Tecmo released Ninja Gaiden II in Japan on 6 April 1990 and in North America in May 1990. Europe waited until 27 October 1994, when the game came out as Shadow Warriors II: The Dark Sword of Chaos. Masato Kato directed it, and Ryuichi Nitta and Mayuko Okamura wrote the music.
The story is set one year after the first game. Ryu Hayabusa faces the evil emperor Ashtar, who wants to open the Gate of Darkness, while Irene Lew is taken captive. The sequel adds shadow clones: an orange ninja power-up lets Ryu "split his body", and the copies follow him and repeat his attacks. Ryu can also climb walls and ladders and use his special weapons while hanging on them.
Nintendo released a PlayChoice-10 arcade version in 1990, and GameTek published Amiga and MS-DOS ports in 1991. The game joined Nintendo Classics on Switch on 26 November 2025, and Hamster added it to its Console Archives line for Switch 2 and PlayStation 5 in February 2026.12
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of ChaosPlayChoice-10 version, shown at the American Coin Machine Exposition in Chicago | Arcade | March 1990 | Nintendo | 1 |
| NA | Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos | NES | May 1990 | Tecmo | 1 |
| JP | 忍者龍剣伝II 暗黒の邪神剣Famicom | NES | Apr 6, 1990 | Tecmo | 1 |
| EU | Shadow Warriors II: The Dark Sword of Chaos | NES | Oct 27, 1994 | Tecmo | 1 |
| JP | 忍者龍剣伝 巴Ninja Ryūkenden TomoeNinja Gaiden Trilogy compilation; released in North America in 1995 as Ninja Gaiden Trilogy | SNES | August 1995 | Tecmo | 2 |
| WW | Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of ChaosVirtual Console; 3DS Virtual Console 2013, Wii U Virtual Console 2016 | Wii | 2007 | — | 1 |
| WW | Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of ChaosNintendo Classics (Nintendo Switch Online) | Switch | Nov 26, 2025 | Nintendo | 1 |
| WW | Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of ChaosConsole Archives; PlayStation 5 version on 2026-02-14 | Switch 2 | Feb 5, 2026 | Hamster | 1 |
Also known as: 忍者龍剣伝II 暗黒の邪神剣 JP2Shadow Warriors II: The Dark Sword of Chaos EU1
Box art by region
NA Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.
Version differences
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TitleNES (EU)
In Europe the game came out in October 1994 as Shadow Warriors II: The Dark Sword of Chaos.1
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AudioSNES (Ninja Gaiden Trilogy)
The SNES compilation drops the stage 1-1 music from the chase cutscenes, and EGM felt its changes to gameplay and music made the game worse.3
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CensorshipSNES (Ninja Gaiden Trilogy)
To fit Nintendo's family-friendly policy, the SNES compilation turns a pool of red blood green and removes pentagrams; it also redraws the cutscenes, cuts some parallax scrolling and adds passwords.3
Translations
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English Official
Tecmo1990NES · Japanese Famicom versionReleased · complete
Official English NES release by Tecmo, sold in Europe as Shadow Warriors II.1
Where to play legally today
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Nintendo Switch Online Subscription
Reception
The NES game received EGM scores of 9, 9, 9 and 8 out of 10 and 8.5/10 from IGN. It won Game Players' NES Excellence Award for 1990 and debuted at No. 4 on Nintendo Power's Top 30, though some critics found the story more predictable than the first game's and noted reused bosses.1
In lists
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
Spotted a mistake? Write to atlas@old-games.net.