Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is an upcoming 2D side scroller set in the modern Ninja Gaiden franchise. It's being developed by The Game Kitchen, creators of Blasphemous, and published by Dotemu, known for their work with Streets of Rage 4, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, and Metal Slug Tactics.
The title was announced in December 12, 2024, at the start of The Game Awards 2024. The release date is set for 2025.
Players take control of a young ninja named Kenji Mozu who must defend Hayabusa Village in Ryu Hayabusa's absence.
Development[]
In an interview with Digital Trends, game director and producer David Jaumandreu stated that the most important thing for his team was to find out what made the original Ninja Gaiden series so timeless. Rather than simply attempting to reinvent the classic gameplay formula, they set on capturing the essence of the Arcade-roots the series had back in the 1990's, and modernize it for a new audience without forgetting about its origins. David stated that they focused on the core elements and foundations that made the 2D Ninja Gaiden titles iconic and legendary action games: gameplay, soundtrack and the challenge.
Instead of making Ragebound a true 8-bit experience, The Game Kitchen opted to fully embrace the palette of colors that modern hardware can capture, crafting beautiful pixel art inspired by vibrant 90's anime, while still retaining the artistic integrity of the original NES games. A key concept for the team was to make the sprite animations feel fluid, responsive and agile much like in the 3D reboot titles of the Ninja Gaiden series.
David stated the team wanted to make the game a frenetic hack'n slash experience, and very challenging much like classic games, but injecting modern design sensibilities so its difficulty is tough but more fair than the NES counterparts. David continues saying that they expanded the protagonist's moveset compared to the NES titles to allow fluidity while traversing the scenarios, but still focusing on a straightforward and responsive combat that it's easy to pick up and play.
Gallery[]
