How Ninja Gaiden's razor-sharp gameplay still influences gaming today
Blog Andrew Joseph 25 Oct , 2025 0
From the series' earliest 2D entries to Ryu's critically acclaimed 3D foray, Ninja Gaiden has cut its way into the pinnacle of the ultra-violent action genre. Although countless ninja games have been released since the NES original in 1988, Ninja Gaiden remains relevant nearly 40 years later.
But why? Let's take a look back at when the series found its core game design DNA, and its early use of cutscenes, narrative-driven gameplay, and innovation in difficult but rewarding challenges (not to mention, one of the most disgusting Terminators ever to appear in a video game). From there, we'll chart Ninja Gaiden's journey to see how it's stayed sharp over the decades and why it remains one of the most influential action series of all time.
Define the Great Line
The year is 1988. Arcade gaming has become a dominant force thanks to games like Double Dragon, Ghouls & Ghosts, and Contra. These were all excellent games in their own right, but little did the world know that one of the most important ninja games of all time was about to be released. Ninja Gaiden, the game we now have in the Western world is called Ninja Gaiden (because, According to the game's art director“Sounds Cool”) came out with two distinct versions. A port inspired by Double Dragon appeared in arcades, and while it was popular at the time, it was nothing like the NES console version of Ninja Gaiden we know and love.
Ninja Gaiden is an unexpected revolution in action gaming. Overnight, it redefined what video games were capable of, thanks to its difficult yet satisfying combat, narrative-driven gameplay, and one of the first ways a game used cinematic cutscenes to tell its story.
These days, you'd be hard-pressed to find a major release that doesn't have some kind of cutscene or narrative interruption, and some even feel more like interactive movies than video games. But in the early days, that wasn't the case. Most games on the NES used a single static image with text and music to conclude the game's story, which you could only very loosely call a cutscene. Games like Castlevania or The Legend of Zelda have storylines that require more explanation, requiring you to open the manual and find it yourself rather than find it in the game. Yes, while hardware is a limitation, it's not the only reason. There are huge differences in narrative, tone, and marketing between the Western and Japanese versions of some Famicom games. The reason for this discrepancy is that at the time video games were still considered primarily for children, and each regional version was tuned for their respective younger audiences.
One of the goals of Ninja Gaiden is to change that. Developer Tecmo is taking a Hollywood blockbuster-like approach to elevating its storytelling for mature audiences. The game starts with Cutscene of two ninjas Duel to the death on a moonlit meadow. Like a “big budget” movie, it utilizes fast editing, cinematography, widescreen aspect ratio, and expressive music to set up the death of Ryu's father, an exciting event that will lead you on a game-long journey of revenge. Revenge narratives are not new to video games, but this cinematic setting certainly is. In just a few seconds, we go from a video game with almost no storytelling to anime-inspired cutscenes and dialogue motivating you to complete your journey. This level of storytelling marked a huge step forward in the perception of video games, proving that they were more than just kids' toys. Now, video games can also be an engaging platform for telling compelling stories.
However, cutscenes aren't the only thing that made Ninja Gaiden stand out all those years ago. Tecmo has also made significant advancements in game design, making Ninja Gaiden uniquely challenging for 8-bit generation gamers. Gaiden's high-difficulty, high-reward gameplay is tied to skill development and the player's ability to master the game's combat mechanics, rather than the need to time jump and memorize level layouts like earlier Mega Man and Mario games.
Before Ninja Gaiden, most “hard” games were deliberately designed to be challenging, as it was an easy way to extend the running time (or, in the case of arcades, ensure our pockets were noticeably lighter when we left.) While some games, like the early Mega Man, Castlevania, and Mario games, did require a certain skill level to beat, their difficulty was primarily based on level memory. Ninja Gaiden was one of the first games to take the idea of high challenge, high reward and turn it into something enjoyable. You'll die a lot, but after enough frustrating failures (those dogs at the beginning of the game are no joke, and don't even get me started on the flying enemies in the later stages), you'll soon find yourself playing a mix of defensive dodging and aggressive attacking, and having a lot of fun doing it.
Stage 1-1 is a masterclass in this concept, teaching players that challenge is rewarding. The first stage of most games usually serves as a tutorial. Super Mario Bros. teaches players how to jump easily. Metroid forces players to backtrack to gain the Morph Ball ability, teaching players the need for exploration. Sonic soon showed his need for speed. By immediately thrusting you into combat, Ninja Gaiden's first level not only explains the game's core mechanics of kill or be killed, but also shows that enemies can come from all directions and even behind you. The game's tutorial level is a trial by fire, teaching you to strike first and strike quickly. This skill is continuously reinforced throughout the game, as things get more difficult, requiring more trial and error.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it? While the first true “Souls-like” game wouldn't be released for more than 20 years, it's not hard to see Gaiden's DNA in Demon's Souls, Bloodborne, and every other Soulsborne game since. This challenging and sometimes frustrating game design not only cemented Ninja Gaiden's status as one of the best NES adventure games of the 8-bit era, but also helped shape the next generation of Ryu adventure games on the Game Boy, SEGA Master System, and the original Xbox a decade later.
Bury me in black
The sixth generation of video games contains some of the most influential games of all time. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. “Resident Evil 4”. Halo: Combat Evolved. Kingdom Hearts. Metal Gear Solid 3. The list goes on and on. As such, the Ninja Gaiden series needed a forward-thinking (not to mention generation-defining) entry to take its place in what many consider to be one of gaming's best generations. For Ninja Gaiden, no fewer than three games have kept the series competitive in an era where competition is fierce and groundbreaking innovations are everywhere.
A few years ago, Tecmo formed a new in-house studio to develop Dead or Alive. But by the turn of the millennium, the studio (now known as Team Ninja) began working on a new Ninja Gaiden. The project later became 2004's Ninja Gaiden, released exclusively on Microsoft's new Xbox console. The expanded version of Ninja Gaiden Black released in 2005 is considered not only the sixth generation, but one of the greatest action games of all time. IGN gave it a A high score of 9.4 is incrediblepraising its fast-paced combat, tough but rewarding gameplay, and action. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Similar to the original, this new version of the series aims to redefine the standards of action gaming. While the cutscenes looked great for the time, Ninja Gaiden's gameplay would shine again, raising the bar for challenging action games across the board while still emphasizing the hard hitting, fast precision, and timing of NES-era games.
Since Ryu can be attacked in three dimensions, combat becomes messier and more aggressive, and blocking incoming attacks relies heavily on timing and rhythm. You can't just press buttons to take down enemies – it requires a more methodical approach to each encounter, something you've honed by dying a lot. Just like in the first game, you learn this immediately when you find yourself fighting two very annoying ninjas on the edge of a cliff. Pacing, timing, and enemy behavior are important here. Enemies can attack you from all directions and overwhelm Ryu quickly. Choosing when to attack, when to dodge, and when to hide from enemies ends up being a rock, paper, scissors metagame that we've seen in countless games since, from the Batman Arkham series to nearly every Souls game.
For some players, myself included, Ninja Gaiden Black was one of the first games to play, and while the gameplay could get downright frustrating at times, it was hard to put down once you figured out the core mechanics of the game. For me, it wasn't until I beat the first boss and adjusted my attacks and dodges by finding the right balance between patience and attack that I understood how valuable Ninja Gaiden was.
By the time the final boss appeared, I had been trained to fight it, making the entire event feel cinematic based on its gameplay rather than cutscenes. Instead of cheeseboarding bosses and pressing the attack button a million times until their health bar dropped to zero (which was how I unsuccessfully played at the beginning of the game), I found myself dodging and parrying in ways I wasn't able to do earlier in the game.
Such journeys exist in almost every high-difficulty, high-reward game to date. But if you step back and think about it, by forcing the player to “get better,” or at least achieve some semblance of a flow state, combat actually becomes a narrative device that helps move the story forward. By combining parries, dodges, and attacks with precision, you can grow with Ryu. You will become stronger with Ryu. And, best of all, by the end, you'll be fighting like a ninja master. It's like what the first game accomplished in 1988.
never disappear
Although Ninja Gaiden 2 and Ninja Gaiden 3 were not as influential as their 2004 releases, they were still well received and re-released and revised multiple times. These games improve upon the original Xbox version, bringing Gaiden's precise combat and difficulty to next-generation consoles.
Unfortunately, the series doesn't stand out from the competition the way Ninja Gaiden Black did at its peak on sixth-generation consoles. So it wasn't until more than a decade later that independent developer The Game Kitchen revived the series with Ninja Gaiden Ragebound. What's old is new again. Ragebound brings the series back to its 2D roots, adding more to Ninja Gaiden's lore and refining the series' difficult-but-fair gameplay for a new generation of side-scrollers. it continues to be considered one of the best According to IGN viewers, there are entries in the series that I agree with. More importantly, it paves the way for the latest Ninja Gaiden 4, which looks set to once again raise the bar for a new generation of ultra-violent and tough action games.
It’s hard to overstate the impact Ninja Gaiden has had on action games over the years. Its DNA can be found in hundreds of great games – its brilliant combat mechanics, massive difficulty and use of cutscenes can be found throughout the genre. Simply put, without the influence of Ninja Gaiden, today's action games simply wouldn't exist.
