2025 IS the year of the Ninja (Ninja Gaiden games and a new Shinobi game to be released)

Ninja Gaiden has been a long-standing franchise that started as an arcade game in 1988. It was followed by the release of Ninja Gaiden for Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1989. Ninja Gaiden for NES became an instant hit, and its legacy lives on with how difficult the game was for its time. In 2004, Tecmo and Team Ninja released a reboot of Ninja Gaiden for Xbox.

Team Ninja rocked the gaming industry with a surprise, stealth drop earlier this year with the release of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black after the announcement of Ninja Gaiden 4 set to be released late 2025. Sega also announced that a new Shinobi game is set to be released in August 2025. DotEmu, the makers of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, and Streets of Rage 4 are scheduled to release Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound during Summer 2025.

So, to get ready for the release of Ninja Gaiden: Ragebond, and Ninja Gaiden 4 — I spent the better last few months replaying Ninja Gaiden Sigma 1 and 2 via Ninja Gaiden Master Collection. I also played Ninja Gaiden 2 Black for PlayStation 5. I’ve recorded all games in full playthrough, in 4k resolution, and all done through the PlayStation 5 whether it be via backwards compatibility, or straight from the console.

Ninja Gaiden Master Collection was a collection of 3 games ported to all platforms (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and PC. PlayStation 5 version was not available, but can be played via backwards compatibility.) Ninja Gaiden 2 Black was released for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, and PC. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black was a complete remake to Ninja Gaiden II that originally released on Xbox. Ninja Gaiden II was regarded as one of the best games ever made in the action genre. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black was using the Dynasty Warriors 9/Dead or Alive 4 engine with overlayed graphics of Unreal Engine 5.

Tomonobu Itagaki took helm of Ninja Gaiden’s reboot until Ninja Gaiden 3. Ninja Gaiden 4 is helmed now, by a collaboration of Team Ninja, and PlatinumGames, the creative minds behind the Nioh games. Ninja Gaiden 4 is scheduled to be released in late 2025 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, and PC. Microsoft also announced that Ninja Gaiden 4 is a Xbox Game Pass release, day and date with the retail release of the game.

Enjoy the Ninja Gaiden gameplay thus far until I’m able to release Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound and Ninja Gaiden 4 gameplay…

Ninja Gaiden [Arcade] (Playlist)

Ninja Gaiden Sigma (Playlist)

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 (Playlist)

Ninja Gaiden 2 Black (Playlist) (Review)

[Ninja Gaiden 2 Black Video Review]

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge (Playlist)

I will include some clips below for your viewing pleasure…

Thank you for reading the article, and viewing the videos. Until next time, I’ll see you later.