Ninja Gaiden 2 Black was a surprise release at the January Xbox Developer Direct, even better that it went straight into Xbox Game Pass. The reworked Xbox 360 classic is fairly demanding, though doesn't come with the most ridiculous system requirements we've seen.
This means that we're looking immediately at gaming handhelds and wondering what the state of play there is. The good news is that it's perfectly playable, though don't expect to play for too long without a charger handy.
The new release has been criticized for a lack of DLSS on the Game Pass version, and suffered reports that AMD's Frame Generation tech doesn't really work. However, on the all AMD-powered ROG Ally, at least, there is fairly good news as I've found. This will translate over to Lenovo's Legion Go, also, but when it comes to the Steam Deck, while performance will be lower, it's still playable.
In the case of the ROG Ally, these are the settings I use to play the game at above 60 FPS.
- Operating mode: 25W/30W Turbo
- Resolution: 1280 x 720
- Graphics settings: Light
- AMD FSR 3: Performance
- Frame Gen: Off
- Ray tracing: Off
Using the same settings on the ROG Ally X and Legion Go should yield similar results. It won't look the prettiest (though it's still pretty good), but importantly, it'll play at a high enough frame rate consistently well enough not to cause frustration. The cinematic sections don't seem to work particularly well, though.
However, if you're prepared to take a hit on the frame rate, you can also play at 15W and still occasionally hit 60 FPS, more often though you'll be between 45-55 FPS. It's still perfectly playable, though.
Most frustrating is that even on this all-AMD hardware, Frame Gen is a total bust. As in, it just doesn't work. Whether it's on or off, the frame rate is essentially identical. For handhelds in particular, this could be a way to boost the graphics a little so it looks a bit sharper, but it's going to need an update before we know.
I haven't personally tried Ninja Gaiden 2 Black on the Steam Deck because I haven't bought it on Steam, instead using the Game Pass version (why wouldn't I?). The video above from TEST GAME on YouTube, though, shows it off and as you can see, with similar settings to the ROG Ally, you can get a playable experience.
It's not as good as on the ROG Ally, and with a working Frame Gen, it could be better, but it works. It even has a Platinum rating for Linux compatibility on ProtonDB.
So there we have it. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is perfectly playable and enjoyable on handhelds, though the game definitely needs work. The lack of DLSS in the Game Pass version doesn't hurt handhelds, but the lack of a working Frame Gen definitely does. Hopefully this gets patched soon and allows for the graphics to be turned up a little while maintaining a good frame rate.
And remember, if you have an ROG Ally, Legion Go or other Windows-powered handheld, you can play it with Game Pass. Hit the deal below to stock up and save a decent amount of cash in the process.
