20 Best Xbox One Ninja Games of All Time

Ninja’s never age, and in this modern day and age, the art of the ninja at work is as profoundly engaging as it has ever been.. The Xbox One has played host to some truly exceptional ninja titles so join us as we recount 20 of the platform’s very best ninja titles.

#20 Super Hyperactive Ninja

• Developer: JanduSoft
• Platform: Xbox One
• Release Date: May 2018

The “fast-paced, hyper caffeinated” action platforming of Super Hyperactive Ninja is certainly something, but due to some relatively poor level design, it takes what should be a fun and engaging premise and drags it through the mud, dulling any possibility of having genuine, uninterrupted fun.

#19 Naruto To Baruto: Shinobi Striker

• Developer: Soleil
• Platform: Xbox One
• Release Date: Aug 2018

Naruto To Baruto: Shinobi Striker might be one of the very few Naruto games to do something different, but the problem is, the MOBA elements of Shinobi Striker don’t at all come together as fans would have liked them to.

#18 The LEGO Ninjago Movie Video Game

• Developer: TT Games
• Platform: Xbox One 
• Release Date: Sep 2017

Though absolutely one of the weakest LEGO titles that TT Games have put out, the core DNA of all of their other games is still here and ensures that despite being a weaker title, there is still plenty for players to pick up and enjoy should they give The LEGO Ninjago Movie Video Game a proper go. Collect studs, all 102 playable characters, and test your mettle in the Challenge Dojos to become the best LEGO ninja you can be.

#17 Aragami Series 

• Developer: Lince Works
• Platform: Xbox One
• Release Date: 2016-2021

While neither Aragami title is necessarily going to blow you away, both titles have an incredible sense of style and blend stealth movement and puzzles together in a way that is always rewarding. Checkpointing is poor, penalising the less-versed stealth players among us, but take your time, immerse yourself, and you’ll soon be playing by all the rules and loving the world of Aragami.

#16 Skulls Of The Shogun

• Developer: 17-bit
• Platform: Xbox 360, Xbox One
• Release Date: Jan 2013

You wouldn’t think that a turn-based tactical ninja game would be a nice pairing, and yet, Skulls Of The Shogun delivers in all facets. It has a brilliantly quirky visual style that shouldn’t work but does, the gameplay is a dream, despite it feeling like it tonally shouldn’t work in theory, and the game will constantly surprise at how accessible it is for new faces. Skulls Of The Shogun is a game that shouldn’t work by all rights, and yet, is an absolute gem.

#15 Strider

• Developer: Double Helix
• Platform: Xbox 360, Xbox One
• Release Date: Feb 2014

Though never really reaching the great heights of the franchise’s past, the 2014 reboot of Strider from Double Helix and Capcom did a pretty great job of reworking systems beloved in the originals into function in this modern take. The 2D plane was still there, the visuals still look great, and the progression system made the game far more approachable for a new audience in ways that the original games never were.

#14 Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 

• Developer: CyberConnect2
• Platform: Xbox One
• Release Date: Feb 2016

The 3D arenas of Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm return with Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, and the game lovingly recreates the style of the anime to perfection. The combat is overly extravagant despite its simplicity, and sometimes gets lost identifying whether it wants to be accessible to fans or there for fighting game players, but it’s still, overall, a very competent ninja title worthy of your time and attention.

#13 Onimusha Warlords

• Developer: Capcom
• Platform: Xbox One
• Release Date: Jan 2019

Onimusha was excellent when it first launched on the PS2 in 2001, but this 2019 remaster holds up incredibly well. The action still feels great, the combat as precise as ever, and the story, one which blends Japanese historical fact with fiction still appeals like few games have succeeded in doing.

#12 Shadow Warrior Series

• Developer: Flying Wild Hog
• Platform: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
• Release Date: 2013-2022

While the Shadow Warrior titles have never really hidden from the fact that they’re intentionally derivative of modern, fast-paced, push-forward FPS’ like DOOM, it is these comparisons that hold the game back in comparison to the incredible id shooters. Shadow Warrior certainly has a far more crass way about it, one that will either resonate with you instantly, or instantly push you away, and in many ways – that’s the beauty of the franchise. 3 entries in the modern reboot later, and I don’t think we’d have it any other way.

#11 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

• Developer: Tribute Games
• Platform: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
• Release Date: Jun 2022

It says more about the games deeper in this list that a game as brilliant as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge could slide so low, but don’t let its positioning deter you. What Tribute Games created is a modern beat-em-up, that rivals the best that the genre has seen over its many decades. Add on an incredible sense of personality, addicting audio/visual design, and sublimely implemented multiplayer, and you’ve got an all-timer on your hands with this one.

#10 Warframe

• Developer: Digital Extremes
• Platform: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
• Release Date: Mar 2013

As the oldest game on this list you would expect it to be one of the most outdated and waning in life, but in reality, Warframe continues to thrive thanks in large part to the incredible long-term support provided by its developer Digital Extremes. A mixed response early has turned into critical and community acclaim as the devs listen and respond to feedback, while continuing to roll out expansive updates and new content to build the game out even further.

#9 Ghostrunner

• Developer: One More Level, Slipgate Ironworks
• Platform: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
• Release Date: Oct 2020

We never quite got the Mirror’s Edge experience with excellent combat – until Ghostrunner came along. Centimeter-perfect first-person free-running parkour platforming and superb combat makes Ghostrunner one of the most exhilarating gameplay experiences of the generation.

#8 Katana Zero

• Developer: Askiisoft
• Platform: Xbox One
• Release Date: Apr 2019

With a fascinating sense of style, Katana Zero is bloody, beautiful, and oh so brilliant. Katana Zero draws upon the “one hit kill” only mechanic that has driven so many classics and refines it to a crisp modern sheen, while has a dazzling VHS-inspired look, and excellent writing that ensures players remind constantly engaged throughout their time with it.

#7 Cyber Shadow

• Developer: Mechanical Head
• Platform: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
• Release Date: Jan 2021

Cyber Shadow harnesses many of the qualities that made SNES-era 2D sidescrollers like Ninja Gaiden, Mega Man, and Castlevania so appealing and applies an incredible cybernetic layer over it, which, along with modern accouterments, and a personality that’s all its own, makes Cyber Shadow a modern ninja classic.

#6 Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection

• Developer: Team Ninja
• Platform: Xbox One
• Release Date: June 2021

Despite being amongst the most brutally hard games of all time, there’s an impossible to quantify characteristic of the modern Ninja Gaiden games that makes them so constantly engaging despite their seeming hatred of the player. Now they’ve all been compiled in the brilliant Master Collection and even made more accessible for players of a wider range of ability level to finally appreciate as the rest of us have for decades.

#5 Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

• Developer: PlatinumGames
• Platform: Xbox 360, Xbox One
• Release Date: Feb 2013

Once a more hyrbidised title straddling the stealth genre that Metal Gear Solid games were renowned for and a fast-action approach not before scene in the franchise, the stealth was dropped as the game shifted from being a Kojima Productions title to a PlatinumGames one. The game, initally cancelled in its initial hybrid state was better for the committed pivot in a singular direction and helps Raiden’s adventure stand as one of the most enjoyable Metal Gear Games as well as one of the very best Ninja games of all time too.

#4 Shadow Tactics: Battle Of Shogun

• Developer: Mimimi Productions
• Platform: Xbox One
• Release Date: Dec 2016 

In a day and age where Tactics games have been shunned, and fans have been longing for only one or two particular entries, Shadow Tactics came along and blew us all away with an incredible deep tactical title that puts the samurai skillset at the forefront, and implements all of the best elements of the samurai way of living into an excellent stealth, tactical experience.

#3 Mark Of The Ninja Remastered

• Developer: Klei Entertainment  
• Platform: Xbox One
• Release Date: Feb 2012

Having established themselves as a premiere studio known for their brutal action titles Shank, we all assumed that the studio would continue down that path into the future. Enter the trajectory-changing Mark Of The Ninja, taking the style of all that came in Klei’s prior work, and blending it with side-scrolling stealth action.

#2 The Messenger

• Developer: Sabotage Studio
• Platform: Xbox One
• Release Date: Aug 2018

A game that subverts your expectations at multiple prominent moments, The Messenger draws upon the masterstrokes of early days Ninja Gaiden before hard pivoting into MetroidVania systems and nailing that too. Add to that an engaging plot, great moments of humour, and incredible production value and you’ve got one of the most enjoyable indies ever.

#1 Sekiro: Shadow’s Die Twice

• Developer: FromSoftware
• Platform: Xbox One
• Release Date: Mar 2019

There’s no dedicated ninja title that comes even remotely close to the bar set by FromSoftware’s Sekiro: Shadow’s Die Twice. The game changed what people expected from FromSoft titles, and delivered one of the coolest, most stylish, mechanically perfect combat experiences that the last generation has seen.