I agree with this review, and also feel kind've ashamed to be in its "target audience"
Good game, could've been great, too many obstacles to greatness, ie lackluster platforming, far from seemless gameplay mechanics, and all around glitches (my game files got corrupted on the end cutscene before the final boss leaving me feeling the biggest case of ninja blue balls of my life)
one thing though, the exploding shurikens, if you time a roll (or whatever its called in this one, reverse wind) so that they explode in the middle of the roll they don't send you flying and you take slightly less damage.
personally I found this game to be a cakewalk when compared with ninja gaiden 1 (xbox) and its RIDICULOUS download content hurricane packs (and even ninja gaiden on normal before the DLC)