Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound Review: Revival Of A Retro Classic

Forbes

2 days ago

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
Did you know it's been over 20 years since we last got a new 2D side-scrolling action-platformer Ninja Gaiden game? Once the series shifted to 3D hack 'n' slash action, it basically never looked back to its roots—but as good as those 3D games are, the 2D classics were just as good in their own way. Thankfully, running across stages, slashing demons, and clinging to walls just out of harms way is back and better than ever with Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound.
Developed by The Game Kitchen (Blasphemous, Blasphemous II) and published by Dotemu (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, Marvel Cosmic Invasion), Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is everything I want out of a retro-style 2D Ninja Gaiden game and so much more. It could be recency bias talking, but I think this will go down as the best classic Ninja Gaiden game in the whole series.
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound Absolutely Delivers
Usually when I'm sold on a game from the very first announcement like I was with Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, I avoid all marketing, all demos, and all information for as long as possible so I can go in fresh and ready. I wasn't able to maintain that promise to myself this time, as I immediately downloaded and played the Ragebound demo on my Steam Deck as soon as I saw it listed during Steam Next Fest recently.
Fortunately, it did nothing but solidify my interest and excitement. And after playing the game on my OLED Steam Deck, I can happily report that it ran flawlessly. Zero issues at all and during gameplay it easily maintained a solid 60fps the entire time. According to the publisher, it averages 30fps on Switch, but will 'benefit from the console's specs' on Switch 2, hopefully meaning closer to 60fps there. I was only able to play the PC version for this review.
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In Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, players primarily take on the role of Kenji Mozu, an aspiring ninja in the Hayabusa clan who is trained directly by the legendary Ryu Hayabusa himself. Naturally, Kenji is an up-close melee character. One of the other prominent new characters introduced in this game is Kumori, a female ninja in the rival Black Spider Clan. As you might expect, she excels at ranged attacks. One thing leads to another and you eventually can tap into both of their powers throughout levels.
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
The whole thing takes around 6-8 hours to finish a first playthrough, but it's designed to be quite replayable. Each stage has a handful of collectibles you can find, some of which are pretty well hidden, as well as scores, and ratings, not to mention secret bonus challenge levels too. There's definitely a lot of meat on these pixelated bones.
Most levels follow the typical 2D Ninja Gaiden formula of slashing away at mostly one-shot enemies, wall-jumping and climbing across obstacles, bouncing across the top of the screen as you perform guillotine boosts in the air, and deflecting attacks—however, there's a surprising amount of stage variety in Ragebound. Early on, there's a whole segment that takes place on a motorcycle and it's fantastic. It reminded me of something that could have been ripped right out of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game. There's even a jetski level too!
While Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound doesn't have difficulty levels in the traditional sense, it goes a few steps further with its Assist Mode. This lets you fine tune and tweak several settings from the range of your attacks to the amount of damage you receive, so you can customize the difficulty to whatever feels best for you, without completely removing the challenge.
Once your whole suite of abilities is unlocked a few Acts in, things get pretty complex. For example, you can charge up more powerful attacks by sacrificing health or by killing marked enemies. It's important to time these attacks correctly because they can make taking down the bigger minions much easier.
Then you've got your basic melee attacks and the ranged attacks which can be used in any direction, plus outside of levels you can unlock and equip talismans with passive bonuses (such as refilling health when you maintain kill combos) as well as additional powers and moves. Like I said, it gets pretty complex for a seemingly simple action platformer.
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
To be perfectly honest though, many times I'd reach the end of a level and realize I rarely used anything other than the most basic attacks. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is a game that gives you tons of options for how to tackle situations, but is totally willing to just let you finesse your way through obstacles all the same if that's what you prefer.
One of my favorite elements were the demon alters in which Kenji can channel Kumori briefly for short, extremely time-sensitive platforming challenges. Usually they're required to progress through the level, but sometimes they also have collectibles tucked away you can only find if you're extra fast and efficient. They're like little secrets within secrets and feel really satisfying to discover.
Just like the trilogy of pixel-perfect NES platformers that originally put Ninja Gaiden on the map as a game series, Ragebound is tightly crafted and wonderfully paced. There is this beautiful moment that anyone who has played one of the older games for any length of time can relate to in which it starts to flow like second nature eventually. You get into a rhythm with the structure of the level after dying a dozen times, you've got the spawn points memorized, and you're able to bound across the screen, never slowing down, slicing through enemies in an effortless flow of sword slashes and blood. It might take you 20 attempts to reach that point, but when it finally clicks, it feels incredible.
One of the best seemingly small changes made with Ragebound compared to the original NES trilogy is the addition of relatively frequent checkpoints throughout levels. Since the levels are, generally, much longer, it feels necessarily from a level design and pacing perspective, but it also offers a bit of peace of mind since there aren't limited lives or continues anymore.
The result is that not only do you avoid the rage-inducing (pun intended) controller-breaking moments of frustration often found in the 8-bit games since you can just keep trying over and over, but it also means the individual sections between checkpoints can be extremely unforgiving and difficult at times since the designers know you won't have to replay the entire level before trying again.
On the one hand, especially later on, it leads to some of the most pulse-pounding and satisfying moments of crushing intensity, the likes of which I haven't seen in an action-platformer in quite sometime. But on the other hand, it sometimes makes the levels feel rather choppy since you rarely are able to maintain your flow and momentum without running into a checkpoint, wall to climb, or transition screen sprinkled throughout stages.
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
Saying anything negative about Ragebound though feels overly nitpicky, because as a whole it's just phenomenal. The pixelized art style and excellent gameplay take me back to a simpler time and you can't really put a price on that. Great retro games like Ragebound are more than just entertainment, they're time machines.
As soon as I got past the portions that the demo had already covered, I immediately felt like I was 10 years-old again, sitting crisscross on the floor, in front of an old CRT TV, with an NES controller in my hand. All of the excitement I felt beating a stage in the original games as a kid came rushing back with each section I cleared.
Music is a major part of any Ninja Gaiden game and they didn't miss with this one. I wouldn't say the music is anywhere near as memorable as the NES originals, but nostalgia plays a major role there. All the same, I did find myself humming along after sometimes hearing the same level music for 10+ minutes when I got stuck from time-to-time, but I can't really recall any of it as I'm writing this review.
Perhaps the most surprising part of my time with Ragebound though is probably the writing. The way Kenji and Kumori interact feels especially authentic with Kenji's no-nonsense serious tone about the honor of being a ninja, and Kumori's comparatively lighthearted approach to situations. They're perfect foils for one another and the result is an excellent duo.
The only other minor speed bump on this adventure for me would be the bosses. Frankly, they were just downright annoying at times. Like any classic Ninja Gaiden game, boss fights are a big part of the experience, but I do think they generally had a little bit too much health. In most fights you reach this point where you've figured out all the attacks and mechanics, so it's just kind of a test of patience to reach the end. But I usually got impatient and would get too greedy, resulting in having to start the fight over. Eventually this caused me to get less and less patient, which meant I was less and less careful, and it created a vicious cycle.
Arguably this is by design, but I'd contend that the boss fights were only truly interesting and fun the first half dozen attempts when I was still figuring things out. Knowing what to do, but not having the patience to chip away at the boss again for the tenth time, definitely got old. Still wonderful battles and worthwhile affairs, just a tad more tedious than I'd like.
Ultimately though, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is the kind of game you desperately want to keep playing. Whether you're replaying a past level to find all the collectibles, complete all the challenges, or simply beat faster than before, or you're addicted to pushing the envelope and getting further in the adventure, it's tough to put down.
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound Is A Long-Awaited Retro Revival
Ninja Gaiden is back in a big way in 2025 with the prior release of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black earlier this year and soon, Ninja Gaiden 4 in just a few short months. But much to my surprise and delight, Ryu Hayabusa's continuation into the realm of AAA 3D action elites once again does not mean the abandonment of where the series started this time around.
Hopefully, if we're lucky, Ragebound is just the start of a whole new sub-series of excellent 2D classic-style Ninja Gaiden games.
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
Platform: PC (Reviewed), Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5
Developer: The Game Kitchen
Publisher: Dotemu (licensed by Koei Tecmo)
Release Date: July 31, 2025
Price: $24.99
Score: 9/10
Disclosure: A representative on behalf of Dotemu sent me an early download code for a digital copy of Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound on Steam for the purposes of this review.