So the release of Ninja Assault for the PlayStation 2 might have a welcoming market, both from those that loved the arcade version and those that know nothing of the game but already have one of Namco's G-con light guns. For the former, the game might be worth owning. But be warned that the few alterations do not extend to improving the game technically, and there is little in the way of gameplay variations that cannot be found in Namco's Time Crisis II and Vampire Night.

Whereas Time Crisis II was graphically improved for its PlayStation 2 release, Ninja Assault looks at best a poor cousin of any other Naomi-based game or even a third party N64 title.

With so little of the PlayStation 2 having been harnessed for graphical features, one might hope the remaining power had been used to give enemies more fluid, Ninja-like animation. Sadly, no, and as well as lacking any indication of their next move, the resulting unpredictability is neither natural nor warranted in such a difficult game. Furthermore, default reloading requires players to shoot off-screen, which brings the difficulty level into hopelessness for novices on higher skill settings.

As far as the storyline goes, you've heard it all before: an evil warlord wants to ressurrect an all-powerful shogun, a princess is kidnapped to be sacrificed, and you have to free her before she is killed.

Although Ninja Assault has no real need for it's historical Japanese setting, one would suspect the Ninja formula to have been a big reason why the game was a hit in western arcades three years ago.

In some ways the separation of Ninjitsu from some of it's core components, as represented here, has been necessary in gameplay terms. However, some elements might have been better off remaining true to their origins.

Time Crisis II had mulitple enemies spraying largely harmless volleys of bullets toward the screen, which is somewhat removed from reality. Here, Ninja Assault's every shuriken is directed toward your player (Ninjitsu actually uses them chiefly to distract opponents) and requires shooting from the sky before it adds to your wounds. Surprise attacks - which are at least typical of the art - are common, but combined with the poor animation of characters and the fact that most require several bullets to be felled, each rushing, hiding or suicidal attacker quickly depletes your life meter regardless of the level of the game. Even for a marksman there is no way to progress unscathed, and many parts of the game become little more than memory tests. Ninja Assault requires quick reflexes, but it can be too tempting to resort to shooting from the hip as masses of demons and mech enemies hop around the screen.

What the console version does add to the main game is hidden extras, an added female character to play as (making three of the princess' bodyguards in total), additional cut scenes and multiple paths through the nine stages depending on your performance and choice of character. Each character also has his own combination of attacking skills and defensive strengths.

Mini-games represent an entertaining series of sideshows, and are overall somewhat more attractive than those in Time Crisis II. These include of events consisting of time-release targets including civilian decoys, brief all-out assaults and a challenge to keep coins in the air by constantly shooting them before they drop to the floor.