Franchise file / Hideo Yoshizawa, Tecmo
Ninja Gaiden
Tecmo's ninja, still unforgiving
Tecmo's ninja action line, from the NES side-scrollers of 1988 to Team Ninja's punishing 3D revival. Ryu Hayabusa leads, and the games rarely go easy on anyone.
- 1988
- First game
- 1
- Series
- Hideo Yoshizawa, Tecmo
- Creator
One world. Many eras.
Choose your chapter
The side-scrollers. Tecmo's NES games set the template, with fast side-scrolling action built around Ryu Hayabusa. The Dark Sword of Chaos and The Ancient Ship of Doom followed.
Start with Ninja GaidenYour next late night
The essentials
A legacy worth revisiting
Two eras, one very sharp sword.
Ninja Gaiden began as a side-scroller in 1988, then went quiet until Tomonobu Itagaki pitched a revival. The 2004 Xbox game rebuilt it as third-person character action, and Ragebound has since taken the series back to two dimensions.
- 1988 to 1991
- The side-scrollers
- 2004 to 2012
- The Team Ninja revival
- 2014 to 2025
- New hands
Scenes that stay with you
Inside the world
Select a frame to expand it.
