When people think of what a covert agent looks like, they often think of spies of the modern era. However, people who built their lives around espionage have existed since ancient times and one example of this is the ninja. Ninjas performed a lot of different duties in feudal Japan and a lot of the time in popular culture they’re painted as professional assassins.
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There is a lot of intrigue about ninjas and a lot of folklore that depicts them as having supernatural powers. Much of that gets incorporated into media about them, including video games. Games likeNinja GaidenandSekiro: Shadows Die Twiceare popular go-to games for fans of ninjas, but there are plenty of other great ninja games that have faded into obscurity andbecome just as elusive as the ninjathemselves.
8Naruto: The Broken Bond
Even for people who aren’t into anime, theNarutovideo games are well-known and several titles are considered good ninja games. Thegames in theUltimate Ninja Stormseriesare considered to be some of the betterNarutogames as they include a huge roster of characters, stunning visuals that let the player feel like they’re stepping into the world ofNaruto, and fun and dynamic gameplay.
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However, there are other games that kind of fell by the wayside despite having similar qualities as the more popular games. One of these isNaruto: The Broken Bond. A sequel toRise of a Ninja, it was a step in the right direction to flesh out the world and make environments more rich and dense. It was an Xbox 360 exclusive and was the last game Ubisoft developed before their rights to the IP expired.
7Senran Kagura
TheSenran Kaguraseries is full of fan serviceand it’s not the most serious of ninja games, but it’s still pretty good on its gameplay alone. The game is set in modern Japan where the covert arts of the ninja are still taught in secret schools around the country.
The majority of the games are beat ‘em ups where the player follows the story of one of the girls. Playersbattle through hordes of enemiesto build up enough meter to use their special Ninja Arts to perform powerful and devastating combos using their weapons, summons, affinity, and even their bodies.
6Nightshade
Many ninja games are fighting games, but that doesn’t mean that it’s a requirement to be considered a ninja game.Nightshadestill fits the bill as it’s a romance visual novel about ninjas that lived during the Sengoku Period in Japan.
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The protagonist of the game is Enju, the daughter of the head of the Kogo clan, one of the two main clans that had warred for years. For the first time since she began her training as a ninja, she’s sent on a mission that sends her fate and the fate of her village down a dark spiral. It’s a visually beautiful romance visual novel with five different love interests to choose from.
5Nightshade (Kunoichi)
Nightshadeis the title of another ninja game that came out in 2003 on thePlayStation 2. It’s a part of theShinobigame series and was originally released under the game title “Kunoichi,” which is a term for a female ninja.
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The game follows Hibana, a ninja employed by the government to stop the evil Nakatomi Group from collecting the shards of the demon sword Akujiki.Nightshadeis a sequel to the 2002Shinobiand the protagonist of the first game, Hotsuma makes a cameo appearance inNightshade.
4Aragami 2
Aragamiis a stealth action-adventure game in which players follow Aragami, a shadow spirit who was summoned by a mysterious girl to help free her from her captors. The success ofAragamiled toAragami 2, which isn’t exactly a sequel to the first one.
It’s completely different from the story of the first game, as the Aragami are a group of warriors with the power to control shadows.Aragami 2allows morefreedom when it comes to combat and character buildsand has also improved its co-op offering, allowing up to three players to play on an assassin squad.
3Ninja Blade
Ninja Bladeis another ninja game set in modern times. Very reminiscent of theDevil May CryandNinja Gaidenseries, the game is set four years after a huge government coverup of an outbreak of a mutant hookworm parasite called Alpha-worm. The player takes control of Ken Ogawa, a member of a containment task force.
He’s on a ninja team with his father and during an outbreak, his father and another member of their team become infected by the parasite, killing the rest of the team except for Ken. Ken is sent to eliminate all of those infected by the Alpha-worm. Ken has 3 different swords he can use as well as unique ninja abilities.
2Ninja Master’s
The name SNK and NEOGEO are known to many fans of the fighting game genre.King of Fightersis up there with Capcom’sStreet Fighterand NetherRealm’sMortal Kombatas one of the best fighting game series of all time.SNK has included several ninja characters in their fighting games, Mai fromFatal Furybeing one of their most iconic.
In 1996, SNK made a fighting game with a roster of mostly ninja characters calledNinja Master’s. The main character Sasuke is a skilled ninja whose goal is to defeat the evil warlord Nobunaga.Ninja Master’sfeatures the same gameplay mechanics as SNK’sArt of Fightingseries, including a strength gauge that increases damage.
1The Ninja Saviors: Return Of The Warriors
The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriorsis a remake of the retelling of the originalarcadegame,The Ninja Warriors. It hasall the classic beat ‘em upside-scroller aesthetic and action that anyone could ever want and is available on theNintendo Switch.
Adding two new android ninjas as well as including the original three, players must battle through eight levels to defeat the tyrannical alien invader Banglar. In the remake,Ninja Saviorsalso has co-op with support for up to two players.
