Ninja Gaiden Sigma

You would imagine that even the game-starved PlayStation 3 could do without remakes of ancient Xbox titles but, miraculously, this piece of ninja hack-and-slash turns out to be inspired.

It’s built from good raw materials — Ninja Gaiden for Xbox sported great graphics and a fearsome yet satisfying difficulty level, and Japanese developer Tecmo has used the PS3’s power unabashedly, with swirling leaves and flaming horsemen.

The protagonist, a black-clad ninja called Ryu, has an array of spectacular moves, and the responsiveness of the controls means that it’s easy to use them — although Ninja Gaiden Sigma is still very difficult to traverse.

A coherent gameplay experience, three extra chapters in which you control a female character, and some of the best boss-battles ever (which require strategy and tenacity) make this a must-buy for PS3 owners aged 12 and above.