Review Introduction
NINJA Gaiden: Ragebound is a masterclass 2D action side-scroller by Game Kitchen, and Published by Dotemu while being overseen by Koei Tecmo making it the first outsourced NINJA Gaiden game since the critically panned Yaiba: NINJA Gaiden Z. Yaiba left such a sour taste in Team NINJA's mouth that the thought of them ever outsourcing a full game again seemed dangerous to not only that division, but the most diehard player. Thankfully, Dotemu has stepped in with a pedigree for hardcore retro action utilizing Game Kitchen successfully while raising awareness for one of the best franchises of all time.
Game Kitchen has lifted a curse that has haunted Koei Tecmo for years as this is one of the best games in the franchise; certainly better than the classic 2D trilogy, but Ragebound doesn't disrespect their legacy in any way and honors the very nature that the old Tecmo games presented while giving you the extra challenge from bosses that you'd want while combining the intense platforming formula with a familiar musical score from various NES MIDI sound designers.
Storyline & Cinematics
Ragebound's prologue starts the storyline in a positive direction putting players in a special situation that demonstrates Game Kitchen knows what the NG audience wants and that they are familiar with NG lore and the beloved characters that follow it.
Without spoiling main highlights, this feels like a sequel to NINJA Gaiden 2, and there are a few character-driven surprises despite Ryu Hayabusa being MIA for the majority of the game seeing as he has business to take care of concerning his father, Joe.
Our new main character for Ragebound, Kenji Mozu, is surprisingly excellent despite being less of a ninja than Hayabusa he is a force to be reckoned with and is a lot more impulsive than the pragmatic Ryu... and Kenji completes this character quality with a cocky and sometimes egotistical personality.
He's tasked with figuring out why fiends are scattering about the world after the fall of Vazdah, a fiend that was summoned by Dagra Dai and defeated the same day by Hayabusa. Peace should be restored, but instead fiends are multiplying, which is confusing governments and task forces such as the CIA.
The Black Spider Clan is now once again being led by Obaba after Genshin's defeat by the hands of Hayabusa in NINJA Gaiden 2 and they are involved to some degree with this 'fiend virus' scenario. Kenji meets with a newer member of the Black Spider Clan named Kumori the kunoichi who is found in a deadly situation and is forced to fuse her soul with Kenji allowing us to deep dive further into the powers of the Black Spider Clan and could partially explain Obaba's ability to come back to life.
Hayabusa's wise-man Muramasa returns to the NINJA Gaiden franchise to help Kenji on his journey assisting as he usually does. After he discovers Kumori's soul is fused with Kenji, he digs into the lore a little bit saying that he was in a similar situation with Obaba and was maybe even romantically linked and fused with her. I like this addition to the Black Spider Clan; it adds some more context to the group while not overwhelming or overcomplicating the player.
Between Game Kitchen's Kenji and Kumori, Platinum's Yakumo looking to assist Hayabusa and even within Yaiba there has always been a need for The Hayabusa Clan to find inner peace by connecting with people that they normally wouldn't have any sort of alliance with and might even detest. NINJA Gaiden is not just about Ryu Hayabusa, it's about connecting with people you don't normally trust so that the greater good of mankind can be retained.
The story is not something that people are going to expect much from when you constitute how well this title plays, but Ragebound's storyline is actually really fucking good, and it serves a purpose while entertaining the player and giving them something to look forward to after completing each brutally hard mission.
Graphical Capabilities
Now while the worst news about this entire game is that the Nintendo Switch version only runs at 30 FPS, thankfully this is the Steam version being reviewed, because when you sign up for the Nintendo ecosystem; you're always going to get situations like that due to Nintendo's poor performance machines that come off as over-priced toys more than they do actual gaming systems.
There is a lot going on with Ragebound's graphics because you are treated to plenty of dazzling effects that only 2D action games can offer and Game Kitchen serves your enemies on the most beautiful of platters. Enemies are always jumping into the fight with incredible entrances that are almost as grand as the Super NINJA himself.
Most of the environments look superb and pay tribute to the style of old, but not everyone has gone crazy, and Game Kitchen has kept their focus on the fiends and military while making both entities look as menacing as they possibly can. In the old games you could look at a pigeon wrong and it would come from the fucking sky with a flock to tear your eyes out.
This style is preferred - let's focus on the enemies that truly matter to the game. I can't help but feel like there is a Nioh & Yokai sort of touch to the enemies showcased by Game Kitchen, but there is no doubt in my mind that they studied the NG franchise up and down (given they actually know who Vazdah is) especially when you constitute the powerful and disgusting (in a good way) greater fiends they've created.
The landscapes are nice and with every passing level I looked forward to what I was going to see next on top of the game having really cool comic book style retro cut scenes. The attacks and animations of both protagonists and the enemies add to the bad ass factor that is supposed to be present in ALL NINJA Gaiden games.
Audio & Soundtrack Sample
For my reviews, I like to deep-drive into the music right away, but with Ragebound I can't help but mention the audio effects first. I'm a big fan of steel meeting steel with epic clashes of swords and metal. Ragebound brings in these sounds better than most games ever get the chance to because there is actual clashing going on constantly.
Not only that, but the sounds of cutting your enemies in half NEVER gets old and I'm always looking forward to hearing it again and again. There is this intrinsic feeling that passes over you whenever you play because Game Kitchen has thought of everything.
The soundtrack is impeccable from start to finish. You feel like you've been teleported to the 90s with high-definition audio without missing the MIDI mix. This is probably due to the epic contributors in the audio department. Guest composers Keiji Yamagishi, Ryuichi Niita, and Kaori Nakabai (the original NES trilogy composers) led by the incredible Sergio de Prado blend and fuse a vigorous soundtrack that will immerse you into the action like a Biwa going straight up your ass.
This wasn't just your typical audio mix match with some star-studded names in the industry it's another collaborative effort that has paid off. If you see Dotemu in the title you know for certain that you are getting a killer soundtrack from the start of the game to the finish and this has been proven many times by Shredder's Revenge and Streets of Rage 4 being highlights to my case.
Replay Value
The replay value is an interesting topic because on one hand I absolutely wanted more, and I was progressively getting sad the closer I got to the end because I wanted to spend more time with these characters, and I wanted even more bosses and environments to mess around with. Then I realized, this is a good thing, Death!
For the price of 24.99 you absolutely cannot go wrong with purchasing this game considering that there are well over 20 levels to enjoy in totality when you add the special spec-ops missions. That's like one dollar per level, and that alone is worth it. We haven't even discussed the upgrade shop or the harder difficulties and speed-runs you could involve yourself in.
Like most games published by Dotemu, they have a certain standard for each level, so you are going to be completing difficult challenges to 100% each one and some of them are ridiculously challenging and will take hours of practice to complete.
The upgrade shop setup by Muramasa will also keep your mind engaged. You can buy various skill arts and talismans with the golden scarabs you acquire on your mission, and they change up the game entirely. Every time you play you will be thinking "oh you know what this talisman could REALLY come in handy for this boss/stage."
They don't feel remotely tacked on and these items don't make you OP or create a braindead experience. Ragebound will always be down to spank you whenever you have the itch to be spanked and it's going to give you options that make each of those spankings feel good.
Gameplay & Mechanics
The moment you've all been waiting for... how does the gameplay stack up to the prestigious NINJA Gaiden franchise? This is absolutely the reason most people are going to buy and play the game to begin with and those that do will not be disappointed because Game Kitchen delivers on all fronts. The game starts off relatively easy, giving players a false sense of bravado that it's going to be a simple game, but the first thing that becomes difficult is not the platforming stages, but the bosses.
There is a fiend that goes by the name Obsidrae and she's not only visually revolting, but she's here to offer you a checkpoint of skill and to bring you back down to earth. This is where you will learn the importance of timing and position within Ragebound, and she's as vicious as a boss can be giving you plenty to keep your eyes on. She defeated me several times before I got my first kill on her and I felt my heart skipping. I don't know if it was love at first sight or the fact that I've been put into a situation that is difficult while following the rules of NINJA Gaiden for the first time in a very long time I felt renewed.
This game isn't just a sequel to NINJA Gaiden 2's storyline, but also a proper conversion from the 3D world to the 2D world. Just like essence and kill spots are essential for professional NG2 players, the same remains here for 2D purposes. Yes, the Rage Art (Kunai Barrage specifically) does a shit ton of damage, but if you don't time it properly during a boss fight, it's actually not going to help you as much as you might think. Using it at the beginning is a bad idea, because Phase 1 is usually the easiest part of the fight, and ending the fight with your special move is kind of difficult because you want to make sure that you extinguish all of your Ki before the fight ends. And before you ask, no, there are no frivolous boss fights where the boss is immune before the next phase.
After getting my ass kicked by Obsidrae I was slightly humbled but was still thinking "well at least the platforming and enemies on the stages are easy." Wrong. While they are easier than the boss fights overall, the stages themselves get progressively harder over time and require more platforming and enemy dismemberment. Most of the enemies will follow you if they can because they want to fuck with your speedrun so figuring out runaway strategies is a must which introduces us to the "Guillotine Throw" mechanic which has become a popular head-on parry mechanic in 2D since Cuphead was released years ago.
With this mechanic at hand think of it like Burnout Revenge, you are rewarded for properly crashing into other cars, but in this case, you are rewarded for crashing into various environments or enemies... it gives you a nice, boosted jump if timed correctly and can get you out of harm's way. There are also talismans and arts (as mentioned earlier) that can boost the performance of mechanics. My favorite is the one that boosts the guillotine throw's purpose by giving a hyper charged attack if you get three parries in a row on different targets.
Hyper charged attacks happen to be that one powerful move that gives you a tantalizing feeling of satisfaction every time you pull it off. You can get these attacks by default by hitting an enemy with a mele attack (blue highlights around the enemy) or a projectile attack (pink highlights). Using your hyper attack properly is a different story. You want to save it for heavier enemies that take more than one hit if you can, but the enemies in this game know this and will attempt body blocking their biggest allies if they see an opening to do it.
While Obsidrae was definitely a wakeup boss, the real skill checkpoint here is Delkrag another greater fiend that will absolutely destroy you with pure offense and range of attacks. The best way to tackle a boss like this is to first realize that you must accept the art of dying. Because you will get better and better with each try, but the patterns don't leave you in the clear. There are lots of situational things that don't feel scripted that can happen and ruin your pattern and train of thought.
First time encounters will always be the most punishing when you get to this point because you aren't sure yet what talisman or art you may want to use for the boss fight. The reward to punishment ratio is mythical by today's standards. The platforming and first-time collecting take time so if you want to rage quit and restart with different equipment... you will pay the price to do that.
The platforming in missions is extended by Kumori's ability to reach a demon plane that isn't seen by Kenji. When you rest in these demonic objects Kumori's soul emerges in a viewable form that allows her to platform and reach heights that Kenji can't. These add to the value of the difficulty and are also a lot of fun. She's limited with time in these segments (which can make them a real challenge) but at the very least; she can't die during these segments but will be forced to retry often.
You also get to have a lot of one-on-one time with Kumori, and levels like hers are just as fun as those of Kenji and they prove that Game Kitchen has crafted a great 2 in 1 character combination.
By the time you get to Rhyvashi (another greater fiend) you are going to start to realize that getting dominated is going to become a regular part of your routine as you learn all the dynamics of this engaging action game. By the end of this game, you will certainly remember it and specific scenes such as dangling from a helicopter as enemies assault you from every known angle, or cruising on a motorcycle or jet ski while avoiding dangerous environments and enemies.
Overall Rating
NINJA Gaiden: Ragebound is an insanely awesome game, it's hard to find serious flaws with it, especially if you are a fan of the original trilogy and enjoyed the 3D games as well. What does it do the best though? It doesn't need to give you 100 hit combos on weak enemies to give you that feeling of "oh wow I accomplished this!" This game is not Shinobi, or Streets of Rage... it's the best of NINJA Gaiden through and through with the biggest complaint being that you will want more before the end even comes.
Dotemu should seriously consider a trilogy with more playable and recurring characters from the original source material. Upon that being done we would have a new trilogy present for the modern day and for anyone that missed treasures from the past.
✮✮✮✮✮
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