Ninja Gaiden Ragebound vs Shinobi Art of Vengeance: Return of The Ninja Masters

Who doesn’t love ninjas. Don’t say you don’t because that would make you a liar. Ninjas are awesome; what started as a group of rice farmers fighting back against samurai overlords with whatever they could get, over the years became a legendary fighting force that etched their mark in history forever more.

So it’s no surprise that there have been a ton of media about them. Movies, comics, cartoons, and of course videogames. My lord is there a lot of ninja games out there. From stealth games like Tenchu, to arcade action classics like Strider, there’s no shortage of ninja action in the world of gaming.

But there are two series of ninja games that are at the top of the ninja hierarchy, Ninja Gaiden and Shinobi. These two are the games you think of when you think of ninja videogames. I doubt they need an introduction, but I’m going to give them anyway just in case.

Ninja Gaiden started out as an arcade beat-em-up developed by Tecmo, but it gained greater recognition when it was brought over to the NES. The trilogy of action platformers released for Nintendo’s 8-bit behemoth became some of the most popular and well-known third-party games on the consoles. They were known for their tight gameplay. innovative cinematic presentation, and brutal difficulty.

Shinobi meanwhile also started as an arcade game by Sega as basically their answer to Namco’s Rolling Thunder. Like Ninja Gaiden though it gained more fame when it was brought to home consoles, specifically the Mega Drive games Revenge of Shinobi and Shinobi III which are considered some of the best games on the consoles. They were recognised for their great soundtracks, their challenging but fair gameplay, and for their blatant copyright infringement.

These two were the ninja series of the late eighties and early nineties. Well, those and Ninja Turtles, but that beast is on a whole other level. Both series did continue after that, Ninja Gaiden got a very successful 3D reboot starting in 2003 and Shinobi has had a few new games and cameos on and off over the years.

But I wanted to focus on the older games because, they’re the most relevant to what I’m about to talk about. because in the year of our lord 2025 there is a brand new 2D Ninja Gaiden game, and a brand new 2D Shinobi game.

We have Ninja Gaiden Ragebound developed by The Game Kitchen of Blasphemous fame, and we have Shinobi Art of Vengeance by Lizard Cube, the team behind the superb Streets of Rage 4. Two new games in the perennial ninja gaming series by top tier indie developers, and both published by Dot Emu funnily enough, both releasing at around the same time? Yeah, I think it’s time for another comparison.

Today we’re looking at Ragebound and Art of Vengeance to see which ninja game is truly worth of being called a ninja master. Which is both. Yeah, full disclosure, both games are awesome. These are some of the best action platformers I’ve played in a while, and I recommend both without much reservation. I just find it fun to compare and contrast similar games like this.

For this comparison I’ll split it up into nine categories: Presentation, controls, gameplay, level design, bosses, customisation, difficulty, content and replay value. I know that’s a lot, but it will give a more detailed look at how each game stacks against each other.

I should also note that I played both games on the Switch, technically Switch 2 but there are no enhancements for that so it’s basically just the Switch version. This will be relevant in a bit, but for now let’s jump right into this.

Presentation

When it comes to the presentation I think both games have very clear advantages. If we’re talking visuals, then Shinobi absolutely takes it. And I do not say that lightly because I think both games look great, and they both use art styles that I’m a massive fan of.

If you know me, you’ll know that I love me some hand drawn animation and I love me some pixel art. Lo and behold we have two games with each style, and they both do it extremely well. They’re both very colourful, they’re both animated very well, they have great variety in their backdrops, and both have great character and enemy designs.

But while I think Ninja Gaiden looks good, I was never blown away by anything that I saw. I couldn’t tell you why. I love pixel art and the pixel art here is more than solid. It’s drawn well and the animation is fantastic. I just wasn’t wowed by any of it.

I think the main reason is there’s so many pixel art games out now, indie games love this style, and you see it all the time in that scene. You need to do something extra special to impress at this point. I’ve played so many that have done so much with the style adding their own personalities to it and I don’t think Ragebound quite does that.

Which is weird because I’ve played Blasphemous and that looked phenomenal. I loved the dark gothic medieval horror vibe that had. I know Game Kitchen can give their games a ton of style and that just didn’t come across here. Maybe they just work better with dark fantasy. I still think Ragebound shows their talent at pixel art, I just think it needed a little extra spice.

Shinobi on the other hand did blow me away. This game is visually stunning. Not only is the hand drawn animation smooth as butter but the back drops are some of the best I’ve seen in a long time. I actually had to stop for a second just to take in all the details they were that good.

There’s a great sense of scope with these backgrounds that makes the game a lot more immersive. It really makes you feel part of a massive world. It also has a great sense of grit to it. There’s a dark griminess to some locations that make them feel dangerous but also lived in. It really heightens the stakes when the world itself feels dangerous.

Then there are the awesome looking screen filling ninjutsu that never get old no matter how often you use them. These were always satisfying to use solely for how spectacular they were just like the old Shinobi games.

I just love how Art of Vengeance looks. Lizard Cube took the style they had with Streets of Rage 4 and only further improved it. Not only adapting the style for the Shinobi universe but also improving it in several areas. Whereas Ninja Gaiden felt like a step back for its developer. A small step back mind you, but a step back nonetheless.

Visually Shinobi is better, but audio goes to Ninja Gaiden. Not that Shinobi sounds bad. It’s got great sound design with some punchy sound effects that makes the combat feel good, but Ninja Gaiden has that too. On the sound front they’re both exceptional.

The music is where Ninja Gaiden takes it for me. Shinobi has good music, but it doesn’t quite live up to the series legacy. The Shinobi games of yore had phenomenal soundtracks. The Mega Drive games had some of the best video game synth music ever, my favourite being Whirlwind from Shinobi 3 I love that song.

Art of Vengeance does have a lot of music that has some of the same style as those older games. That are all fittingly enough composed by Yuzo Koshiro who did the music for those games. Those tracks are really good, and a lot of the music is of high quality, but it leans more into atmospherics. A lot of it doesn’t pop and just ends up feeling a little generic.

Ninja Gaiden on the other hand has a banging soundtrack. From the word go it just rocks the fuck out and it never stops. Every level has a high octane, full energy track that just gets your blood pumping and makes you want to kick demon ass.

This is the kind of music I want in my action games. Something that gets you hyped to play and not just background noise that sounds nice. That isn’t to say Ragebound doesn’t have its quieter moments, but it knows to use those moments sparingly to build anticipation. For 90% of the time it rocks out 100% of the time.

I also think the sound mixing is better in Ragebound. Shinobi often has a lot of things going on which means the music can get drowned out by the sound effects. Ninja Gaiden doesn’t have that issue, I can make both out just fine. That could be why the music in Art of Vengeance isn’t as memorable, I could barely make it out.

So, Shinobi has the better graphics, Ninja Gaiden has better sound. To decide the winner for this category that means it’s going to come down to the smaller details, and here’s where things start to shift more in Shinobi’s favour.

For one I just think the menu and hub design of Shinobi is a lot nicer. It’s a lot more stylised than Ninja Gaiden’s which is a tad more basic and to the point. I do like Ninja Gaiden’s shop a bit more though. It does look pretty cool.

Second, Shinobi’s story is presented in a much more interesting way. not only is there full voice acting compared to the silent Ninja Gaiden, but the voice acting itself is great. A lot of the actors do a great job in their roles and give the characters a lot more personality. There’s a bit more dialogue in Shinobi and the voice acting does make these sequences a bit more engaging to watch, while I tended to skip them Ninja Gaiden since I found them a bit flat.

There’s also a lot more cutscenes in Shinobi and like the main game they look fantastic. Ninja Gaiden meanwhile only has a handful throughout the game, and they look ok but they’re nothing spectacular. I thought the cutscenes in Shinobi were a lot more dynamic and visually interesting.

Finally, there’s the performance. This is where the Switch version I played for both comes into play because, unfortunately these ports have some drawbacks. For Ninja Gaiden the game is capped at 30fps, while in Shinobi’s case the resolution is only at 900p and 720p when played in handheld which makes the visuals a little blurrier.

Neither of these issues ruin the games. They’re still perfectly playable on Switch, and it is nice to play these on the go, but they aren’t the most ideal ports. Shinobi holds up worse in handheld because of the lower resolution, but I think it holds up better overall due to it being at 60 fps. I’ll always take better performance over better visuals.

I do hope proper Switch 2 updates do come later because these games deserve it. The other consoles run these games great, and I don’t know why the Switch can’t. It’s not like it doesn’t have the power since it’s run similar looking games just fine. This has to be an optimisation issue.

I won’t make a value judgement on this here because these are exclusive to the Switch version. Every other version runs perfectly, and if a Switch 2 update does materialise for both then this is just going to be dated. I just thought I would mention this for those looking to get these on Switch. If you can get them elsewhere, I recommend that, but the Switch ports are still perfectly playable if that’s your only option. Or if you just really want to play them on the go.

All that out of the way, I think Shinobi takes presentation by a thin margin. I think the minor details just barely edge it out. Both look and sound great, but I got to give this category to Musashi.

Winner: Shinobi

Controls

This category isn’t necessarily about the actual controls. It is, but there’s a bit more to it than that. When it comes to the responsiveness of the controls, they’re both even. They both feel very snappy and the game feel in both is great with every action feeling good to do. No notes needed there.

But then there’s the control scheme, and to talk about that we need to go over each move set. Ninja Gaiden is the simpler of the two so let’s start with that. Aside from a basic attack and jump, in Ninja Gaiden you also have access to kunai for ranged attacks, Spider Weapons that act similar to sub weapons in Castlevania, and Ragebound arts that act as super moves.

For movement options you have things like a dodge that can pass under small gaps, and a wall jump. You got to have a wall jump. You can also climb on walls and ceilings and have the Guilotine Boost. This is a tool that let’s you bounce off enemies and projectiles to either negate damage or keep your self in the air.

Shinobi on the other hand has a double jump, wall jump (obvs), wall climbing but only on certain surfaces, a dodge, a different kind of dodge from an attack, an air dash, a grapple hook, a glider, a light and heavy attack that can be used in different combo’s both on the ground and the air, a charge punch, a ground slam, a dive kick, kunai, Ninpo magic as special attacks, and Ninjustsu for super moves.

That’s a lot of moves. A whole lot more than what Ninja Gaiden has. Now I’ll get more into how all this works in gameplay, but I tell you this to show that Shinobi has a much more complex move set, which means it has a more complicated control scheme.

Art of Vengeance is one of those games where every button on the controller is mapped to a different action. In some cases, like the Ninpo and Ninjutsu, it takes multiple buttons to pull them off. Because of that it can be easy to lose track of the controls in the heat of the moment.

The controls themselves are not hard to grasp. Far from it, I was able to get the hang of things quickly and the game doesn’t give you access to everything right away. You need to unlock most of the moves, so it never becomes overwhelming. You are given plenty time to adjust, and levels are designed to teach you how to use these new moves when you get them.

But in some of the more challenging sequences you can sometimes get muddled up. This doesn’t happen often but when it does it can be frustrating. Ninja Gaiden keeps things simple. It still has a lot of moves, but by comparison it’s a much less complicated move set.

I never had an issue with Ninja Gaiden’s controls. I may have used a Ragebound Art accidentally a few too many times, but that’s a me problem. Me and my stupid broken hands. In general, I just prefer games with simpler control schemes. I don’t mind complicated controls, but games with simpler controls are better suited at allowing the subtleties of the games controls to shine through.

You understand the movement systems a lot better when the controls are simple. It’s why Sonic the Hedgehog has a better game feel than Mario in my opinion. It’s just easier to grasp Sonic’s weight and momentum when you only need to focus on one button.

For control, I think Ninja Gaiden is the victor. Shinobi still controls great, and the game feel for both titles is superb, but the simpler and much easier to grasp controls of Ragebound are more appealing to me.

Although I should note that both do let you rebind the controls, so both can be customised to fit your preferences. Still, point to Hayabusa, or Kenji since Hayabusa isn’t in Ragebound. Eh, fuck it, same clan.

Winner: Ninja Gaiden

Gameplay

For clarity, I was originally going to have two categories covering platforming and combat but decided to consolidate them into one category. In short, this category is mainly the moment-to-moment gameplay. The action and platforming that comprises most of what you do in each game.

Ninja Gaiden is a straightforward action platformer. You go through each level cutting through enemies with your sword while doing some platforming challenges and fight a boss at the end of each stage. Shinobi is similar but mixes in elements of a beat-em-up, with Joe having access to a variety of combo moves that can be chained together in different ways.

While both are action games with platforming elements, that’s where the similarities largely end. These are two very different games at their core. The best way to showcase this is their combo systems. In Shinobi it’s a more traditional system that goes up as you hit enemies, but unlike in other games it will only reset if you take a hit. There’s a reason for this I’ll get to later but just know for now that it works largely like any other combo system.

Ninja Gaiden on the other hand only counts enemy kills. This is because enemies in Ninja Gaiden die in one hit, unlike in Shinobi where they have health bars you need to whittle down. Getting a high combo in Ninja Gaiden is more about killing enemies as quickly as possible.

Ninja Gaiden focuses less on pummelling enemies with style like a lot of action games today. It’s more about efficiency, figuring out how to kill enemies in the most optimal way. Something that keeps it in line with the rest of the series. The 3D games were all about this approach.

This is best showcased in one of the games major mechanics, the Hypercharge. While most enemies can die in one hit, there are larger enemies that won’t go down as easy. While hitting them a few times works, the best way to deal with them is a Hypercharge. Some enemies have a glow around them, and when killed you’ll gain a Hypercharge attack that will one shot everything.

Sounds simple, but there’s a bit more to it. if you kill a glowing enemy with a Hypercharge, you gain another Hypercharge, and larger enemies can also grant you Hypercharge. Part of the combat is killing enemies in a specific order so you can keep the Hypercharge going.

The catch, enemies glow different colours and that colour changes how you gain Hypercharge. If they’re blue you use the sword, if red you use a kunai. Ikaruga rules basically. So not only do you have to kill enemies in a specific order but also kill them in a specific way to use Hypercharge in the most effective way.

You can gain it manually, but this costs health. Ideally you want to get it by killing the enemies and only gain it manually as a last resort. I know that sounds like it gets a bit complicated, but when you’re in the game it’s actually very natural to chain Hypercharges. It’s an interesting mechanic that adds a sense of precision to the gameplay and it feels great when you get a chain going.

Ninja Gaiden Ragebound is all about getting through the levels in the most precise way possible. it’s not so demanding that you need to have super pinpoint accuracy or anything, but there is an optimal way through the levels and part of the fun of this game is learning that optimal route.

Art of Vengeance, by comparison, is a lot more open. This game has a greater emphasis on its combo system. As I said it’s got elements of a beat-em-up with long combos, and you’re given a lot of freedom in how you string these together. Not only are there a lot of combo moves to learn, but you also have special Ninpo moves that can be added to combo chains, as well as kunai that can attack from a distance.

It’s a straightforward combat system, but it is a fun one. It’s great when you get a long combo going and the system is open enough to allow for greater player expression. But there are other factors to this system to give it greater depth.

Some enemies have armour that you will need to break to deal damage, and while armoured they can’t be staggered or have attacks interrupted. Enemies can also have purple tinged attacks that can’t be interrupted or dodged through. While basic enemies are easy enough to deal with, armour adds a level of strategy to fights since you want to get rid of that quickly, and purple attacks makes sure you pay attention and learn to dodge effectively.

Attacks also have different properties. Some do more base damage, but others will do more damage to armour, and others will increase the enemies Execution Meter more. This is below the enemy’s health, and when it’s full you can perform an Execution to kill them right away. It doesn’t matter how far away they are, if they’re on screen you can zip right to their location and finish them off.

You can even chain multiple executions together to finish of a pack of enemies. Why would you do this? Well beyond it being incredibly cool, executing enemies gives more rewards like more money to buy upgrades, and the more enemies you execute at once the more you get. It’s a bit like the Glory Kills in Doom Eternal. Right down to giving you health when pulling it off.

The combat in Shinobi isn’t just about getting those big combo’s; it’s also about getting off those Executions. But not every enemy can be executed. In some fights you’ll need to balance between doing damage to smaller enemies you can’t execute while trying to fill other enemies Execution Meter to get those executions so you heal up and get that sweet dosh.

It’s a brutal ballet that is immensely satisfying when you learn it’s rhythm. Ninja Gaiden is also immensely satisfying when you learn the most optimal methods, but it is a bit stricter in its approach. While Shinobi can have its strict moments, it gives you a lot of freedom in how you approach combat.

I think we’ve covered all we can with the combat. Time to move on to the other side of these games, the platforming. With Ragebound. It keeps platforming simple and to the point. The platforming is never too difficult. It’s still satisfying, especially when you use the Guillotine Boost to gain extra height and distances.

The Guillotine Boost is the best part of the platforming. If you’ve ever played The Messenger, it’s very similar to that games Cloud Jumping. Stringing these together is exhilarating, but it is very lenient, so it is lacking a bit in terms of challenge compared to The Messenger. It’s not quite as exciting as that.

It is still fun though, and when combined with the ability to climb on walls and ceilings it makes you feel like there’s nowhere you can’t reach. Although I did wall jump more often because it’s just objectively cooler. Climbing is neat and all, but parkour is better.

Meanwhile, Shinobi gives you a lot more platforming options. You saw the move set earlier and how much it gives you, and the game uses all of that to create some very tricky and outright dickish platforming sequences.

Fortunately, it’s smart enough to not use all of them at once. Many of it’s platforming challenges will test you on one or two skills at a time, and each skill has a distinct purpose so it’s not hard to figure out what to do.

For example, you can climb walls, but only on certain surfaces, and you have a grappling hook that only works on special points. When you see those, you know exactly what to do. It’s good at telegraphing what it expects of you.

The air dash and double jump also give you a bit more freedom in the air. They’re great for combat, and they do make the basic platforming a little easier. Which is probably why a lot of the optional platforming challenges get pretty tight. With how much freedom you have it’s the only way to make them challenging and believe me they get very challenging.

There’s also a bit more variety in Shinobi’s platforming I find. The larger move set facilitates more types of platforming obstacles. I just find them a bit more engaging. I also love the chase sequences in Shinobi. They aren’t that hard, but they are exciting and are great spectacles. They’re fun set pieces at the very least. Ninja Gaiden has a few sequences like this, but Shinobis are more frequent, and I like them a bit more.

So, Shinobi’s platforming is a lot more complex than Ninja Gaiden’s. It just gives you a lot more to play with and the challenges are a lot more engaging. That said, when looking at both games I find that Ninja Gaiden works better as a whole.

What I mean is, the platforming and combat in Ninja Gaiden work much better in tandem with one another. The game has plenty of segments that blend the platforming and combat together. Both halves coming together to create a better sum of its parts.

For example, one of the abilities you have is the ability to repel enemy projectiles with an attack. A useful ability. This also works with the Guillotine Boost, so you can use that to repel off an enemy attack to dodge them in combat or use it in platforming.

Ninja Gaiden doesn’t really have combat or platforming only sequences. It does have combat arenas, but these are rare. Unlike Shinobi where they’re common and has platforming segments with no enemies to worry about. Ninja Gaiden always mixes the two together which makes its gameplay feel more cohesive.

However, the combat and platforming have a lot more going on in Shinobi. They might not come together quite as well, but the individual systems were still a lot more enjoyable. The best way I can describe it is thus, Ninja Gaiden is a better whole, but Shinobi has better parts.

Ninja Gaiden comes together a lot better, but the individual pieces of Shinobi are better than what Ninja Gaiden has. It’s hard to say which approach is better. Both succeed at what they do so it’s going to come down to personal preference. For my money I prefer Shinobi, and there’s a few reasons why.

For one I just like games that allow for better player expression. I used a dance metaphor earlier and to go back to that, Ninja Gaiden is at it’s most fun when you play to the rhythm the game wants you to. Shinobi gives you the tools to play at your own rhythm. No matter how you approach it the game is always enjoyable to play while Ninja Gaiden is at its best when you play it in a specific way.

Second, I think the special attacks are a bit more balanced. In Shinobi the different Ninpo you unlock have different properties like the rest of the attacks which gives them each a use. Some are good for getting rid of armour, some build Execution meter, and some are just for pure damage. They each have a role which makes it fun to experiment with different combinations.

Ninja Gaiden does have a decent variety of Spider Weapons, but since they all do damage, and every enemy dies in one hit, it means the only real difference is how the weapons fire and their cost, with the latter not being that noticeable a difference.

The problem is one of the weapons is a homing fan, and once you get that it’s the only thing you’ll ever use. Because it’s not like the damage values are different and you don’t have to aim it so it’s dead easy to use. There’s just no reason to experiment with the other sub weapons because the homing fans render them obsolete.

The same issue happens with Ragebound Arts. You can only have one equipped at a time, and because you’ll only use these sparingly, you’ll only ever use the one that does the most damage. Which is the default one. Making the ones you unlock less rewarding to get.

There are Ragebound Arts that do things like healing or increase ki regeneration for more Spider Weapon and kunai usage, but I only ever really used Arts against bosses. Maybe the healing one is good for those, but it’s largely useless in stages. There isn’t a Ragebound Art that’s perfect for every situation except the default one.

In Shinobi you have access to all your Ninjutsu. There is technically less Ninjutsu than there are Ragebound Arts, but having all four available at once, when you unlock them anyway, means I’m more likely to experiment with them. And since there is a healing Ninjutsu, it means you have a healing option without losing an attack option to get it.

I will give Ninja Gaiden one thing; I think it has better variety. Both games have two vehicle levels which are ok. They’re not great in either but they’re a fun enough diversion and at least in Shniobi they’re treated more as a bonus level.

In the main levels, Ninja Gaiden has sections where you swap over to another character called Kumori who has a more projectile based gameplay style. She’s a fun character to play as and serves as a nice change of pace in the brief moments you control her.

Shinobi doesn’t have something like this. Instead, it has a bunch of block pushing puzzles. These are fine and do act as a nice breather between the action, but they’re basic and not all that interesting. Ninja Gaiden does better at varying the gameplay in my opinion.

Still, when looking at the gameplay overall, Shinobi takes it for me. I think the freedom of expression it allows clinches it for me. I’ll always take games that let me play my way over ones that make me play it there’s.

Winner: Shinobi

Level Design

This is where things get interesting. When it comes to the level variety both are very strong. There’s a lot of area’s you would expect in a game like this. Temples, mountains, cities, rooftops, caves, typical ninja game stuff, but each game has some more fantastical level types that add extra creativity to the proceedings.

Secret labs, aircraft carriers, underwater bases, pirate caves, lots of fun and imaginative places. Both are great at this, but only Shinobi has a level inside a kaiju, and any game with a level inside a giant creature is always getting an extra point for me.

Let’s get down to brass tacks though. When it comes to their level structures, both go in wildly different directions. Ninja Gaiden is a lot more straightforward. Every level is a linear run through each stage, with secret areas and collectibles to find.

Shinobi is still linear, but the stages are designed like a mini Metroidvania level. There’s a lot of optional side areas to explore and collectables to uncover like in Ninja Gaiden, but the levels are a lot more open. Some are even non-linear with you able to tackle sections in different orders. There are even area’s you won’t be able to reach until you get certain abilities like in other Metroidvania games.

The funny thing about this is that I thought it would be the opposite. Given Game Kitchen’s history at making Metroidvania games with Blasphemous, I was fully expecting Ninja Gaiden to follow in a similar vein while Shinobi had more linear levels. Except, no, Ninja Gaiden is the linear one and Shinobi is more Metroidvania like. It’s weird.

They’re both trying different things with their level design, and for the most part they succeed. They both have levels with a decent amount of variety in their challenges, they each introduce new ideas and gimmicks in each stage, and there’s plenty of secrets to uncover.

I think both games have great level design, but there’s one key flaw between them, the levels are too long. While each game varies the challenges to prevent the levels from becoming boring, a lot of the levels do tend to drag. A lot of them are over twenty minutes. That’s pretty long for a side scroller.

The levels can outstay their welcome at times. It’s not that bad an issue, by the time they do you are near the end of each level anyway, but they could stand to be a little shorter. There were times when I thought the levels were nearing their end and they just kept going. The pacing is a little off in places.

Of the two games though, I think Shinobi handles this the best. The bigger emphasis on exploration helps it a lot. Ninja Gaiden is a fast-paced kinetic action game through and through and those work better with shorter levels. Unlike Shinobi’s Metroidvania trappings where you want larger levels to give the player more to discover.

Ninja Gaiden being far more linear means you feel the length a lot more. I could recognise that Shinobi had long levels, but I didn’t notice it that much if that makes sense. I could see how long they were but couldn’t feel it in the moment. I really felt it with Ninja Gaiden.

The secret hunting in Shinobi is also far more rewarding. In Ninja Gaiden you can find scrolls that unlock secret levels, that are actually better than the main levels so that is a cool thing to get, Gold Beetles that act as currency in the shop and skulls that just go to your end of level rank.

In Shinobi you can find Oboro Relics which unlocks more items in the shop, amulets which serve as equipment, health, kunai and Ninpo Cell upgrades, and optional challenges that give a special upgrade when you complete them all.

There’s actual tangible, gameplay related upgrades in Shinobi and those just feel more rewarding to get. Those are in Ninja Gaiden, but they’re tied to the games ranking system. Which the skulls do help with, but it’s not as immediate or as satisfying as finding these upgrades in the levels like in Shinobi. I didn’t even know what the skulls did until I looked it up.

Based on that, I think Shinobi winds up having the better level design. It’s not fair to compare these two directly since both are trying different things, but I think Shinobi succeeds more at what it tries to do more so than Ninja Gaiden does.

Winner: Shinobi 

Bosses

This one is going to be a short one, I think Ragebound has the better bosses. Straight up I just think they’re more fun. Not that Shinobi’s bosses are bad. They’re big, imposing, and are a lot of fun in their own right.

But Ninja Gaiden has one leg up in that the bosses are more challenging. That’s it. I didn’t struggle much with most of them in Shinobi. I died once or twice on a few of them, but once I learned their patterns I beat them with no issue.

With Ninja Gaiden though I died quite a few times to the bosses. Not all of them, but a good chunk of them took me a few attempts to defeat. Even when I learned the patterns they kept me on my toes because these guys were not easy. A lot of their attacks can decimate you if you don’t learn to dodge them properly.

They also take a bigger beating too. In Shinobi the bosses go down quick while Ninja Gaiden’s are damage sponges. That could be seen as a negative, and it is in a way, but I think it just adds to the challenge since it prevents you from bum rushing them.

Ninja Gaiden’s bosses also make great use of the Hypercharge. You need to pay attention so you can take advantage of it and landing it leads to big damage, so it feels satisfying when you pull one off. Shinobi does have Executions for bosses but only as a finishing move when they’re at low health.

It felt like Ninja Gaiden took full advantage of the mechanics for its bosses while Shinobi didn’t. There’s no armour or creative use of the Execution mechanic so the bosses in Shinobi felt mechanically shallow. Fun? Yes. Visual spectacles? Oh absolutely, but less mechanically interesting.

Also, I liked all the bosses in Ninja Gaiden, but there were bosses in Shinobi I didn’t. I didn’t care for the Octopus demon, and the Wall statue was lame, easily the worst fight in the game. I know it’s a call back to the first Shinobi game, and I do love me some retro game call backs, but it wasn’t a great fight. The secret post-game boss was a far better call back, but I’ll let you discover that on your own.

So, based purely on them being more challenging and taking better advantage of its mechanics, Ninja Gaiden takes this category. Even if its final boss is a fucking nightmare. Seriously that one was a bitch to beat.

Winner: Ninja Gaiden

Customisation

So, here’s a category I didn’t think I’d add. When I think of customisation in an action game I usually think of controller remapping or changing the difficulty up, which are both things Ninja Gaiden and Shinobi allow, but that’s about as far as most action games take it.

But these games also offer more robust customisation with equipment that offer different perks. Well, I say robust, but you can only equip two in each game. So you’re a bit limited in what you can do. Still, they have more than I was expecting. Credit to Shinobi though, it has an interesting way of handling them.

In that game you have passive amulets where the effects are always on, and combo amulets which only activate when you reach certain combo thresholds and get stronger as your combo gets bigger. This is why the combo doesn’t go down until you take a hit and I really like the system. It incentivises getting big combos and you can cause a snowball effect with them which makes you feel very powerful.

I also find the equipment more interesting in Shinobi overall. The effects of the amulets are more varied and allow for more experimentation, while Ninja Gaiden’s are a bit more generic. I didn’t find myself engaging with the amulets much there. Once I found two I liked I just stuck with them.

Another facet of this are the Ninpo and Spider Weapons. Straight up, Shinobi takes this hands down and it’s not even close. I already went over the balance earlier so no need to repeat that here, but another issue with the Spider Weapons is you can only equip one at a time. This is why I only used the homing fans because if I can only use one, I’m going to use the easiest one to use. You also can’t swap weapons during the levels, so why not just stick to what you’re used to.

In Shinobi, you can carry four Ninpo at a time, swap them during the levels, there’s more variety since some are used in the air, and they’re far more balanced. Ok, the Water Ninpo is a bit overpowered as a counter move and the Snake Ninpo just flat-out sucks, but those are the exception.

Even if the Water Ninpo is a bit busted, it’s still only one of four Ninpo you can have. It doesn’t invalidate the other Ninpo, it’s just another part of your arsenal. In fact, a lot of amulets can boost Ninpo. Synergising the two sides of the customisation and allowing for even more player expression and builds. In every single way Shinobi just takes customisation. There’s no contest.

Ok, to be fair, they both have an issue where you will eventually find a build that works and just stick with that the rest of the game. But every game has that issue. I can’t hold it against these; it’s just an inherent problem with this design approach. Also, Ninja Gaiden still ends up worse since you get there faster, yeah Shinobi wins moving on.

Winner: Shinobi

Difficulty

If you know anything about these games, you’d probably expect Ninja Gaiden to take this no question. Shinobi has always been a challenging series, but Ninja Gaiden is notorious for its difficulty. The term NES hard is often affiliated with the Ninja Gaiden series.

So, you’d think that Ninja Gaiden would be the more difficult of the two, but no. Well, sort of. It’s complicated so allow me to explain. If we’re talking about the base difficulty, then I’d actually say Shinobi is the tougher game.

Ninja Gaiden can certainly be challenging at times, I already said the bosses are pretty tough, but the actual levels really aren’t that bad. There’s plenty of checkpoints and health items and even the platforming and combat isn’t that difficult.

To be honest the main gameplay of Shinobi isn’t that hard either. There’s also plenty of checkpoints that fully heal you, but it’s a Metroidvania style game so that makes sense, and health items are plentiful on top of getting health from Executions. It’s not hard to stay alive in either game.

But that’s not where the real challenge is. That is in the different side challenges like the Ankou Rifts. These side challenges are fucking brutal. Not so much the combat challenges, those are mostly fair and manageable, but the platforming challenges are relentless. These require some pinpoint platforming and mastery of the game’s movement. The late game ones, oh God they were hard. Took me dozens of tries to beat some of them.

So, if we’re looking at the normal game, both are about the same, but Shinobi gets the slight edge when it comes to the side challenges. There is a bit more to it than that though. Both games also allow you to adjust the difficulty in different ways.

Shinobi has difficulty sliders that allow you to change certain parameters. Enemy health, damage taken, that kind of thing. You can’t make them harder, which I would have liked as an option, but you can make them a bit easier. It’s a good way to allow players to customise the difficulty to their comfort level, I just wish you could make it more difficult for those looking for a bigger challenge.

Ninja Gaiden, let’s you do just that. There are certain amulets that can make the game harder, but that means losing an amulet slot which limits the equipment system even further. It’s not ideal but at least the option is there.

They do act as more extreme challenges though. They’re the kind of thing that are there for the more hardcore crowd. They also don’t provide any in game benefits besides increasing the end level rank, which most people won’t care about.

If you want to take it a step further though, Ninja Gaiden has a hard mode which is where the true Ninja Gaiden experience lies. The levels are much harder, the bosses have new attacks, there’s more enemies, there’s tougher enemies. It isn’t just you take more damage or something like that, it’s a completely different experience.

Hard mode is where Ragebound earns its namesake. Admittedly I didn’t play much of hard mode, mainly because this mode also removed a lot of the checkpoints and with levels being as long as they are that didn’t sound fun.

If Ninja Gaiden has one major issue with its difficulty, it’s that it never finds its sweet spot. The difficulty where it’s a brutal challenge but also feels balanced and fair. It comes closest to that in hard mode, but I think removing the checkpoints was a step too far. It just made things tedious in my opinion.

There also isn’t much of a reason to do hard mode beyond bragging rights. I googled what you got from hard mode and all you get are costumes and a short epilogue cutscene. And beating hard mode requires doing a new boss rush where you need to beat all the bosses on one life bar. No, no I’m good thank you. I have much better things to do with my time.

It just didn’t seem worth the hassle. Unlike Shinobi where the harder challenges give you new amulets or upgrades which make them worth doing. When judging difficulty in a game I always ask myself, does the game justify the difficulty?

Is it rewarding to do the challenges the game presents? In Ninja Gaiden’s case I’d say, not really. For what the game expects of you there is very little benefit. Unlike Shinobi which gave you something for your efforts.

Neither game is perfect in their difficulty. Ninja Gaiden never finds that sweet spot and Shinobi’s difficulty slider could be more robust, but when judging it as a whole, I think Shinobi is the more rewarding of the two games.

Winner: Shinobi

Content

Now let’s talk about what these games offer. The man game modes both offer a good amount of content. Ninja Gaiden should take you about 10-12 hours depending on how much you want to do, while Shinobi should take 12-15 hours.

Slightly longer but not too much. Mind you it took me a little longer to beat both, but that’s because I’m a slow motherfucker and I take my time. I’m just giving the average time to beat based on what was on How Long to Beat.

Based on my run time, I’d say both are about even. Shinobi was a bit longer, but only by a couple of hours. It isn’t to such a degree where it can take the win on its own. Not when there’s other game modes to consider.

Ninja Gaiden has the hard mode which should double or triple the game length depending on how difficult you find it. Shinobi also has an unlockable arcade mode after you beat the game. This is a score attack mode where you replay the levels to try and get a high score, with you receiving a ranking upon beating it. You also get an unlockable boss rush mode where you try to get the best time.

So, both games offer quite a bit to do. It’s hard to say which is better because I think both games have a lot of value. I should note Shinobi is getting additional levels as DLC, but those aren’t out yet and we don’t know how much they’ll add so it’s hard to pass judgement on that right now.

I suppose if I were to count them as future content then Shinobi wins, but based on the base game alone, I would actually give it to Ninja Gaiden. Because the hard mode, while it isn’t for me, does significantly change up the game which makes it feel like a different experience.

Shinobi’s arcade mode, doesn’t. It’s the same levels but with a scoring system. Which is fine but it doesn’t feel all that substantial. Even if I’m not a personal fan of it, hard mode does feel like it adds more than arcade mode. it even comes with new rewards. I may not think they’re worth it, but being objective, it does offer more than arcade mode.

That alone gives Ninja Gaiden the win. It might be shorter, but that comes largely from Shinobi’s design and not the content on offer. In terms of that, I think Ninja Gaiden offers a bit more.

Winner: Ninja Gaiden

Replay Value

Alright, so we’ve determined Ninja Gaiden has more robust content on offer, but on top of having a lot to do. A game should offer more incentive to replay it. A lot of old school action games thrive on replay value. It’s why the Shinobi and Ninja Gaiden series is so beloved because people have replayed them dozens if not hundreds of times.

As for the new games, they have plenty of reasons to replay them. There are basic things like going back for collectables you missed. That one is obvious and it’s especially true for Shinobi since you need skills from later levels to reach collectables in the early levels.

In that regard Shinobi does better. Not only are the collectables more rewarding in general, but the games fast travel system makes it painless. Unlike Ninja Gaiden where you need to beat the entire level, and the skulls don’t get saved meaning you have to collect them all over again.

There is more to Ninja Gaiden though. Every level in Ninja Gaiden has three optional missions to do. Some are admittedly so easy you’ll do them on accident, but others are tough and will require a few attempts to do them.

The missions also add to the end of level ranking, which alone adds some more replay value. Going for the higher rankings is satisfying and rewards you with new amulets and moves. It’s not that difficult to get A or B ranks which is all you need for that, but getting the S rank? That will require some practice.

Of course, this all depends on whether you want to do them or not. Which is where the problem lies. Outside of challenge junkies or completionists, I don’t see most players going for the higher rankings. There isn’t much incentive to do so. And outside of that, there isn’t much reason to replay the levels.

Shinobi has a similar issue. Once you’ve gotten all the items in a level there’s no reason to go back to them. The arcade mode helps a bit with that, but outside high score chasers I’m not sure how much appeal that will have.

It’s hard for me to judge which game has the better replay value since I’ve only played each game once. You only know whether a game has strong replay value by replaying it. I know Slay the Spire and Streets of Rage 4 have replay value because I have played them multiple times and I love them more each time I do.

I don’t know if Ragebound or Art of Vengeance is better at replay value because they’re new, I haven’t had time to replay them. What do I do then? The only thing I can, pick which one I feel the biggest urge to go back to. That game is Art of Vengeance.

Aside from enjoying the base game more, there’s a lot more in Shinobi I want to try out. I want to try different Ninpo combinations, new amulets combinations, I want to try to get bigger combo’s, beat Arcade Mode with higher rankings. I want to go back and do more because the game was so much fun.

Ninja Gaiden is a great game too, but when I was finished with the story, I had my fill. There really wasn’t much to go back and experiment with since I found the best stuff already, and while I will admit hard mode offers more objectively, I still don’t like it all that much.

At the end of the day, I want to go back to Shinobi as soon as I can, while for Ninja Gaiden I’ll probably wait a few years until I do so. I won’t know how this stands until I go back to them, but right now I have to give replay value to Shinobi.

Winner: Shinobi

With all that said, we now have our final tally. And with six categories to three, our ultimate ninja game is Shinobi Art of Vengeance.

Ultimate Winner: Shinobi Art of Vengeance

I want to make it clear again that both these games are brilliant and worth a purchase. These are some of the best retro styled ninja action games you can buy. This comparison was purely for fun, and I hope I sold you on how good these games are. Neither are perfect, but the good more than outweighs the bad.

This comparison was also close. A lot of them came down to minor details which shows how good they are. Even if Shinobi was the ultimate victor, Ninja Gaiden put up a great fight. Who knows maybe you’ll like it more, I can certainly see why people would.

I can’t recommend these enough, and if you’re interested, why not check out some other great ninja games. Cyber Shadow is a challenging game with a surprisingly good story, Vengeance Rider Moonrider is a good Mega Man X styled game, and of course there’s The Messenger which is one of the best indie games ever made. No matter what advancements the industry makes, it’s nice to know that classic ninja action will never truly go away.