2025 is bringing back ninja games in a big way. After a hiatus following the controversial launch ofNinja Gaiden Z: Yaiba, Koei Tecmo’s hardcore action-platformer franchiseNinja Gaidenis back with three whole games targeting the same calendar year.Ninja Gaiden 2 Blackopened up with a solid, but familiar starter, and in the hopes ofNinja Gaiden 4ending on a spectacular Izuna Drop,Ninja Gaiden: Rageboundaims to fit a launcher in-between. Paralleled nicely byShinobi: Art of Vengeancereviving Sega’s own brutal ninja series,Ninja Gaiden: Rageboundbrings its high-flying hack-and-slash franchise back to its roots.
Developed by The Game Kitchen, the studio behind theBlasphemousseries, and published by Dotemu and Joystick,Ninja Gaiden: Rageboundharkens back toNinja Gaiden’s 2D dayswhile keeping the complexity that Team Ninja’s 3D entries introduced. As the first 2D pixelated entry thatNinja Gaidenhas seen in over thirty years,Rageboundcuts a striking figure through visuals alone, and everything beneath the game’s surface strives to follow suit. Game Rant was provided with a roughly one-hour-long preview build to try several sections from the beginning of the game, and even early on, it feels likeNinja Gaiden’s comeback tour is going strong.
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound Ensures Players Are Settled In
Players take control of Kenji Mozu, an apprentice toNinja Gaiden’s protagonist Ryu Hayabusa, and inheritor of most of the latter’s old blue outfit. Ryu is headed to America to honor his father’s will, which seems to be a nod tothe original NESNinja Gaiden, so he’s training Kenji to defend Hayabusa Village in his absence. That’s whereNinja Gaiden: Ragebound’s tutorial picks up, and the game quickly establishes exactly what sort of retro throwback it’s going for. Being a 2D game, the action is fairly straightforward compared toNinja Gaiden’s 3D hack-and-slash efforts, but that doesn’t mean it’s less intense.
More than its perspective or pixel art,Rageboundemulates the series’ 2D era through its emphasis on forward momentum. A lot of enemies only take one hit to kill, while armored foes can be one-shotted with Hypercharge strikes gained through dispatching specified mooks first.Ragebound’s standard action game combo counter tracks kills rather than individual hits, and players are encouraged by stage rankings to deal with their foes quickly to keepmoving throughRagebound’s linear levels. The game still leaves players breathing room to play it as a stylish action-platformer romp, but even this early on,Ragebound’s bones are arranged to pleaseNinja Gaiden’s Master Ninja thrill-seekers.
Combat And Traversal Depth Ensure Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound Never Loses Its Edge
To that end, there’s more toNinja Gaiden: Ragebound’s combat than basic slashes and dashes. Progressing through Ryu’s training course, Kenji will learn to employ the Guillotine Boost to launch off enemies and projectiles, serving as a forward-moving version of gaming’s famous pogo jump. Climbing and jumping around walls and ceilings is another way thatRageboundkeeps the action flowing, as platforming is interwoven with combat evenmore than it was inBlasphemous 2.Ragebound’s tutorial stage ends with a brutal fight with Ryu Hayabusa himself, serving as a sort of callback to the 2004Ninja Gaiden’s own first boss, though, fortunately, players aren’t required to beat Hayabusa’s finest on their first attempt.
Of course, once Ryu leaves for America, hell literally breaks loose in Hayabusa Village, which has become a common sight inNinja Gaiden’s chronology. Kenji dives into the burning village to repel the invaders, and it’s here whereNinja Gaiden: Rageboundstarts taking its gloves off. Some of the game’s tools have yet to be introduced, so players are left on their own to navigate the flames, enemies, and combat rooms, with snappy, simple controls being their strongest weapon. It all culminates in a boss fight with Gurthka, who proves that The Game Kitchen’s ability to animate larger, more intricate foes is still on point, and the player’sBlasphemous-like dodge roll needs to match.
Kenji And Kumori Earn Their Place As Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound’s Stars
It’s at this point that the other shoe drops, andNinja Gaiden: Ragebound’s second playable character enters the picture.TheNinja Gaidenseries’recurring villainous Black Spider Clan is represented by the assassin Kumori, who is forced to inhabit Kenji’s body. This tense alliance provides the main narrative hook ofNinja Gaiden: Ragebound, as it otherwise opts for the old-school plot of collecting three artifacts, as well as the rest of its mechanics.Ragebound’s ranged options are tied to Kumori and her pink energy meter, and performing a screen-clearing attack also requires several pips around the meter to be built up. These options will expand as more weapons and abilities appear in the in-game shop, but what’s in the preview proves that even the basics can be enough.
Much ofNinja Gaiden: Rageboundfrom the protagonist merger onwardbecomes a series of fast-paced combat puzzles, where the goal of keeping momentum up is the reward for effectively leveraging the player’s offensive arsenal to best dispatch enemies. Hypercharge now requires players to strike blue-marked foes with Kenji and pink-marked foes with Kumori to ready its armor-busting blow, although armored enemies can be fought normally if combat puzzle-solving isn’t going well. Kumori has segments where she can fly solo as well, usually as part of a timed platforming challenge initiated by a Demon Altar to unlock the way forward.
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound Isn’t Merely NG4’s Appetizer
All of this comes together to form a surprisingly compelling package that encourages multiple replays to attain mastery, which thebrutally toughNinja Gaidenfranchisehas always held in high regard.Ragebound’s preview build doesn’t have enough challenges or tools to push players all the way yet, but it does permit exploring a subterranean catacomb level up to right before its boss. At this point, the preview was formally over, but this build had one last surprise. Those hungry for more could test their mettle against the Hard Mode version of the Hayabusa Village, and suffice it to say that it was a test indeed.
Whether players desire an unforgiving challenge or one of the slickest 2D action experiences on the market,Ninja Gaiden: Ragebounddelivers. Despite committing to its ninja aesthetic,Rageboundseemingly hasn’t left any significant parts of itself in the shadows, and that’s perfectly fine. The game embodies themixture of modern and classicNinja Gaidenvaluesthat it purports to be, and anyone attracted to those should find exactly what they’re looking for. If it stays the course,Ninja Gaiden: Rageboundcould become the game fans have been waiting for beforeNinja Gaiden 4itself comes out.
