Well, if you wanted an thrilling start to The Game Awards, they nailed it. This means that if you’re of a certain age, you’ll be excited to see the return of one of the most iconic action franchises of all time – Ninja Gaiden! The all-new 2D action title is called Ninja Gaiden Ragebound and is produced by developer The Game Kitchen together with DotEmu on behalf of the publisher.
For anyone who enjoys 2D recreations, this is thrilling news in itself, as they are the publishers of the stellar games Streets of Rage 4 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredders Revenge. Meanwhile, The Game Kitchen has been working on the Blasphemous games recently, preparing them perfectly for challenging but fair 2D combat.
From the miniature trailer we’ve all seen, it looks like the developers are staying close to the original 2D art style rather than opting for high-resolution images, and that Ninja Gaiden star Ryu Hayabusa will return in some way. However, he was not the main character in the trailer. This seemed to fall, as in the original game, on an unnamed ninja dressed in blue. Perhaps in Ragebound she will gain a name and a tragic story of her own to rival Ryu’s. Won’t that be nice?
As the trailer makes clear, there’s plenty of 2D action to immerse yourself in, combining brutal, seemingly parry-heavy combat with jumping, spinning, leaping and darting around levels as you move through the various areas. Modern gamers may remember the recent 3D Ninja Gaiden games that were recently remastered, while those of us of a certain age remember the 8-bit heyday of the first games in the series.
Ninja Gaiden Ragebound is scheduled for release in Summer 2025 – stay tuned to TheSixthAxis for more news on this and everything else related to The Game Awards!
