In one of the more confusing and zig-zagging cases of video game censorship seen in recent memory, while Ninja Gaiden 2 Black has released into the current social climate almost completely untouched, the remaster has still been subjected to a bit of censorship in regards to two odd bits of in-game content and the Xbox cut of the game’s trailer.
Given both the risqué looks of its female protagonists and some of its demonic enemies, as well as the ongoing bipartisan push for cutural puritanism in Western markets, it comes as no surprise that many players, especially those who enjoyed the original 2008 release, met the announcement of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black at the 2025 Xbox Developer Direct with caution towards its potential to be heavily censored.
However, it seems such fears were almost unfounded – almost being the operative word.
While the aforementioned appearances of the female characters left untouched, with many of the instances of supposed censorship raised on social media regarding female breast sizes and face shapes can be attributed to a change in game engine and art direction (the latter being done in order to bring Ryu’s solo outing more in like visually with the core Dead or Alive series’ latest aesthetics), Ninja Gaiden 2 Black still does feature two bits of censorship.
The first can be seen in the opening cutscene to the game’s fifth level, ‘The Aqua Capital’.
Therein, having been ordered by the Greater Fiend Volf to find him a worthy opponent to fight, a legion of werewolves are seen descending upon said city and testing the strength of its citizens by wantonly attacking them.
Among the monsters’ victims is a female NPC wearing a white dress, who in the remake was given a less cleavage-revealing dress for her ten seconds of total screen time.
The second case of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black censorship centers around Rachel’s unlockable “Fiend” outfit.
A purple-colored, wispy-thin one piece swimsuit evocative of the succubus-esque appearances of some of her demonic female foes, the Black version of this costume features only barely more cover around Rachel’s breasts and extends her ‘crotch guard’ up by just a few inches.
Notably, while still a case of censorship, it still comes nowhere close to the heavy botch-job performed on the costume in Dead or Alive 6, which saw a black body suit used to cover up all of Rachel’s skin from her cleavage down.
Then there’s the case of the game’s two different trailer cuts.
As seen in the Xbox version of the trailer, as shown during the Developer Direct and later uploaded to the brand’s official YouTube channel, the presented footage shows Ryu dispatching Fiends with blistering speed, his skill showcase occasionally interrupted by various story teases.
However, the version see on the game’s Steam page and the official PlayStation YouTube channel – surprisingly so, given their infamous “global standards” and censorship of fan-service in East Asia-developed games – is actually the uncensored one.
Unlike the Xbox version, this cut features appearances from the playable female characters Momiji, Ayane, and Rachel, as well as the fiend Elizébet, their tight clothing and busty physiques on full, unabashed display.
Off the cuff, one would presume that the discrepancy is the result of Xbox attempting to avoid any issues from YouTube, such as the trailer being hit with an age restriction or given reduced visibility due to ‘sexual content’.
However, this still raises the question of why the Microsoft brand wouldn’t want to show off the game’s full contents on their own YouTube channel, especially when it holds an appropriate age rating of Mature 17+ from the ESRB, and 18 from PEGI.
Nor does it answer the question of why, in this situation, the usually censor-happy PlayStation was the one to flaunt the uncensored trailer (but if other platforms don’t emphasize such a selling point in their own marketing, hey, more sales for Sony).
A version of the game that combines the best features of the original with those of its Sigma re-release, Ninja Gaiden Black 2 features a number of upgrades over past versions, including a jump to Unreal Engine 5, the removal of two of the most annoying Sigma bosses, and the return of the aforementioned Momiji, Ayane, and Rachel as playable characters.
Interestingly, the game is now available to play on the Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC platforms despite Team Ninja admitting back in 2021 that they had no plans to revisit the game due to having purportedly lost the source code for Ninja Gaiden and Ninja Gaiden II (though what elements of the original game did survive and were subsequently used in Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is not clear at this time).
