Latest news with #NinjaGaiden
The Verge
3 days ago
- Business
- The Verge
Dotemu's CEO on how it makes new games that feel retro
Dotemu is on a pretty good run. The video game studio and publisher has been around since 2007, and much of its history is largely working on remakes and remasters of older games. But it's also been involved with major hits in the form of sequels and new games that are in the spirit of older classics, including Streets of Rage 4 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge. All of that work is culminating in what looks to be a promising 2025, with three new but classics-inspired games: Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, a new side-scroller for the series; Marvel Cosmic Invasion, an arcade-y beat-'em-up; and Absolum, an original beat-'em-up with roguelike elements. 'We're open to everything,' CEO Cyrille Imbert tells The Verge. Despite his title, Imbert says his job involves acting like an executive producer to bring together concepts that answer specific needs for franchises. Before Shredder's Revenge 's 2022 release, for example, there hadn't been a good side-scrolling TMNT game for 'a while,' he says. (Turtles in Time, which helped inspire the game, came out in 1991.) 'We were convinced that there was a need for that.' There was: the game sold 1 million copies in its first week, developer Tribute Games said at the time. Dotemu takes on 'most of the risk' of a project based on an existing franchise, Imbert says, meaning that while the company needs to convince a franchise owner to get on board, Dotemu typically finances everything and is responsible for finding a studio to execute a concept. 'From A to Z, we are in control of the project, but we take the risk from A to Z as well,' explains Imbert. 'Sometimes the studio will also participate financially, but it's fairly rare, or it's usually a minority of the total spending.' With the new Ninja Gaiden game, for example, Imbert says he was familiar with the 3D iterations of the franchise on Xbox, and he also saw the success of recent action-platformers like The Messenger. So, he started conversations with Koei Tecmo, and then worked with The Game Kitchen, the developer of Blasphemous, on a pitch. 'That's the story, basically,' Imbert says. For Marvel Cosmic Invasion, Imbert says that following Streets of Rage 4, 'lots of people' had been asking for a new X-Men game that was like what you used to find in arcades. 'We knew there was a need and that people would really like it,' he says, especially if it got a similar treatment as Streets of Rage 4 or Shredder's Revenge. The idea was 'very obvious' to the Tribute Games team as well, so Dotemu and Tribute made a pitch to Marvel Games. Absolum, as a fully original game, is different from its other titles. From a pure business perspective, it's a way for Dotemu to diversify its lineup so that the company doesn't rely entirely on licensed games. Internally, the Dotemu team felt like they could do their own thing, and by making it inspired by classics, it would still fit in Dotemu's lineup, Imbert says. They also wanted to work with Guard Crush, which worked on Streets of Rage 4, on another beat-'em-up. It all adds up to what's going to be a busy year for the company. It has three games that show the different approaches it has to making these kinds of experiences, and all of them were chosen for a specific reason. 'That's how we're going to be proud of what we do.'
Metro
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Beloved Sega Mega Drive series is coming back with remasters and a new sequel
Months after new trademarks were spotted, the creator of Ecco The Dolphin has confirmed the series is returning next year. When it was discovered that Sega had filed new trademarks for Ecco The Dolphin in January, it was suspected that this was the secret announcement Microsoft was teasing for the then upcoming Xbox showcase. That wasn't the case, with the surprise reveal being for a new Ninja Gaiden instead, but it appears there was significance behind those Ecco trademarks after all. According to Ecco creator Ed Annunziata, not only is he and the original team reuniting to remaster the first two Ecco games, but they're working on a new sequel as well. Xbox Wire recently posted an article celebrating Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, where it highlighted several games, like Tchia and Ecco, that take inspiration from API cultures. This included a short interview with Annunziata about Ecco's influences and how it aimed to raise awareness about ocean preservation, which Annunziata capped off with an announcement for the future of the series. 'Me and the entire original team are going to remaster the original Ecco The Dolphin and Tides Of Time games,' explained Annunziata. 'Then we will make a new, third game with contemporary play and GPU sensibilities.' There are no other details, with Annunziata only sharing a countdown website that's set to end in approximately 8,500 hours at the time of writing. So, you can expect to see a bigger announcement around this time next year. Curiously, there's no mention of Sega's involvement with any of these projects, but you have to assume it is since, aside from the aforementioned trademarks, Sega owns the rights to the Ecco IP. Original developer Appaloosa Interactive was a Hungarian studio that made the Ecco games for Sega and was never a subsidiary of the company. Ecco The Dolphin is a series of extremely challenging action adventure games for the Mega Drive and Dreamcast, that saw the titular dolphin explore the depths of the ocean and travel through time to fend off an alien invasion. Popular with non-gamers at the time, Ecco developed a cult following and has seen a handful of re-releases over the years. However, the series met its end with the Dreamcast game Ecco The Dolphin: Defender Of The Future, a reboot that we're guessing the new Ecco game will ignore in favour of sticking with the continuity of the first two games. The Dreamcast game wasn't a big hit and a planned sequel was cancelled, which is the last time Appaloosa Interactive worked with Sega. Although they did make a spiritual successor in 2006's Jaws Unleashed, which had many similarities with Defender Of The Future. More Trending It wasn't a success either and proved to be Appalosa Interactive's last game, with the studio shutting down the very same year. Ever since, Annunziata has been trying to continue Ecco the Dolphin, having previously ran a crowdfunding campaign for a spiritual successor called The Big Blue that ultimately failed. In the wake of its failure, Annunziata filed a lawsuit to try and reclaim Ecco from Sega and according to a GamesBeat report from 2016, the two sides reached an undisclosed settlement. Presumably, this has helped pave the way for Annunziata to reunite the original team for the Ecco remasters and sequel. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Jupiter & Mars review – Ecco location MORE: Iconic Sega composer retires after 41 years, is immediately rehired MORE: Michael Bay to turn Sega 80s classic into a movie: amazing soundtrack guaranteed
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ninja Gaiden 2 Black review
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. There aren't enough stylish action games like Ninja Gaiden in the world. Nothing draws me in as instantly as a great one: I relish struggling through punishing combat in games that give me the tools to move and battle in a way that's typically reserved for flashy cutscenes, and demand I use them or die. Intense enemy encounters and rhythmic timing mixed with Tony Hawk-style experimentation just hits that sweet spot—and I don't think any game mixes both of these in their most extreme forms more than Ninja Gaiden 2. Need to know What is it? A UE5 remaster of Ninja Gaiden 2 taking elements of previous versionsRelease date: January 23, 2025Expect to pay: £40 / $50Developer: Team NinjaPublisher: Koei TecmoReviewed on: RTX 3060Ti, AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, 16GB RAMMultiplayer? NoLink: Steam Team Ninja's trilogy of Ninja Gaiden games is a frustrating endeavour. Not because of the overwhelming difficulty, but because each game has multiple versions available, and all are not created equal. For 16 years a singular, "perfect" version of the Xbox 360's Ninja Gaiden 2 has remained elusive. Its first remaster, Sigma 2, changed things up by reducing the overwhelming enemy count, cutting back on the gore, and adding new playable characters, bosses and missions. Some of its essence was lost. Generally the community prefers the relentlessly vicious original version despite some dire flaws, so when the Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection version was based on Sigma, it was a letdown (I never bought it for that very reason). Which is why the announcement of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black was so exciting: 2005's Ninja Gaiden Black is a "director's cut" and the undisputed best version of an all-timer. The implication was, clearly, this is the one you've been waiting for. In reality, the Black subtitle is somewhat misleading; this remake lands somewhere in the middle of the original Ninja Gaiden 2 and Sigma. But I forgot about all that when I started playing Black. I was entranced again, just like I was back on the Xbox 360, making this new version, while not quite definitive, now the ideal way to experience an incredible action game. 2004's Ninja Gaiden demanded a more defensive approach to combat than contemporaries like Devil May Cry. Pulling off carefully timed strikes and flashy wall-runs in between precision blocking was excruciatingly punishing but an exhilarating exercise in discipling my fingers. Then Ninja Gaiden 2 threw that out the window and stuck a brick on the gas pedal. Excess is the name of the game: Enemies shoot out fountains of blood like they're trying to outdo the climax of Sanjuro, relentless offence is key to survival, and everything is faster. If Ninja Gaiden 1 is a long-form symphony, then Ninja Gaiden 2 is the Dead Kennedys one-minute punk classic Nazi Punks Fuck Off. Front and centre in Ninja Gaiden 2 Black after being toned down in Sigma 2 are dismemberment and obliteration techniques; as you attack enemies, their arms, legs, and heads come flying off, spurting red. But this is Ninja Gaiden, where hemorrhaging enemies are somehow scarier than healthy ones. A one-armed ninja can still lunge at me and detonate himself with a grenade the second I stop moving. To combat this you're armed with obliteration techniques, which live up to their name. Triggering a heavy attack near a wounded foe sends Ryu into a flashy animation of lightspeed swings, the camera greedily crowding in for a better look as he transforms his enemy into piles of viscera (think Doom's glory kills). And then you're seamlessly back in command, potentially capitalizing on the collateral damage from one obliteration flurry to immediately trigger another one on a freshly armless baddie. Ryu himself feels incredible to control thanks to a nimble and deadly moveset: You'll be able to get by with just attacking and dodging, but the game becomes something more when you push past blind combo mashing and begin deliberately weaving his ninja abilities into the mix. If you're cornered by a group of enemies, run up the wall behind you to escape, or use the Flying Swallow (a slicing dash attack with the screaming velocity of a divebombing hawk) to launch yourself across the arena. These moves give the combat an incredible sense of momentum. With enough confidence, you often don't even have to slow down to assess the situation. Ryu's moves, many available right from the first stage, allow me to pull off stuff like running across a wall parallel to an enemy and slashing them in two in mid air, which had me hollering because it was so rad. Ryu's Izuna Drop grapple (which has him grab an enemy in midair before spinning to the ground and pulping their skull) remains one of the most satisfying attacks to pull off in all of videogames, irrefutably sick even if it's not his most efficient damage-dealer. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black has nine weapons, and somehow all of them are great. Even Devil May Cry has a weapon or two I'm not so keen on, though unlike in DMC swapping from Ryu's blade to a pair of bruising tonfas or a giant scythe requires a pause, interrupting the flow of a fight and discouraging on-the-fly experimentation. Each weapon can be upgraded to unlock new techniques, and I'm happy that Black brings back the option to boost them in shops versus Sigma's constrained timed unlocks. Returning from Sigma are three extra playable characters: Rachel, Ayane, and Momoji. Each one gets a unique mission; while these do mess with the pace of the story, it's not an obnoxiously long distraction, and each character brings a refreshing spin to combat. I'm especially fond of Rachel, whose massive club and machine gun are as far away from the tools of a nimble ninja as possible. You can also take them into the Tag Mission mode, which offers some nice bite-sized chunks of that moreish action without the need to commit to a whole mission. Image 1 of 7 Image 2 of 7 Image 3 of 7 Image 4 of 7 Image 5 of 7 Image 6 of 7 Image 7 of 7 The Xbox 360 version of Ninja Gaiden 2 was notable for its overwhelming number of enemies on screen at once, and while those full swarms haven't returned for Black, the enemy count and overall difficulty have been bumped up from Sigma. I played on Acolyte difficulty—which is presented as Normal—so when I found the game surprisingly breezy, with only a few deaths across the run, I was a bit disheartened. Then I discovered that Warrior (billed as Hard in this release) was what the original game called Normal. Confusing! It's a shame there's no option to swap difficulties mid-story. I have gone back and played some on the harder Warrior, Mentor, and Master Ninja difficulties and can thankfully say my ass is getting kicked, so I'm looking forward to a replay. Aside from the usual Unreal Engine 5 issues like texture loading and occasional stuttering (although thankfully I didn't experience much), Ninja Gaiden 2 Black's fully revamped graphics are a winner. The game looks absolutely gorgeous; the lighting, ray tracing and character models shine with a premium gloss, and I wasn't even playing on the highest settings. Characters are especially detailed; you can see individual freckles, scars and burst blood vessels on skin. Meanwhile, the buttcheek definition on Ryu's suit is genuinely impressive in motion. While somewhat less stylized than the original game, to my eye none of the charm has been lost in the way that other realism-heavy remakes have gone awry. Image 1 of 5 Image 2 of 5 Image 3 of 5 Image 4 of 5 Image 5 of 5 This is also complemented by smooth performance; for the most part, the game ran perfectly at 60 fps for me at 1440p on Steam. The game isn't quite as pretty on Steam Deck as it is on my PC. It's definitely playable—averaging around 50 fps on low settings from my testing—but it's far from an ideal way to play such a frantic game. Even if it's not the remaster I thought it would be from the title, Ninja Gaiden 2 Black was an absolutely joyful way to experience the game again. The graphical fidelity is nice and all, but just having a version of the game that takes the good from Sigma 2 and tuning it into a far better experience, cutting its weaker additions and inching the ferocity of combat closer to its original form. At the end of the day, if your head isn't swimming with the details of each version like I am, all you'll experience is a banger of an action game with few equals.
