game mainly takes place in one huge environment. Locked doors and incomplete tasks that you'll have long forgotten about come back into play later in the game, as you retrace your steps via a new route, or swim through now-flooded tunnels that you explored on foot the first time around. This gives the setting a real sense of completeness and the backtracking is never dull, because there are always enemies to kill, new things to find and new reasons for retreading old ground.

I've never seen such clever usage of levels like this, not to mention the way Ryu can wall run to reach new areas, and hop between two walls to ascend narrow shafts. His acrobatics are simply stunning no matter what he's doing, and his animation is flawlessly fluid, incredibly lifelike and a joy to behold - the same goes for Rachel, as well as every single enemy in the game, and the interaction between Ryu, Rachel and the enemies is equally as convincing and beautifully programmed. The sound effects back it all up wonderfully too, with satisfying noises as your weapons slash foes and the blood flies, or the clank as they block you with their armour or sword, the grunts and growls of angry enemies, the swish as you fly through the air or your Lunar staff whirls - it's all there. The voice acting in the cut scenes is spot on too, and the story and dialogue are surprisingly strong; it's clichéd in parts but you don't really notice because you're so drawn into the experience. The music rounds everything off - a very eclectic mix of slow-paced, atmosphere building music and light dance/techno when the combat kicks in, often with an oriental flavour. The music always enhances whatever is going on, until the whole game is just dripping with atmosphere and the adrenaline is pumping as you wade through the latest wave of monsters or face up to that scary new boss that looks like it's going to destroy you in a matter of moments.

I could harp on even longer about the virtues of Ninja Gaiden Sigma, but I've said enough. These is so much to discover, so much to see, so many enemies of all shapes and sizes to vanquish with dozens of stunning moves using an array of lethal hand-to-hand weapons, and it's all just so wonderfully satisfying and addictive. Every time you think you're coming close to the final confrontation, yet another new level opens up and you realise you've still got a way to go - the game will last you for a long time and there's extra replay value through extras from repeated play. This really is an action game with the emphasis firmly on action, but it's anything but a button masher - the faint of heart need not apply, even with the reduced difficulty level if you struggle with the very tough default. Still, this is a shining gem of a game that absolutely deserved a revamp and that you simply must try - the way of the ninja might be tough, but it's also one of the greatest gaming experiences you'll ever have.

Reviewed by Geoff Holland for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).