Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound - Kenji and Kumori's Relentless 2D Revival

You could say the series has been in the wilderness for a while, and I wouldn’t argue. We’ve had ports, remasters, a few spin-offs trying to ride the legacy, even this year’s surprisingly polished Ninja Gaiden II Black re-release. But the beating heart of Ninja Gaiden – that specific, relentless push-and-pull of skill, speed, and precision – hasn’t really been tested in years. 2025 breaks that drought with Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, arriving before Ninja Gaiden 4, and the thing is… this one doesn’t try to be the same as the 3D titles as it pivots hard back to 2D side-scrolling, developed by The Game Kitchen, the same minds behind Blasphemous, and instead of feeling like an imitation, it welds old instincts to new mechanical ideas.

And no, you’re not playing as Ryu Hayabusa this time. He’s here, yes, but only as a figure in the background — at one point literally in the tutorial, ready to Izuna Drop you into the dirt if you think you can take him on. The lead role belongs to Kenji Mozu, one of Ryu’s students, and in an almost theatrical twist, the other playable presence is Kumori, a kunoichi from the rival Black Spider Clan. Their first meeting is born out of crisis: Ryu is called to America, a sly reference to the NES game’s events, and while he’s gone, Hayabusa Village gets hit by a coordinated demon attack. The Black Spider Clan sees opportunity here, trying to bend the demonic chaos to their will. Kumori’s mission is to seal the Demon Lord inside a dagger, but when that mission goes sideways, her soul ends up bound to Kenji’s body.

What follows is a road trip of destruction through ancient Japanese villages, towering castles, the saltwater gloom of a flooded pirate cove, the industrial grind of a construction site, and even the sterile corridors of a secret military facility. Somewhere in there, the CIA gets involved, because in Ninja Gaiden, of course, they do. The writing doesn’t hide its pulp roots, nor does it try to smooth over the absurdity, and honestly, it’s better for it. The push and pull between Kenji’s rigid Hayabusa ideals and Kumori’s sharp-tongued irreverence is the glue that holds the story beats together.

Now, mechanically, Ragebound wastes no time giving you tools that demand respect. Kenji’s katana swings are tight, with deliberate reach and speed, the kind of thing you rely on when an enemy’s in your face. Kumori’s kunai change the dynamic entirely, giving you precision kills at a distance. They share a dodge roll that’s equally useful for slipping through an incoming strike or closing the gap with a lunging attack. And when Kumori’s special weapons come into play, the arcing sickle, the chakram that slices and returns through unlucky enemies, the combat opens up further. These aren’t toys to spam, though; they eat up ki, which only fills back up if you land standard hits.

This leads straight into the Hypercharge system, a mechanic that could have been a gimmick but ends up threading itself through the entire flow of combat. You earn it by killing enemies with a specific colored aura, blue for Kenji’s katana, purple for Kumori’s kunai, or by standing still and charging at the expense of your health. One hit after Hypercharge is loaded will drop almost anything, bosses included. It’s a momentary god-mode that still makes you think because aura enemies don’t loiter; they vanish if you don’t act fast. I found myself in situations where I’d spot one on the far side of the screen and have to cut through a cluster of regular enemies to reach them before they bolted. Sometimes I made it; sometimes they escaped, and that loss carried weight.

The Guillotine Boost is another kind of rush entirely. You can bounce off practically anything – enemies, projectiles, even bosses – and gain an extra jump while dealing damage. It’s both a weapon and a way out. In combat, it’s the moment you slip over a lethal arc of attacks and come down cutting. In platforming, it’s that chain of perfectly timed bounces that carries you over spikes or stairs made of enemies. I found myself looking for excuses to use it, even in places where it wasn’t strictly necessary.

The bosses themselves, Rhyvashi, with his lightning-wielding insect form, and Deikrag, whose power forces you into constant motion, are built as tests of everything you’ve learned. They appear more than once in different forms, and instead of feeling like recycled assets, they’re recalibrated challenges. Beating one after repeated losses has that specific kind of satisfaction only a good Ninja Gaiden fight can give.

Between battles, the platforming carries its own weight. Every level hides Golden Scarabs and Crystal Skulls, tucked away to reward players willing to poke into the less obvious paths. The Demon Alters shift the perspective entirely — Kumori’s soul steps away from Kenji’s body to reach places he physically can’t. She has an energy bar ticking down the whole time, pushing you to find your path fast. Fail and you’re snapped back to Kenji, ready to try again. These segments aren’t throwaway detours; they’re small, contained puzzles dressed in the same danger as the rest of the stage.

And then there’s the replay loop. Any level you’ve cleared can be tackled again from the map, with rankings based on time, collectibles, kills, and your best combo chain. Optional challenges tempt you back in with unique conditions — no damage, only lunge kills, or that brutal tutorial duel with Ryu. That one humbled me repeatedly; he chained Izuna Drops like he was reading my inputs.

Muramasa’s shop ties the collection game into your build. Scarabs buy you talismans and new Ragebound Arts. Talismans aren’t fluff — one healed me for keeping my combo alive, another gave me Hypercharge automatically after bouncing off enough different enemies in a row. Some came with risk, like restarting the stage on death for a higher score. Ragebound Arts, powered by Rage Orbs, ranged from clearing the entire screen to putting up a shield or restoring health, and the fact that you could swap them out as you progressed gave fights a strategic layer.

My own run through the main path took about five hours, but that number’s misleading. By the time I’d replayed levels, cleared bonus missions, and chased higher scores, my clock was closer to nine hours. Hard mode unlocked once I’d finished, along with optional stages for even more of a challenge. Certain score thresholds in specific missions unlocked equipment you couldn’t buy in the shop, so there was always another reason to go back.

Visually, the game’s pixel art looks hand-tuned, from the detailed backgrounds of the pirate cove to the animations on enemies and bosses. The soundtrack leans on rock and retro tones that match the pacing of fights and traversal. That said, there are a few cracks: some environmental hazards blend into the background a little too well, late-game stages occasionally drag by throwing the same enemy types at you, and on Xbox One, heavy on-screen action caused slowdown. On current-gen hardware, I didn’t see those performance dips.

Ragebound is difficult, yes, but it’s also fair. Checkpoints are frequent enough to keep frustration at bay, and when you die, it’s because you got greedy, misjudged a jump, or forgot an enemy’s pattern. It’s a game that trusts you to learn and rewards you for doing so. And while it’s easy to see it as a warm-up for Ninja Gaiden 4, it feels too deliberate, too confident, to be treated like a mere prelude. It’s a reminder of why this series mattered in the first place, only now with Kenji and Kumori stepping into the lineage and earning their place there.