For the ninja-obsessed of us who could have grown up on Sho Kosugi motion pictures, Naruto manga, or basic ninja video video games, 2025 was their 12 months, because of a confluence of releases each nostalgic and new. After a spate of in style ninja video games within the late Eighties (Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi, Strider) and early aughts (uh… Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi, Tenchu), ninja illustration has cooled — however not this 12 months, when a minimum of six main releases arrived on nearly each trendy platform.
The higher information? Almost all of them ranged from nice to S-tier, innovating the ninja-action style in thrilling and distinctive methods. Ninja followers lastly obtained their Japan-set Murderer’s Creed, which co-starred the kunoichi Naoe. And whereas Murderer’s Creed Shadows arrived with no scarcity of controversy, Ubisoft’s AAA entry into the ninja sport house provided a style of ninja-stealth-action, a method of sport not often seen in blockbuster type today.
And for the online game fan who longs to throw shuriken, climb partitions with spiked gloves, or disguise underwater whereas respiratory via a bamboo snorkel, there’s even a seventh, very late 12 months launch within the ninja sport style that’s value testing.
Murderer’s Creed Shadows
One half of a ninja sport, Murderer’s Creed Shadows lastly takes Ubisoft’s historic motion franchise to feudal Japan. Shadows is a beautiful, meaty entry within the long-running Murderer’s Creed franchise, and Naoe simply occurs to be the higher half of the sport.
As we famous in our argument that Shadows would have been higher as a single-protagonist sport, former gamerlifemedia contributor Tyler Colp summed it up properly by arguing that every part Ubisoft’s Murderer’s Creed builders have performed thus far with stealth-action has culminated in Naoe.
“With Naoe, the purpose is to keep away from immediately clashing with enemies, and that works within the sport’s favor,” Colp wrote. “Ubisoft has wall-climbing and traversal mastered at this level, so castles flip into 3D puzzles if you play stealthily. After I put together to scrub out a base, I plan out my route based mostly on what’s in entrance of me: Bushes are checkpoints to cease and observe patrolling guards, darkish rooms are doable escape places, and rooftops are perches to pinpoint my targets.
“Stealth in Murderer’s Creed Shadows is all about execution and adapting to no matter occurs if you inevitably screw up. It’s really enjoyable when issues go improper as a result of it’s a must to play to Naoe’s strengths as a tiny ninja who isn’t geared up to tackle a number of enemies swinging at her — properly, so long as you’re not utilizing the weapon that breaks the sport. As quickly as you’re caught, every part within the surroundings may be your lifeline towards a squad of samurai attempting to find you.”
Blade Chimera
Few different video games on this listing are as cool as Blade Chimera, which is extra Metroidvania-oriented than pure ninja-action. Developed by Crew Ladybug and WSS Playground, Blade Chimera pulls extra closely from Konami’s Castlevania video games than Metroid to create a extra assorted fight system that lets gamers combine and match weapons, close-range melee weapons, and the powers of their magical demon sword companion.
A lot of the motion in Blade Chimera is centered on Lux, a shape-shifting spirit-sword demon-lady with broad-ranging powers. Lux can act as a defend; rematerialize lacking objects; flip right into a rope on your ninja hero to swing from; and function an advert hoc platform to leap off of. She will even turn into a jetpack. She’s arguably the star of the sport, not the navy ninja Shin, and one of many 12 months’s coolest, most revolutionary weapons.
Ninja Gaiden 2 Black
A shock drop that kicked off Crew Ninja’s “12 months of the ninja,” Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is the third main model of Ninja Gaiden 2 — and arguably* the perfect, most balanced model of the sport to play in 2025. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black introduced the franchise to Unreal Engine 5, leading to one of many best-looking Ninja Gaiden video games thus far. Hopefully, it’s a sign that Koei Tecmo and Crew Ninja plan to do much more with the Ninja Gaiden franchise.
*Ninja Gaiden 2 Black hews extra carefully to the unique Xbox 360 model of Ninja Gaiden 2, as envisioned by late director and producer Tomonobu Itagaki, nevertheless it does have its shortcomings — each technical and design-wise. And you’ll’t struggle the Statue of Liberty on this model.
Ninja Gaiden 4
I’ve conflicted emotions about Ninja Gaiden 4, which aimed to deviate from the formulation of recent Crew Ninja motion video games, however in the end felt off, empty, and unsatisfying. With Ninja Gaiden 4, Crew Ninja and co-developer PlatinumGames try and kickstart the bloody motion franchise with a brand new protagonist, Yakumo, a member of a rival ninja clan — the Ravens — who has been tasked with placing an finish to the evil Darkish Dragon’s curse.
In the end, I really feel far more muted about Ninja Gaiden 4 now in comparison with after I burned via it this fall. From gamerlifemedia’s assessment:
“With its new characters, harsh challenges, and a deep properly of strategies to good, Ninja Gaiden 4 is an interesting side-step that helps modernize the 3D ninja motion formulation […] whereas additionally giving followers of Platinum fare like Astral Chain, Nier: Automata, and Vanquish one thing new to chew on. It might not be the Ninja Gaiden you keep in mind, nevertheless it’s obtained good blood operating via its veins.”
Ninja Gaiden Ragebound
The most important shock of 2025 was Ninja Gaiden Ragebound, the 2D side-scrolling action-platformer from The Sport Kitchen. Ragebound follows the development of dual-ninja protagonists in additional attention-grabbing methods than its 2025 contemporaries, letting gamers attempt two types of ninja who in the end turn into one super-powered killing machine with shared skills. An audio and visible deal with, Ragebound is a good and environment friendly motion sport filled with fantastically animated sprites and respectfully retro music — with out ever being cloyingly nostalgic.
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound captured the guts and soul of a number of eras of Ninja Gaiden video games and manages to face by itself, because of strong gameplay, tight controls, and a pointy presentation. But it surely wasn’t the 12 months’s finest 2D side-scroller…
Shinobi: Artwork of Vengeance
After falling in love with Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, I used to be cautious in regards to the prospects of this 12 months’s Shinobi revival. The unique Shinobi and its direct arcade follow-up Shadow Dancer are two of my most formative online game experiences, and Sega’s wild modifications in route for the Shinobi franchise since then have yielded combined outcomes. However Shinobi: Artwork of Vengeance neatly pulls from Genesis-era classics like Shinobi 3: Return of the Ninja Grasp and Metroid-style video games to make Sega’s ninja franchise really feel brand-new — and distinct from each different sport on this listing.
Shinobi: Artwork of Vengeance’s cleverly designed fight puzzles, pleasing lock-and-key exploration gameplay, and slick artwork model helped propel it to gamerlifemedia’s prime 50 video games of 2025, a feat no different sport on this listing managed to drag off.
The Final Ninja Assortment
Look, I’ve not but performed The Final Ninja Assortment, an assemblage of basic ninja video games from the Commodore 64 and Amiga period, partially as a result of it was simply launched on Steam on Dec. 18 (console variations are inbound, as a part of the gathering’s Kickstarter fundraiser). It consists of seminal, bestselling PC video games The Final Ninja, Final Ninja 2, Final Ninja 3 and Ninja Remix, alongside combating video games Worldwide Karate, IK+, and Bangkok Knights.
However I fondly keep in mind The Final Ninja and its direct sequel; they’re landmark video games launched on the top of the ninja craze within the West and supply distinct takes on the ninja style. If you wish to expertise the early days of ninja video video games, begin right here!
