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The first thing that strikes you about Last Ninja 2 is the absence of a Last Ninja 1 for the ST. Why release a sequel without a successful forerunner for it to follow? According to Mark Cale, head of System 3, the ST version of the original Last Ninja wasn't released because it was "substandard". Now why don't all software houses think like that?

Fortunately, Last Ninja 2 can be played without any knowledge of the original. You play Armakuni, last of the Mystic Shadow Warriors. In ninth century Japan they were the fighting elite, their skill and dexterity so finely honed that many believed they possessed superrnatural abilities. To be a Ninja was to be in perfect control of mind and body, to exert total restraint over emotion and to react faster than the speed of light for the cause of good.

In a bastardised version of Highlander's plot, you're busy building a new order of Ninja warriors when, without warning, you're time-warped into the twentieth century - to New York of all places - and you can feel the evil presence of an old adversary you thought was dead, tingling the back of your neck.

Using a three-quarter angle view on the area around you, Ninja 2 charts your course through the Big Apple. Your first problem is to get out of the building you're in. A trapdoor lies entincingly in front of you, but there's no visible means of opening it.

Nipping through the curtains behind you takes you to a room with an unfriendly-looking skinhead pacing up and down. Get near him and he tries to pummel you to death, so punch him by pressing the Fire button and pushing right/left.

Kick him in the goolies with a combined pull-down and press. You'll see the right-hand energy meter receding if you're hitting him where it hurts.

When you've trashed him, go to the wall he was guarding and punch the symbol there until it changes colour. Return via the curtains and voila! One open trapdoor.

The room below the trapdoor contains a key you need to open a gate later on. To pick it up, get your hand to touch it while you're in the crouch position. Once collected you can use it by pressing Undo, which cycles through the objects you can hold.

Clr/Home selects the weapons you have. Unfortunately, you start with none, but there are staffs, nunchukkas, and throwing stars scattered around the first locations. Pick them up you're gonna need 'em!

Ninja 2's display technique is unlike any seen before. It takes a little time to redraw each backdrop as you move from area to area, but the end effect is worth waiting for. The colourful, detailed locations look realistic and provide fantastic settings for the action.

Less appealing is the control method which takes a bit of getting used to. Armakuni has a tendency to point the wrong way and puts his weapon away at just the wrong moment, though with a little effort this can be overcome.

Music is another downer, but less important, as you can turn it off (thank God). Accompanying sound effects are bog-standard thumps, bumps and groans.

This out-of-sync sequel is worth the wait. It'll keep you occupied for hours, probably become a Gamebusters long-runner and drive you bananas until you complete it. Then you'll sit there like an abandoned baby, waiting to be fed more of the same. Perhaps then we'll see the forthcoming Last Ninja 3 (or is it Ninja 0.5), which is already underway.

A worthwhile addition to any collection, if only for its visual beauty, Ninja 2 does for beat-'em-ups what Richard Branson did for condoms: makes them bigger, better and far less embarrassing to talk about in public. Buy one and show it off to your mates!