tenchu z is not a perfect game. they did some really goofy things with some of the control aspects, and even veterans will need a numbers of plays thru the training level to get it right. but once u do it seems more like a close friend of tenchu rather than the stealth franchise itself.

the graphics are nicer, and i find it funny that i can see the a.i.s shadow thru the floor onto the ground below them, while my shadow goes right across their path in the full moon and they don't bat an eyelash.

but the same tenchu fun and strategy is back in over 50 missions!! and yeah u create ur own ninja. the partner the game makes you create is dumb, as u never play as them. the save options are lame as well because you can't create multiple saves to make bunches of different ninja since it will autosave over whatever came before rather than use a 2nd save. that's intolerably bad programming....

but! the new stealth kills, the new outfits, abilities and skills all make the tedium seem worth it. is it worth 60$ ? probably not, but if you can find it used it is definitely worth ur time. particularly the enemies ability to hear u based on ur method of approach is particularly cool. the smelly ninja thing is lame. whoever thought of that should be canned.

all in all tho the game is worth trying out for anyone who's interested. diehard tenchu fans will find bunches of stuff to love and they will suffer for their passion. but i think it's justified.