You're playing it wrong: Ninja Gaiden Sigma

From thecrankyhermit

Ninja Gaiden was originally released in 2004 for the XBox. It received two free DLC packs called "Hurricane Packs," which are no longer available. In 2005, an enhanced edition called "Ninja Gaiden Black" was released, with both Hurricane Packs on the disc and several other enhancements, such as new difficulty modes, a much better camera system, better AI, more enemies, a new weapon, a new "missions" mode, and various tweaks to the combat engine.

In 2007, Ninja Gaiden Sigma was released on the PS3, featuring enhanced 1080p graphics, new levels with Rachel as a playable character, another new weapon, some changes to the levels, and even more tweaks to the combat engine. A further revision, Sigma Plus, is on the PS Vita, with an easier difficulty setting and portable-oriented tweaks.

Ninja Gaiden Black is the best version. The original designer, Itagaki, had nothing to do with Sigma, and most of its changes make the game worse. It's easier, which misses the point of Ninja Gaiden, Rachel is not fun to play as and disrupts the flow of the game, and several parts of the levels are just cut out, including almost all of the puzzles. Also, there are parts of the game where it plays music that used to be in another part of the game - when this happens, it feels like a very arbitrary change and it just sounds out of place.

Also, some of the missions in Sigma's mission mode make you play as Rachel. Including my favorite mission, which is ruined in Sigma.

The portable-oriented changes to Sigma Plus, like touch-screen and gyroscopic controls, are just silly.

Stick with Ninja Gaiden Black. It's the best reason to have an OG XBox.