After struggling through but ultimately enjoying Shinobi on the PS2 (although I could only beat it on easy, got to the last level on normal but it chews me up).
I thought I'd give the sequel a play through. Only played the first level so far. With a dynamic fight on top of moving plane. Although I miss the flowing red scarf and darker atmosphere of the original Shinobi. And the graphics look more Dreamcast than the original Shinobi did (Shinobi was originally going to be a Dreamcast title, before being reprogrammed for the PS2).
Shinobi took a while for me to get into, and Nightshade looks like it's going to be just as difficult, albeit this game actually has checkpoints.