GamingPickz

Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos

Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos, known in Europe as Shadow Warriors II: The Dark Sword of Chaos, is a 1990 platform game developed and published by Tecmo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the second instalment in the Ninja Gaiden trilogy for the NES and was released in North America and Japan in 1990, and in Europe in 1994. An arcade version was released by Nintendo for their PlayChoice-10 system in 1990.

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA, read 5 September 2026.

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Released
1990
Developer
Tecmo
Platforms
1 systems
Critics
Not scored
Steam Deck
Unknown
Download
Not stated
We have not written a full review of this game.This is a catalogue entry: everything below comes from a source we can link, checked on a stated date. There is no score and no verdict here, because we only publish those after a reviewer has played the game and written it up properly. Our team may well have played this one. Until someone writes the review, we are not going to imply a verdict we have not put our name to.

The record

Catalogue facts
First released6 April 1990
DeveloperTecmo
PublisherTecmo
PlatformsNintendo Entertainment System
Genresplatformer

Source. Catalogue facts from Wikidata Q1658492, seeded 30 August 2026.

How long is Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos? How long to beat it

Total play time for Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos is about 2.9 hours to do everything, and around 2.4 hours to reach the end of the main story. These are player-submitted times from HowLongToBeat, not our own, shown with the number of players behind each.

Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos length by how much you play
How you playHoursPlayers logged
Just the main story: straight through the critical path2.4h87
Main + the extras: story plus the side content most people do2.9h9
Completionist: everything: 100% the game2.9h10

Source: HowLongToBeat community submissions, read 2026-10-19.

Where Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos sits on the grid

The grid places every game in the catalogue on measured axes rather than on an opinion. This is where Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos lands on each map it has the data for, with the share of the catalogue it beats on each axis.

The whole catalogueLargely forgotten
Year
44ahead of 4% of the catalogue
Reach
30ahead of 72% of the catalogue

Percentiles are against the games that carry a reading on that axis, not the whole catalogue: counting a game with no figure as a zero would flatter everything that has one. How the grid works.

What readers say about Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos

Reviews written by people who have played it. These are separate from the GamingPickz Score and are never averaged into it: that score comes from thousands of Steam reviews with a sample-size correction, and a handful of unverified ratings would distort it rather than improve it.

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Common questions about Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos

What platforms is Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos on?

Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos is available on Nintendo Entertainment System. It first released in 1990.

Who made Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos?

Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos was developed by Tecmo and published by Tecmo.

How long does it take to beat Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos?

about 2.4 hours for the main story, 2.9 hours with the main extras, 2.9 hours to complete everything, from HowLongToBeat's player-submitted times. These are community medians, so your own run may be shorter or longer.