The Game Awards reaffirmed its place as the year’s premier showcase for game reveals at last night’s 10th-anniversary ceremony, kicking things off with a surprising announcement of a newNinja Gaidengame. Rather than continuing the character action style of the series' 6th-generation reboot, the newly announcedNinja Gaiden: Rageboundis a decidedly old-school-looking title that calls back to the original NES trilogy of brutally difficult action platformers. And while the prospect of a newNinja Gaidengame is exciting in itself, the reveal ofRagebound’s developer and publisher should have fans of the classic games optimistic given both studios' pedigree.
Handling development duties forNinja Gaiden: Rageboundis none other than The Game Kitchen, which has a strong track record with side-scrolling action platformers thanks to the studio’s work on the critically acclaimedBlasphemousgames. Even ifRageboundturns out to be a standard action platformer and not a Metroidvania, The Game Kitchen’s work onBlasphemousbodes well for its combat and traversal. Additionally,Rageboundis being published by DotEmu, which continues to establish itself as a publishing house capable of taking dormant franchises and reinventing them for a modern audience. With DotEmu and The Game Kitchen working together, it seems like this new iteration ofNinja Gaidenis in good hands.
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound’s Gameplay and Visuals Seem to Play to The Game Kitchen’s Strengths
Anyone who has played either the firstBlasphemousor its sequel can attest to both games' quality, particularly where their pixel art, animations, and presentation are concerned. Thereveal ofNinja Gaiden: Rageboundimmediately shows off the retro-inspired title playing to The Game Kitchen’s strengths in these areas, with its fully animated cutscenes and fluid movement during both the combat and traversal halves of its gameplay. Even though they’re incredibly difficult games, the original NES trilogy ofNinja Gaidentitles were some of the smoothest and most responsive action platformers of their day, and a similar sentiment can be shared about theBlasphemousgames' place in the crop of modern Metroidvania titles.
Ragebound’s new protagonist (who is seen interacting withNinja Gaiden’s mainstayRyu Hayabusain the trailer) is shown navigating platforming sections with ease while also displaying a wide variety of impressive combat moves that are all fluidly animated and precise in a way that would make both the old-schoolNinja Gaidengames and bothBlasphemoustitles proud. And while only one boss is shown off in the trailer, the likelihood ofNinja Gaiden: Rageboundincluding some intricately detailed and grotesque boss designs like the boss enemies fromBlasphemousandBlasphemous 2seems high with The Game Kitchen at the helm.
DotEmu Has a Strong Track Record of Reviving Dormant Franchises
Along with having a vetted developer handling the game’s creation,Ninja Gaiden: Rageboundalso happens to feature publishing from DotEmu, which has made a name for itself by reviving long-dormant franchises in retro-inspired titles featuring modern touches. The company’s most successful game to date isStreets of Rage 4, but several other beloved games feature publishing from DotEmu that breathe life into once prominent series lost to the annals of history. Some of the more noteworthy DotEmu projects include:
DotEmu can now addNinja Gaidento its growing roster of games, which sees it joining some esteemed company in terms of legendary late 80s and 90s game franchises. A return of theNinja Gaidenfranchise was something that many fans have been asking for, especially givenTeam Ninja’s continued success in the Soulslike genre. WhileNinja Gaiden: Rageboundmight be a new game in the franchise more geared toward longtime fans of the classic entries, it appears that the title is in good hands for the project to do the series justice.
