Heads will roll.
To return to Ninja Gaiden’s 2D roots in 2025 is a wonderful thing. Dotemu, upon acquiring the license for a series reboot, approached Spanish indie developer The Game Kitchen to get the job done. Known for their remarkable Blasphemous titles, the project was overseen by Team Ninja, who have held the series mantle from 2004 to present. And, while Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is not strictly the Ninja Gaiden one recalls from its NES days, the task here has been carried off with all the panache modern technology can afford, resulting in a blisteringly gorgeous action-platformer.
For those old enough, Ninja Gaiden was once a formidable 8-Bit challenge that either destroyed a child’s willpower or forged them eternal gaming mastery. It was, and still is, brutally hard. While Ragebound echoes this, in that it gets seriously challenging after its first third, its format is far less aggressive. You don’t have lives, you have checkpoints, and respawns come in an infinite flavour. You don’t have entirely linear progression, but a world map where you can return to any substage to earn higher ranks, complete mini challenges, or recover Golden Scarabs. If you’re not well equipped and your reflexes suck, however, the Pirate Stage boss will have you spitting teeth.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
