Ninja Gaiden made its debut in 1988 and the title quickly became popular for its action gameplay and high degree of difficulty, which continued later on for the Xbox release.
The game first appeared for NES and was brought back for the SNES in 1995. Team Ninja then worked on the version for the Xbox, which featured the difficulty from previous releases.
But before the series was super realistic, Ninja Gaiden (1988) was an arcade game that featured a nameless ninja trying to find and defeat the bad guys. The game gave players a variety of moves to use them against enemies and the character had to fight mostly with his bare hands. A sword was available as a power-up.
Ninja Gaiden returned two years later with Ninja Gaiden II: The Sword of Chaos, which now featured the ability to climb walls and invincible copies of the game’s main character, Ryu.
In 1991, Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom was released. The gameplay remained almost the same and more about the characters from the previous release was revealed. It is the first Ninja Gaiden to have limited continues and also the first to make your opponents attacks stronger. Like the first two releases, the game was ported to other systems.
Collection and Other Games
Four years later, the game had become popular, so a collection of the three games was released for the SNES. The games were almost the same, but a few things were changed, including parts of the music for the cutscenes. The Ninja Gaiden trilogy is now difficult to find as many gamers collect them.
The series would continue to make appearances for the Game Boy and many other systems. The Game Boy version was actually a prequel for the original game while the following games for other systems featured new storylines and characters that were not part of the first games. A Ninja Gaiden game for the Sega Genesis was in development in the early 1990’s but was never released.
The series then took an eight year break after the trilogy, coming back in 2004 for the Xbox. The story did not continue the events from the previous releases, instead, it was a prequel to the first NES games. The game brought back Ryu Hayabusa, who is out to get revenge and retrieve the Dark Dragon Blade from the bad guys after his team was taken out. The game received great reviews, sales were good as well.
Ninja Gaiden and Updated Versions
A second version of the game called Ninja Gaiden Black was released a year later. The second game brought new content, game modes and a few other features. A port for the PS3 called Ninja Gaiden Sigma was released two years later. This version brought a new playable character and a few other improvements. The updated versions would continue, this time for the PlayStation Vita. Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus added a number of costumes for the playable characters and a new trophy list.
Ninja Gaiden II was released in 2008, this time for the Xbox 360. The story takes place one year after the events of the 2004 release and comes with four difficulty levels. The PS3 and PlayStation Vita would later get their own versions called Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 and Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus.
The series continued with a third game called Ninja Gaiden III. Koei Tecmo announced it at the Tokyo Game Show but it would be a little different as its director left after the release of the 2008 game. The game, released for the Xbox 360 and PS3, made a number of changes to the gameplay.
A second version called Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge was released eight months later. This game was first released for the Wii U, but it arrived to the PS3 and Xbox 360 a few months later.
The latest game, Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, was unveiled in September of 2012. The game was released for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2014. Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z featured a lot of the things from previous titles, but did not have good reviews.
Rumors Since The 2014 Release
The reviews for the latest game were not good but fans have not forgotten about the series. Since the 2014 release, rumors and posts from many fans requesting a game for the PC, Xbox One and PS4 have appeared. Some fans have asked for a remaster version of the latest games. A few gaming sites have mentioned that the studio has PS4 only game in development, meaning that if they announced a Ninja Gaiden game, it would be an exclusive for the console.
A remaster or collection for the PC, Xbox One and PS4 makes sense as we have seen many updated versions in the past but nothing has been confirmed. Fans would love to see a new game or even a remaster and we hope that the studio talks about Ninja Gaiden soon.
What is your favorite Ninja Gaiden game? Would you like to see a remaster for the PC, Xbox One and PS4? Let us know in the comments.
nice clickbait
How is it click bait? The title is “What Happened To The Ninja Gaiden Games – Remaster Coming In 2016?” Everything in the article is exactly about that.
It’s click bait. Didn’t offer anything new and there were NEVER rumors of there being a remaster. So, it’s just a long clickbaity article with common knowledge information.
Ok Got you.
That and also they say team ninja is in development of only ps4 exclusives, yea those niche jrpg games that xbox owners don’t really play, but a team ninja executive had an interview with ign or one of those big media outlets I can’t remember who and confirmed that they are working on dead or alive 6 and ninja gaiden 4 and it will take full advantage of the hardware in the ps4 and Xbox one. Ninja gaiden does well on the Xbox the first 2 were exclusive and ps3 had ported versions of them. Even dead or alive was exclusive to xbox brand until 5. I’m not takin shots just bringing up reasons why I believe that team ninja would never leave the xbox out of both of they’re biggest games and why these guys lose credibility.
Actually, DOA started on Saturn, then moved to PS2. MS bribed them over with DOA3. So Gaiden could certainly return to it’s roots going forward.
You’re trippin, ninja gaiden started on the nes the reboot of Doa may have been on the Saturn but the original xbox had Doa exclusive when It came out Doa ultimate Doa 2 ultimate, Doa 3 and Doa 4, 5 was the first one to go to playstation even the same with ninja gaiden but playstation got Sigma and Sigma 2 which were the same game just added things and slight differences so that it wouldn’t be considered the same as the original on xbox and they don’t void they’re exclusivity deal
Not arguing about Gaiden, just dead or alive. Google it if you actually want to know the history of the series.
I fact checked Google just to be sure and once again all the Doa games were exclusive to xbox during that generation unless it was a remade version for example Doa 2 for xbox was called Doa 2 ultimate, for the ps2 it was called Doa 2 hardcore. Sames with ninja gaiden and Sigma I know you weren’t talking about ninja gaiden, but they used the same method with both franchises, yes there was a Saturn release of Doa I’m assuming Doa for the Xbox was either a remake or a re-imagining of the original but that series was exclusive to xbox just like tekken was exclusive to playstation which now that I think of it was actually probably why they made that deal with tecmo koei. I’m not trying to be an jerk or anything but I had all those systems since ps and n64 and Doa is my favorite fighting franchise I know my Doa and ninja gaiden lol
Well now you are specifying `that generation’. Originally you were just saying DOA was xbox exclusive and it’s just not the case. If you are going to limit yourself to that gen then fine. My point is, when the series began it had nothing to do with MS. It was on Saturn and PS.
Seriously? My entire argument was referring to that generation did you read my first comment? I clearly said Doa was exclusive up until 5 on the Xbox brand meaning from original xbox to now and I never disagreed with your statement on it having anything to do with Microsoft when it started obviously it was on Saturn and dreamcast and ps before the Xbox but once that gen started with ps and Xbox ms had exclusive rights to the Doa franchise unless it was a remade version like hardcore and Sigma. Once again, you’re trippin my good sir
Team Ninja has never made a JRPG. The only titles they make are Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive, both of which started on Xbox as far as the modern iterations are concerned. Koei Tecmo is their publisher and Koei Tecmo also doesn’t make RPGs – they make the Dynasty Warriors games and games like Toukiden Kiwami, which is barely an RPG unless you really consider Monster Hunter an RPG.
And a lack of common sense. If they announce a new NG game it doesn’t “have” to come out on PS4 – they could be working on another PS4 game.
I would like to see the originals remade in a 3D world. Ninja Gaiden 3 seems to be the prequel to the NES installments since they introduced characters from the NES installments.
I would like to see a trilogy before the release of 4. Ninja gaiden, 2 and 3
But I dont think that will happen because it was exclusive to xbox brand and playstation got ported versions but updated with more stuff. Ninja gaiden Sigma, Sigma 2 and 3 was multi Plat. I think there would be complications with those but they could most definitely do a razors edge remaster
I’m definitely in the minority, because I really liked Ninja Gaiden 3. like I said, I’d like to see the NES installments redone in a 3D environment.
Anyway, point is, NG is dead. It’s not coming back. Itagaki left Team Ninja and fooled the franchise on the way out, which is why NG3 was so bad and they had to completely rework the game as NG3: Razor’s Edge (which is actually the 2nd best of the 3 games), and why Yaiba failed. Sad considering Devil’s Third was a failure as well, who knows what Itagaki is doing these days.
I’d pay for a sigma content port on PC with achievements and jebus graphics though for god damn sure.
you’re all forgetting an important part here. Ninja Gaiden franchise might be owned by Microsoft. much like they own Halo. if team ninja is working on PS4 exclusives then they may not be able to even tough ninja gaiden til they re contract with microsoft for an exclusive. ninja gaiden were always Xbox games, but just had ports to the ps3. but im not sure. i cant find any concrete answers to that question
If the Ninja Gaiden franchise was owned by Microsoft, the PS ports would’ve never occurred. Just saying.
unless Itagaki rejoins Team Ninja it wont be worth making another one
I wish Ninja Gaiden 3 coming out on PS4 as soon as posible.Ninja Gaiden 3 is really a nice game that I never play before.
fool Nioh it’s stuff compared to Ninja gaiden. We want ryu back. Best game ever!!
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I would like to see a true sequel to Ninja Gaiden Black. the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th where all subpar to me.