It took about 60 seconds of taking part in Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound for me to appreciate that developer The Sport Kitchen has created a robust case for the Ninja Gaiden collection to reclaim its house within the 2D aircraft. Throughout its 12-hour runtime, Ragebound seamlessly blends beautiful pixel artwork, creative degree design, and elegant gameplay to create among the finest retro throwbacks I’ve ever performed.
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound throws you proper into the motion as Kinji Monzu, who should shield the Hyabusa Clan village whereas Ryu Hyabusa is in America dealing with the occasions of 1989’s Ninja Gaiden. Fight begins easy, with simply sword assaults and the Guillotine Enhance, which helps you to faucet the leap button at simply the appropriate time over an enemy or projectile to not solely harm them but additionally bounce off of them. This transfer is on the core of Ragebound’s motion methods, which can quickly have you ever leaping over perilous gaps, escaping fireplace, evading runaway trains, and extra.
If the Guillotine Enhance is on the coronary heart of Ragebound’s platforming, then Kenji’s hypercharged assault is the nucleus of fight. By killing marked enemies or sacrificing some well being, Kenji positive factors the ability of an insta-kill transfer known as a hypercharged assault. The muse of Ragebound’s excellence will be traced to the distinctive methods The Sport Kitchen asks gamers to make use of these two strikes, usually in tandem. Later, when the second protagonist, Kumori, joins the fray with an unholy fusion to Kenji’s soul, including projectiles to your arsenal, the ante is upped considerably.
Now, killing teal-marked enemies utilizing a melee assault rewards the moment hypercharged assault, whereas you’ll must kill the pink-traced enemies with Kumori’s projectiles to achieve that. Although each enemy will be killed with normal assaults, hypercharged strikes assist you to one-shot armored or shield-bearing enemies that may in any other case face up to a number of hits, blunting your momentum. This creates a rhythmic dance, educating you to rapidly determine probably the most environment friendly method to eradicate enemies earlier than you.
The Sport Kitchen neatly chooses to focus much less on punishing errors, backed by useful checkpoints and accessibility choices, as an alternative emphasizing the pure adrenaline that comes with maintaining with its tempo. Attaining the S-Rank on a degree is under no circumstances required, however Ragebound feels so good you need to. The identical goes for locating collectibles; some assist you to buy new perk-yielding talismans or combat-altering strikes/ One other collectible unlocks extra-hard however incredible secret ranges on the world map to finish at your leisure.
Kumori’s demonic aspect additionally causes demon altars to look in most ranges, which current bite-sized platforming challenges. They’re tough and timed, requiring a near-perfect mastery of her moveset to finish. Every one supplies a 30-second distillation of what makes Ragebound so enjoyable.
Ragebound’s fight mechanics alone are extremely entertaining, which makes all of it the higher that The Sport Kitchen constructed a powerful sidescrolling journey to harbor them. Ranges are creative from begin to end as The Sport Kitchen takes the thought of sidescrolling and creates a full of life world that morphs this primary premise of motion in distinctive methods. Coupled with dynamic pixel-art visuals and a incredible rating, Ragebound always engages all senses doable.
Ragebound is hard to finish and even more durable to grasp, nevertheless it’s hardest to place down. It’s demanding with little frustration, partaking with few lulls, and finally, a reminder that whereas Ryu’s modern-day adventures will be nice, there’s nonetheless Ki to be present in Ninja Gaiden’s authentic dimensions.
