I plugged my Xbox in again last night to play the Itagaki Ninja Gaiden games for a bit, again. Yet again I come to the same conclusion I have came to the past other times I played these games.
They really are the best action games ever made. They have the best combat systems of all time in the genre. NGB seems to have the best balance while NGII has a silky smooth crispness to it that is unmatched by any game ever. Also NG4 looks so dull visually by comparison to these two games.