Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound Already Feels Like the Next Great Side-Scroller
Replaying the classics.
For a side-scrolling platformer, feel is everything. You can have a gorgeous game with a rocking soundtrack, but if a platformer doesn’t feel good to play, it won’t get anywhere. It’s been over three decades since the Ninja Gaiden series was a side-scroller, and needless to say video games have changed profoundly in that time. Could a new Ninja Gaiden feel both modern and still harness what made those original games so special? I’m pleased to say that after playing a few hours of Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, it feels like the answer is a resounding yes.
Ragebound is the first side-scrolling entry in the franchise in 33 years, and a massive collaboration between three studios — Koei Tecmo, publisher Dotemu (Streets of Rage 4), and developer The Game Kitchen (Blasphemous). In that trinity there’s a staggering amount of experience with metroidvanias and side-scrollers, and it shines through clear as day in Ragebound.
Picking up immediately after the events of the original NES, you play as the fledgling ninja Kenji Mozu — who’s filling in for Ryu Hayabusa’s role in battling the demon hordes. Interestingly, Ragebound will also have a second playable character, a Spider Assassin named Kumori, who looks like they have a drastically different playstyle. My 90-minute demo only gave me a feel for Kenji, but what’s there already has me itching to see more.
What’s immediately apparent about Ragebound, after getting your hands on a controller for even just 30 seconds, is how exceptionally responsive the controls feel. That sense of responsiveness was also crucial to the original games, but by modern standards they can feel imprecise and a bit floaty. That’s absolutely not the case with Ragebound, every single input is immediately seen on-screen and you can effortlessly pull off wild jumps, dodges, and attacks with Kenji.
“What we are trying to do with this game is combine the classic elements that defined Ninja Gaiden as a classic, and combine them with the more modern stuff the 3D series brought to the table,” says game director David Jaumandreu, “So mixing that immediate straightforward precise gameplay, with new new kinds of skills and, of course, new quality of life to bring it up to the standards of the present era.”
Ragebound’s aesthetic brings a modern sheen to traditional pixel art.
That’s honestly the best way to describe Ragebound, almost like if you took the intensity and combo-focus of the 3D games and grafted that onto a side-scrolling plane. The gameplay systems of Ragebound are initially deceptively simple, easy to pick up and play but with clear layers to really mastering them.
If you’ve never played the Ninja Gaiden games, essentially you’re moving your character along that 2D plane and have to platform over obstacles and take down enemies along the way, usually culminating in some kind of big boss battle at the end of a level with unique mechanics. You essentially have two actions to start with, a jump and an attack. Sounds simple enough, but the timing of when you use those attacks is absolutely key.
If you hit at the exact right time you can parry enemies blows, and if you use it in mid-air on an enemy or projectile, you can do the iconic Ninja Gaiden spin attack. This is used both for combat and platforming, letting you bounce around the screen like a pinball if you time everything exactly right.
Both playable characters will have their own unique style and skillset.
Amidst all this your character’s mobility is key, as he can grab the ceiling and climb on it, jump off walls, and more. When everything clicks together Ragebound feels like a deadly ballet, where you’re slaughtering enemies in an effortlessly pulling off incredible moves that chain your strikes a together. The sense of speed and movement in Ragebound is absolutely the game’s special sauce, simultaneously making it feel innovative and exciting, while still true to the original game’s vision.
There seem to be extra elements that layer on top of the core foundation, like a gauge that lets you execute special attacks — while the second playable character also has her own unique mechanics. It’ll be interesting to see how all those elements factor in, but the most important piece, the foundation, is absolutely rock solid. That’s not even to mention the astoundingly gorgeous art style that blends a retro feel with sleek modern animation — making that sense of speed even more enthralling.
Between Ragebound and the recently-announced Ninja Gaiden 4, it’s starting to feel like Koei Tecmo is making all the right decisions in bringing the legendary franchise back to life.
