Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound review - A blood-spattered blast from the past that leaves a mark

The Ninja Gaiden series has a long history with difficulty, as developers test the patience of players by throwing difficult bosses at them after long levels filled with enemy patterns to remember, or foes that will gank you as soon as you walk on-screen. For the players that have come to revel in this masochism, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound should appease you, though I’d say it’s still much easier than the 3D cousins in the franchise. If you want mega-hard challenges, then it’s likely Ninja Gaiden 4 will have your back.

This side-scroller from The Game Kitchen attempts to look at both the past and at the history of the series, pulling inspiration from classic platforming brawlers, for better or worse. Looking over the game’s visuals and chiptune soundtrack, it’s clear that this outing for our Hayabusa ninja is deeply rooted in a genre that was once the backbone of the SNES and Mega Drive/Genesis, and while it works the majority of the time, there are some things best left in the past.

That doesn’t include the art direction here, which uses pixel graphics in stunning landscapes and great character design. Yes, it’s retro, but the freedom of movement gained by using pixel art adds a layer of charm that is undeniable. It’s all flashy abilities accentuated by colourful swishes and swoops, and when our Ninja hero merges with a Spider Clan goon, the interplay between vibrant blues and almost neon purples is lush.

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The crackling and crunchy soundtrack is the perfect accompaniment, with tunes that will have players nodding their head, or tapping their feet. Guitars shred, synths blare, and it’s all put together with a brashness that evokes a 1990s arcade; the only thing missing is the stale cigarette smoke and the jangling of coins.

The story is also very reminiscent of the 1990s, or even earlier, with a kitsch tale of two rival ninjas coming together to save their clans, first battling demons pouring from a swirly gate, then against an evil force that is using said demons to create super soldiers. The narrative sweeps us through the usual haunts; docks, warehouses, mansions, forests, but also takes the player to fight on top of a bullet train, or on the back of a motorcycle that leaps through the air.

It’s all very preposterous in the best way possible, making the films of Jean-Claude Van Damme or Steven Seagal look rather tame. It works for the most part, because the world is never taken too seriously, bordering on Saturday morning cartoons, but shown on Adult Swim to allow for plenty of blood spatter and oozing viscera. This is a fitting surface hiding deep fighting and platforming mechanics.

Players start out playing as Kenji Mozu, a trainee of Ryu Hayabusa, trying to save his village and clan from demons. Then, as the story progresses, and many demons are sliced to pieces, we meet Kumori, of the Black Spider Clan, a rival to Kenji. The two are forced together, literally, as Kumori allows Kenji to plunge a dagger into her, transferring her consciousness and spiritual form into his body.

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From here, you can use the ranged fighting abilities of Kumori, as well as the base ninja skills of Kenji. This produces slicing and dicing with katana in hand, peppering enemies with kunai from afar, also. Movement through the levels comes from the naturally frenetic motion of Kenji, interspersed with a guillotine drop - pressing jump when landing on an enemy or projectile - that bounces you further along, creating chain reactions of movement. It’s slick, and incredibly satisfying, and it’s certain to be a speedrunner’s dream.

A core component of the combat comes from auras surrounding enemies, either blue or pink. Blue means that an attack from Kenji will gather the aura, while pink must be obtained using Kumori’s skills. Once this energy is pulled into our heroes, the very next attack will be a one-hit kill on any grunt or minion. Though this is a great addition, and works well often, there are frustrating moments where you could be attacking quickly and waste the power-up on a weak enemy, rather than the hulking, tanky foes this mechanic is intended for. There are also too many instances where I would attack an enemy with an aura and simply not receive the buff.

This can be shrugged off in the levels, because holding the attack button consumes a chunk of health and converts it into the power-up, but with bosses, it’s another matter, often ruining the flow.

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And it’s a shame because the bosses are pretty brilliant, whether they’re monstrous demons covered in spikes, human hybrids sprouting tentacles, or hideous creatures pulled from a nightmare. Each provides a varying level of difficulty, with some taking me only a few attempts, and others seeing an hour pass on the clock before I could beat them.

Perhaps my biggest frustration here is that many of those failures were not skill issues. The aforementioned issue with not getting the aura power-up happened far too often, sometimes being the crucial factor between winning or losing. Then there were the times when I would swear my hit box was nowhere near close enough to take damage, and yet I lost a chunk of health.

In one boss fight, the aura enemies they chucked at me in the form of spikes were practically impossible to hit without them being destroyed by the rampaging boss first. This felt like bad design. Some of those poor design choices leaked into the smaller enemies too. Often, grunts would throw a projectile or shoot a gun with laser precision the moment you saw them. It’s clearly an enemy to be memorised as you replay through the levels, but that doesn’t stop it from feeling cheap.

Then there’s the fact that if you’re hanging from a rope and fighting, getting hit will often just knock you into a bottomless pit, rather than give you a moment to regain control. And likely my biggest peeve here, and one that all too many games are guilty of, is unskippable animations and scenes leading into boss fights.

There’s one boss, later in the game, that bursts from a train, a ‘cut scene’ of around 10–15 seconds. This is a tough boss, and I sat through that animation countless times, getting more and more irate because not only have I already seen it, but now my momentum is lost. Just let me skip it, and get to the fight.

The last few paragraphs have had me going on a bit of a rant, and that’s because I actually loved playing Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound. It’s one of the best brawler platformers I’ve played for some time, and because it’s usually so good, those glaring issues stand out even more.

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I’ve not even discussed the oddly jarring demon moments where you take control of Kumori for platforming challenges that feel like they’re designed to frustrate more than thrill. Jumping between enemies, hitting orbs to keep her demon power topped up until you reach a shortcut to be opened, or a collectible. Too many times I saw Kumori vanish back to Kenji’s body after failing because she simply refused to grab onto a platform, or an enemy sniped me as I entered a corridor.

Very few of these issues can be avoided by upgrading abilities via the in-game shop, where you trade jewelled beetles for items to be equipped. A nice addition, particularly when you can augment attacks or skills, and some will even make the game harder to offer a better ranking score at the end of a level. There are also scrolls hidden away that unlock bonus levels, making for a more extreme challenge, which will please fans who want to score big or show off skills.

On the whole, I got a lot of joy from Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, and perhaps in different hands, more skilled hands, the opinion would be even more positive. Perhaps those who will play this, yearning for the days of TMNT in a grotty arcade will get a kick out of the quirks and eccentricities here. I have my complaints, but I’d still recommend this game to everyone I know who likes a challenge or appreciates the retro style.

Pros: Delightful visual and sound design, intense and satisfying combat, great bosses, cool movement mechanics

Cons: Some poor design choices in features, uneven combat moments

For fans of: Ninja Gaiden, Streets of Rage, Shinobi, Sekiro

7/10: Very Good

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is available now on PC (version tested), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S|X, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch 1 & 2. A review code was provided by the publisher. Read a guide to our review scores here.