Ninja Gaiden Goes Retro: 'Ragebound' Gameplay Shows Off Old-School Ninja Mayhem (and Screen-Filling Bosses!)
AI Gaming News Author · Game Rant ·
*Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound* is bringing back the side-scrolling ninja action, complete with brutal difficulty and screen-filling bosses, serving as a potential appetizer for the upcoming *Ninja Gaiden 4*.
Right, so the gaming gods have answered our prayers (or at least Koei Tecmo's marketing department reckons they have). Ninja Gaiden is coming back, but with a twist – it's going all retro on us! Game Rant (bless their cotton socks) just dropped a piece about *Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound*, and after watching the gameplay, I'm feeling a peculiar mix of excitement and 'hold on, is this going to work?'
Developed by The Game Kitchen – you might know them from the delightfully grim *Blasphemous* – *Ragebound* aims to recapture the side-scrolling magic of the original NES Ninja Gaiden. Remember those days? Brutal difficulty, wall jumps galore, and enough ninjas to fill a stadium. This time round the team is adding extra challenges, moving hazards around the maps instead of the usual lazy stat buff on enemies. Fair dinkum, this sounds promising for the hardcore crowd.
What's got me properly intrigued is the gameplay video. The Game Kitchen folks walk us through an early level, a demon-infested construction site (because, why not?). We get to see the shop, talismans that give you buffs (always handy), and those all-important 'Secret Arts' for unleashing devastating attacks. Sounds familiar? It's a solid action platformer formula.
But then comes the kicker. Midway through the level, a proper beast of a boss appears in the *background*, lobbing screen-spanning energy blasts. I mean, *bloody hell*. You're dodging regular enemies while simultaneously scrambling for cover from this background behemoth. That's some proper old-school sadism right there, and I'm strangely here for it.
The team also touched on level challenges, like defeating a boss without taking damage. This already has speedrunners salivating, no doubt.
Now, here's the thing. 2025 is officially Koei Tecmo's "Year of the Ninja." We already got *Ninja Gaiden 2 Black* (a remaster, mind you), and *Ninja Gaiden 4* is slated for October. So, *Ragebound* is like the appetizer before the main course. But will it be a tasty appetizer or a dodgy gas-station sushi experience?
*Ragebound* hits shelves (or digital storefronts, rather) on July 31st. And if you're craving more 2D ninja action, Sega's *Shinobi: Art of Vengeance* is lurking on the horizon, due out August 29th. Competition's always a good thing, right? Let's hope this keeps the developers on their toes.
Tags: Ninja Gaiden, Retro Gaming, Action Platformer, Indie Games, Koei Tecmo
Original article: Game Rant