Jonny-san takes a look at the most highly-anticipated Xbox exclusive since Halo.

While my appreciation and knowledge of the videogame form might be considered hardcore, my gaming skills are certainly not - I'm just not that good any more. Which is unfortunate in the case of an experience as breathtaking as Ninja Gaiden.

You see, the latest must-have title to hit Xbox is hard. Really hard.

After quarter of an hour of thoroughly enjoying the training level you will reach an impasse - the training level's boss, a huge, nunchaku-wielding nutter. The next half-hour will ultimately decide whether you'll play through the rest of the game or not. Some of you will give up, bung your joypad across the room and return the game to us the next day. Some of you may cry when he beats you in under ten seconds for the thirtieth time. But most of you will work at it. You're a ninja after all! You must realise you're quicker than him. Use it. You can roll out of the way of attacks, you can run along walls and launch yourself off them. Stick and move. He will taste your blade and he will go down.

The first time you encounter a group of Black Ninjas you'll be wiped out by their exploding shurikens in five seconds flat. But stay calm, try new approaches, use the techniques you've learned and you'll soon figure out that they're not that tough after all.

This pretty much sums up what it's like to play Ninja Gaiden. It's often extremely difficult, but, if you have the temperament of a warrior you'll beat it. The first boss pales in comparison to later challenges, but that encounter sets the tone for the rest of the adventure. If you can raise your game once, you can do it again.

Now that the seriously hardcore difficulty level has been discussed it's time to move onto the game itself. It's magnificent, which is the incentive that will keep you fighting, learning and evolving.

Ninja Gaiden is often reminiscent of Prince of Persia, but with less emphasis on platforming sections and more on fighting. The animation of the protagonist Ryu Hayabusa is a marvel to behold, moving as he does with assured grace and strength through the beautiful and diverse levels, running up walls, hanging off of ledges and flipping out of the way of grenades.

It's quite possible that Ninja Gaiden features the most advanced and playable fighting system we've yet seen. It's not normal to associate a system of this much depth with what is essentially a scrolling beat 'em-up evolved form the likes of Double Dragon, but Team Ninja's involvement in the Dead or Alive series has stood them in good stead to deliver. Ryu performs an enormous number of throws, kicks, combos and other moves, while the addition of a sword, war hammer, nunchaku, shurikens and a longbow all increase the number of moves dramatically. Ryu can also call upon Ninpo magic attacks when times are tough.

Your ninja techniques are easy enough, and importantly, natural enough, to pull off, and you learn new skills as the game progresses, meaning you don't get overwhelmed at the beginning. As many of you have no doubt heard, decapitation moves have been removed from the European version. While this is a regrettable state of affairs it actually takes very little away from the quality of the gameplay.

In terms of setting you'll visit a huge range of beautifully-designed and diverse levels, and much of the time it's like a nine year boy has had complete creative control, as every heroic fantasy involving ninjas, commandos, demons, mutants, lasers, tanks and monsters has been splattered over the design of the game with little consideration for coherence or realism. It's great, and before long men under the age of thirty everywhere will be karate-chopping the furniture and making ridiculous ninja noises everywhere they go.

Ninja Gaiden is up there with Halo as a damn fine reason to shell out on an Xbox. It's beautiful, thrilling, and the best example yet of a marriage between balletic, instinctive movement and visceral bloodshed. Like Viewtiful Joe, it's challenging only in the best possible way - your purest reactions against those of the machine, and as long as you're willing to stick with it through the hard times you'll reap triumphant rewards and feel you've accomplished something truly worthwhile.

You will need to fight like you've never fought before to reap the benefits of such a staggeringly brilliant game. There's an old Japanese proverb that says "Fall seven times, Stand up eight". When playing Ninja Gaiden there's no better advice.