Microsoft snuck in a fifth game in this year’s Xbox Development Direct, and it’s a title that fans may have forgotten that they wanted.
At the end of the reveal of Ninja Gaiden 4, Team Ninja revealed that they remastered Ninja Gaiden 2 with Unreal Engine 5, and this new version was Microsoft’s second ever stealth drop, after Hi-Fi Rush. They call this version of the game Ninja Gaiden 2 Black.
The name may be more meaningful than you think, at least if you weren’t one of the Ninja Gaiden faithful. The first Ninja Gaiden made by Team Ninja under Tomonobu Itagaki released on the original Xbox in 2004. A year later, Itagaki’s Team Ninja made a revised version called Ninja Gaiden Black. This version included many revisions and additions, and Itagaki considered it his definitive version of the game.
However, just a year later, Tecmo would make another version of this game for the PlayStation 3 without Itagaki’s knowledge, called Ninja Gaiden Sigma. Subsequently, that version is the basis of the game found in Ninja Gaiden Master Collection.
Ninja Gaiden 2 was also developed by Team Ninja under Itagaki, and released on the Xbox 360. It was a standout title in its release in 2008, and would be the last Ninja Gaiden game he made before leaving Koei Tecmo.
Ninja Gaiden 2 received different versions and ports, and is also in Ninja Gaiden Master Collection. But this remaster has been designed to be the game’s definitive version.
And just to make that clear, Tecmo Koei has a webpage explaining all the additions and changes they made to this version of the game, and how it compares to all the older versions. To be clear, they did not carry over some content, such as the Statue of Liberty and Giant Buddha boss battles.
But like any good remaster, Tecmo Koei’s focus was on making the best version of the game that can be made with the refined game conventions and technology that didn’t exist in 2008. And to please the fans, they also carried over additional playable characters Rachel, Momiji, and Ayane.
Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is now available on Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. But of course, as Microsoft promised, the game is day one on Game Pass, so if you have the proper subscription tier you can go play it now using your Xbox account on a Windows PC or an Xbox console, at no additional cost.
And of course, we are also wondering if Tecmo plans to bring this game to the Switch 2 as well. But if that’s happening, we will probably have to wait until after that console is in stores before we know for sure. In the meantime, you can watch the official trailer below.
