Ninja Gaiden was released in 1988 as “Ninja Ryūkenden,” and “Shadow Warriors” in Europe. Ninja Gaiden was originally an arcade game, where you are a Ninja, and you are to progress through the world of Ninja Gaiden in a “Beat ’em Up” gameplay style. At the same time, Tecmo was readying a version of Ninja Gaiden for the Nintendo Entertainment System console, and in the process of developing Ninja Gaiden for NES, they changed the gameplay style. That conversion to NES, drastically changed the way the game is played. It’s no longer a perfect conversion (which today we know as a “port.”) So, now, it’s no longer the “Beat ’em up” title. It’s now an action game. Upon release, the game became an instant hit. Despite the change. Tecmo saw how successful Ninja Gaiden was received, and went to work on a sequel. From here, Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos built on the original NES release, and went on to sell just as well as the original NES release. Long-term, both games has become legendary games in the Nintendo Entertainment System library. Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom was released shortly thereafter, but did not receive the same critical acclaim the first two games enjoyed. Tecmo released Ninja Gaiden Trilogy and did not sell nearly as much as the first two, and Ninja Gaiden would take a long hiatus until 2004. Tecmo and Team Ninja released a reboot of Ninja Gaiden for Xbox. Shortly thereafter, Tecmo and Team Ninja got the funding of Microsoft, to develop Ninja Gaiden II for Xbox 360. In 2008, Ninja Gaiden II was released, and has put Ninja Gaiden back on the map – notoriously known as a difficult game. Iconic, and legendary.

Team Ninja rocked the gaming industry with a surprise, stealth drop earlier this year with the release of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black after the announcement of Ninja Gaiden 4 set to be released late 2025. DotEmu, the makers of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, and Streets of Rage 4 released Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound on July 31, 2025.

Earlier this year, I played Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, and Ninja Gaiden 2 Black. I reviewed Ninja Gaiden 2 Black for PlayStation 5 because it was part of Koei Tecmo’s “Year of the Ninja” initiative. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black was released January 23, 2025 as part of a livestream “stealth” release. A surprise release.

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is a completely new game. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound takes place during the events of the original Ninja Gaiden (NES) from 1988. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and PC. This review is about Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound for PlayStation 5.

Gameplay

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is played in full high resolution for High Definition Televisions (HDTV), but the graphics are designed in such a way makes the game look like a 32-bit video game. The graphics goes beyond 16-bit as far as the style and animation goes. There is more pixel for each background, and each character designed. The best way to describe the graphics is that the pixel art is animated similarly to a 32-bit game like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Mega Man 8, Mega Man X4, or similar games. The closest the pixel art that I can describe is Mega Man X4. It had more animation per character.

Besides more pixels and smoother animation, there is more colors and more variety in effects, more variety in backgrounds.

Now, let’s talk about gameplay. I am talking about graphics because it relates to the gameplay. The game runs at 60fps locked, throughout the game, despite the 2D look, or sprites. As I said, if you played Mega Man X4, you know how the game looks – animated. Because Zero uses his saber, like a sword. Ryu’s animation is similar to the old NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) games where the sword swipes in front of you as an attack vector. You have attack, jump, and/or the combination of the two. During gameplay, you attack enemies and rack up what is known as a “hypercharged” attack by attacking enemies with auras that reflect that hypercharge. A red hypercharge will throw shuriken with more power. A blue hypercharge will “charge” your sword with a 1 hit “kill.” You can use a combination of two things at once, for example, you can bounce off enemies by jumping on top of another enemy – as a strategy. They teach you this early on. Because by the end of the game, you will use it as a strategy against… bosses.

Difficulty

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound starts off with at least two bangs, one is a hard battle with Ryu Hayabusa – in the beginning. Yes. I’m not joking, I’m not making up lies. You can play Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, and the first thing you fight is Ryu Hayabusa. You can either try winning, or you can lose. Or you can re-do the level, and try beating Ryu later. Anyway, from here, you start with a training mode of sorts, and that’s where you meet Ryu Hayabusa. Once you’re done with that part, you continue the level normally. From here, you learn how to finish the game on your own. You also battle a boss here. Starts off easy, then a bit hard, and then easy, then hard. So, the difficulty starts off with valleys, most levels are “easy,” but also the bosses raises the stakes. Each level gets harder, and harder as the game progresses. Each boss also raises difficulty, and challenge as you progress.

Story

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound takes place during the events of the original Ninja Gaiden. You play as Kenji Mozu, and Ryu Hayabusa is your mentor, but he has to go to United States to honor his father’s will, and eventually defeat demons. From here, Kenji is in Japan, defending Hayabusa Village from total extinction. During the journey, Kenji meets Kumori, and forms a partnership to defeat demons despite differences. Kumori is a Black Spider Clan member, she lent her powers to help Kenji survive and progress in Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound.

Controls

If you played any of the Ninja Gaiden games from 1989 to 1991, you will feel right at home with Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound. If you played any 2D action games in recent times, you will be right at home with Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound. One such example is a direct competitor – Shinobi: Art of Vengeance. As I mentioned before, you jump, you attack, you use a combination of the two, and once you get used, once you get acclimated to the controls, you feel comfortable. By the end of the game, you get comfortable that you want to challenge the big bad bosses.

Graphics

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound uses pixel art, in the vein of Mega Man X4. Ragebound seems to play like a 32-bit Video Game. Ragebound looks colorful, runs smooth at 60fps, and is responsive. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound plays like a beautiful love letter to Ninja Gaiden fans from the 80’s. The graphics are well done to help tell the story, especially in the background – I won’t spoil it, but backgrounds do have storylines being told.

User Interface

There’s not much to say or talk about with regards to the user interface, because it’s as simple as they come. The user interface is really, really basic, and does not really “hand-hold” you. It is so simple that you will understand 90% of the game already by the time you get to the 3 major bosses – I won’t spoil it, but once you reach that point, you know how to play the game. And once you defeat those 3 major bosses, your difficulty will spike so hard.

Music & Sound

The highlight of Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, believe it or not is actually the music, and the sounds. You won’t immediately understand it, but once you reach a major, or hard boss, the music starts ramping up and starts delivering the kind of musical score that Ninja Gaiden games are known for. Ninja Gaiden since inception has always been known for music. You go to arcades, and you find a Ninja Gaiden arcade cabinet, you will immediately get the sounds and music popping off. By the time you get Ninja Gaiden for NES, you expect the same level of quality. By the time you get the Ninja Gaiden reboots (like the recently released Ninja Gaiden 2 Black), you expect the music to hype you up. The sounds go along with the gameplay, and is loud.

CarlosX360’s Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound Gameplay Playlist

Carlos’ Verdict

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is a beautiful love letter to Ninja Gaiden fans who grew up playing. With beautiful pixel art that seems reminiscent of 32-bit Video Games. Ragebound is an action game that ramps up difficulty as you play, but has valleys in between to keep you engaged with the game. Music and sound matches the action to help you stay hyped for what’s next. Ragebound is basically a linear game, but has secrets that prolong the gameplay. Replay value is high depending on what you’re looking to do in Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound.

Rating: 70/100