Game Parameters and Controls

• Press Left and Right to run
• Press Up and Down while hanging from a wall to climb it
• Press Down while on the ground to crouch
• Press A to Jump
• Press B to Slash, damaging enemies, some projectiles, and breaking Item Orbs
• Hold Up and Press B to use Ninjutsu
  • Must not be holding Left or Right
• Press Start to Pause and skip cutscenes

• Ryu has 16 HP, as do all bosses.
• All of Ryu's attacks will deal 1 damage.
• While in mid-air, you can't change the direction you are facing
  • Moving backward in mid-air slows you down to about 1/3 of the speed of moving forward
• Slashing your sword has a 20 frame cooldown time. See Sword Slashing.
• Using Ninjutsu has a 20 frame cooldown time, and all projectiles must be off the screen before firing again.
  • You can move Left or Right immediately after using Ninjutsu. This is 'Moonwalking'.
• Ryu's HP is automatically refilled only after completing an entire act.
• Ryu begins every act with the Shuriken and 10 Ninpo.
• Ryu runs at 1.5 pixels per frame (at 60 fps).
• Ryu climbs at 1 pixel per frame.
• Ryu's collision box is horizontally smaller than in Ninja Gaiden, with respect to standing on surfaces.

Sword Slashing

• 20 frame cooldown.
• Slashing while standing on the ground forces you to stand still for the duration of the cooldown.

Jump Slashing

Like in Ninja Gaiden, it is useful to slash jump to kill ground-based enemies without moving. However, in Ninja Gaiden II, the sword's hitbox is different such that it is often more difficult to successfully kill enemies with slash jumps. A and B must be hit in quicker succession than in Ninja Gaiden in order to kill most enemies. However, with a zero-time penalty from damage boosts in this game, it is often wiser to boost off of an enemy than kill it, or even to use ninjutsu to kill enemies at the expense of a few frames lost.

Air Control

While slashing in mid-air, you can move left and right. But, if you slash in mid-air just before moving backwards, you move at full horizontal speed for the duration of the slash cooldown. This will not work if you have previously moved backwards in mid-air yet during the current jump. This is 'Backslashing'.

• Example input 1: Facing Right: Tap A, tap B, hold Left
• Example input 2: Hold Right, tap A, tap B, release Right, hold left. If done while clung to a wall, this is 'Slash Climbing'.

Slash Climbing

Unlike Ninja Gaiden I, you can climb up and down most walls in Ninja Gaiden II as if they were ladders. You can speed up the rate of your climb by jumping off of the wall, slashing immediately, and then moving back against the wall. If done quickly enough, you can gain 2-3 pixels in height each time this is executed. Since you climb at a rate of 1 pixel per frame, each successful slash-climb can save 2-3 frames. Done repeatedly throughout a run, several seconds can be saved. The technique can be difficult and tire your hands, though, so only do as much as you're capable of, as messing up can easily cause you to lose time. Also note that this technique is especially fast in Stage 4-2 when climbing up waterfalls.

After reaching the top of a wall, you'll have to walljump at the top to finish the ascent. Since you'll be travelling at "backwards mid-air" velocity until you actually land on top, if you slash-climb during the walljump, you'll have full horizontal velocity already when you reach the top.

Slash-climbing is faster than normal wall climbing.