Ninja Gaiden is again with a vengeance. Final month, Koei Tecmo shock launched Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, an Unreal Engine 5 remake of an Xbox 360 basic. It’ll comply with up on that later this 12 months with Ninja Gaiden 4, the primary authentic sport within the collection in over a decade. That might be a busy 12 months for any franchise, not to mention an extended formant one returning to type, but it surely isn’t stopping there. This 12 months may even convey Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, a 2D spin on the collection from the retro masters at Dotemu and The Sport Kitchen.
It’s an ideal collection for that form of remedy. In spite of everything, Ninja Gaiden started its life in arcades and on the NES as an old-fashioned beat-em-up. Can that method nonetheless resonate with trendy audiences who know the collection extra for its beloved 3D installments that outlined the Xbox 360 era? Based mostly on my first hands-on demo, which toured me by a handful of Ragebound’s ranges over an hour, Dotemu is cooking up one other polished retro revival that isn’t simply out to money in on nostalgia. It’s a return to a basic style that was neither broke, nor in want of fixing.
2D motion guidelines
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is about across the occasions of the collection NES installment. Whereas Ryu is off in America on a quest for vengeance, Kenji units out on his personal quest again at dwelling. I didn’t get a full sense of the story fairly but throughout my demo, but it surely looks as if Dotemu is holding it easy. There are some crystals to be collected and Kenji is the person for the job.
Inside seconds, I can see Ragebound’s precise imaginative and prescient. I’m tossed into a fast introductory stage that has me working proper and slashing my sword as ninjas and monsters encompass me. Should you’ve ever performed basic facet scrollers just like the Sega Genesis’ Castlevania: Bloodlines, you’ll really feel proper at dwelling. I can solely assault straight forward, blocking projectiles with my sword, and deal with some mild platforming with a mix of wall jumps and ceiling hangs. It’s the definition of a sport that feels the way in which you keep in mind previous video games feeling.
That opening is a bit of deceptively easy, although. After I study these fundamentals, I’m tossed into a correct tutorial that teaches me extra nuances. On the motion facet, there’s my hover soar which lets me bounce off of projectiles and a dodge roll. For offense, I can do a ahead sprint strike by urgent assault and my proper bumper on the identical time. The primary trace of a correct method twist comes after I find out about charged assaults. If I hit an enemy with a blue aura round it, my subsequent assault might be souped up, letting me lower by huge enemies in a single swipe. If a glowing enemy isn’t close by, I can as a substitute maintain the assault button and eat a little bit of my well being to get the identical energy. It’s a small little bit of useful resource administration, however one which peppers a little bit of risk-reward play in.
I get the cling of that pretty rapidly as I transfer by phases fastidiously designed to pay that system off. Beefy enemies are at all times fastidiously positioned close to ones with glowing auras, letting me activate and check that energy in a quick, fluid method. Collectibles are scattered all through phases that require me to make use of my hover soar to vault over pots spewing molten balls. I as soon as once more assume I’ve the cling of all of it till Dotemu springs one other twist on me.
Gamers really management two characters directly in the principle sport: Kenji and Kuromi. The latter widens my moveset, as I can press B to throw a projectile ahead or Y to arc one other upwards. Doing so prices a pink power that may be regained by killing enemies. That twist turns Ragebound right into a extra advanced platformer than it seems to be in its preliminary slash-em-up ranges. For one, the enemies that increase my assault will both develop pink or blue, so I have to hit them with the appropriate assault to get the buff. It provides a little bit of colour matching puzzle work to the fight, rewarding me for utilizing all my assaults as a substitute of spamming one.
Quickly sufficient, I’m utilizing Kuromi’s powers to maneuver by timed traversal gauntlets which have me utilizing my projectiles to teleport over spike pits. In a seaside stage, I have to cross water gaps by bouncing off of leaping fish utilizing Kenji’s hover slash. There’s a little bit of depth to it, however not sufficient that it feels faraway from the video games that preceded it. It’s a pure evolution of the 2D format that we fairly might have gotten within the 90s.
After all, no retro facet scroller could be full with out some boss fights that require mastery of every system. The very best one I performed put me up in opposition to two sea serpents who popped up on both facet of a rickety wood platform. I needed to slash at one whereas avoiding its projectiles, often leaping to a excessive platform to keep away from a stream of fireside. One telegraphed slam assault marks it with a blue aura, permitting me to get my cost assault and stun one of many creatures briefly. It’s a 2D thrill that feels extra lively that your typical dodge-and-attack battle.
It comes as no shock that Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is feeling so fine-tuned. Dotemu is dedicated to creating basic video games that don’t simply really feel like cynical money grabs, however like correct continuations of the franchises we left behind within the 90s. The Sport Kitchen is a good accomplice to deal with that imaginative and prescient for Ninja Gaiden, as its Blasphemous video games efficiently convey trendy iteration into 2D adventures constructed from wealthy pixel artwork. Ragebound embraces custom at each flip, staying true to its roots with out merely wheeling out a nostalgic schtick. If the ultimate sport is as enjoyable as what I’ve performed right here, there’s an excellent probability it might steal Ninja Gaiden 4’s highlight.
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound launches later this 12 months for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Collection X/S, Nintendo Change, and PC.
