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There's a reason why they make sequels. Those who liked the original see a sequel as another chapter in a story they already loved. And lots of people loved The Last Ninja.

Sequels can, however, be difficult to get right. The movie Robocop 2 was considered vastly inferior to the original Robocop, Speed 2 is buried in a movie vault somewhere and the less said about Miss Congeniality 2 the better. The Last Ninja 2 is almost like the game equivalent of a movie sequel that lost its way a bit. The original Last Ninja wowed players because of its different style of gameplay. The sequel copies the gameplay, redefines the sprites, varies the problems a bit and says it's a different adventure. Which it is, I suppose. But whilst the original had the objective of avenging the Ninja clan, finding and destroying the big boss and reading the scrolls of wisdom, the sequel has no objective at all. In essence, say Superior, just play Last Ninja 2 "for the lulz". Don't question it too hard.

The trouble is, it's sort of hard not to. I never really considered what era The Last Ninja was meant to be set in, but I didn't think there was much chance of meeting Armakuni, clad in black, if I took a stroll in New York's Central Park. I didn't really think he would know what a computer was, let alone be found in a modern office next to a pile of photocopying. I pictured him forever leaping from stone to stone across the marshes of Feudal Japan, not hanging out with the meths drinkers in the underground.

That was what was so beautiful about the original game. It all fitted together to create a compelling story. Unfortunately, by comparison, the sequel is little more than a series of bizarre sketches that hang together in a manner befitting an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. It's set in the present day and Armakuni is in America. Like the original, the game is a multi-loader and has six individually themed levels. Also like the original, the game is very colourful and is laid out in oblique projection style, which the ZX*? controls very intuitively controlling our Ninja hero. In fact, there are no additional controls at all; if you've played the original you'll be instantly at home with everything, right down to those annoying leaps from stone to stone using the J, K and L keys to execute small, medium and large jumps.

From a distance, Last Ninja 2 appears to introduce some variety into the fold. In the original game, Armakuni fought only other ninjas. In this sequel, there not only ninjas, but New York cops and something that looks suspiciously like a half-naked wrestler. All three are out for a bit of Ninja blood. The trouble is that they all fight in an identical way, so what initially *seems* like variety is actually the exact same formula from the first game. Yes, of course it's impressive that the coder managed to add two more, different-looking, bad guys into this sequel, but hacking away at them with the exact same "hold down fire, press up, press right, press down, press right, press up..." combination from Last Ninja 1 means they might just as well all be the ninjas from it. Oh, for a baddy who flings a punch and retreats. Or one who is equipped with smoke bombs or a whip!

Instead, you're left with the occasional puzzles to inject something a bit "different" to maintain interest. Except that, the majority of them are quite pitiful this time around. On level one, you collect a key to open a gate. On level two, collect a crowbar to open a drain. On level three, collect a key to open a grate. On level four, collect a passcard to use with a computer. Ok, by no means is that all... there are some genuine exciting new additions - the bees that buzz around in Central Park, for example, or the odd railway tracks in the cellar, but they just don't have anything like the charisma of the Chinese dragon (that had to be shot between the eyes), the suit of armour with a shockingly sudden piercing stare and the huge archer of the original.

I also found some aspects of the exploration required quite irritating. On entering some screens, you're placed in quite awkward positions meaning it's hard to land any blows on an enemy at all because his centre is slightly off your centre. This problem did arise in the original on occasion but it seems much more acute here. The problems are also quite random in nature - the crowbar you need to open the drain looks more like a twig, for example! The game's ability to strand you is also perplexing. On level four, you must collect some poisoned meat and a bottle of poison. If you collect the meat first, and then the poison, the meat will be poisoned and can be fed to the dog to complete the level. If you collect the poison first, it will simply disappear and leave the level uncompleteable. Didn't the programmer even think of this, rather obvious, problem?

Some aspects of the sequel are much improved. Certainly the little messages introducing the current level, and the different 'You/Them' fighting icons are easier on the eyes but, really, on the whole, it's disappointing as a game because it just lacks the structure that the original had. In the same way as a bad movie sequel, the similarities to the original may well mean, if you're a fan, you may well get enough enjoyment out of it to make it a worthwhile gaming experience. It's not worse than the original, but the additional sprites don't really make it any better. It's just more of the same, but with a much less structured narrative.

If you fancy tracking down a physical Electron copy of Last Ninja 2, then be prepared for a long wait - this is a game that is very, very rarely offered for sale. Originally retailing at £9.95, it has been selling for three times that on eBay as of late. If you don't mind about format, it did appear on the compilation Play It Again Sam 15 too, but if anything, that's even rarer. You're therefore probably looking at, for whatever reason, at least £25 for this nowadays. I suppose it's not a bad game all in, so it remains a reasonable addition to your collection... if you can find it.