Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection Shows Off New Gameplay

New gameplay footage of Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection emerges from the NicoNico Net Chokaigi Game Party in Japan, showing off the updated visuals.

New gameplay footage for Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection has emerged, showing off some remastered gameplay of the Ninja Gaiden games from the NicoNico Net Chokaigi Game Party. The Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection will be arriving on June 10, and fans have been excited to see how the remastered versions of the series stack up against the originals.

Despite Team Ninja, the developers of Nioh and Ninja Gaiden releasing some gameplay trailers, this is some of the first actual gameplay that fans have seen. The Master Collection is a remaster of Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, and Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge, with superior framerate and resolution. It also compiles ‘most’ of the series’ downloadable content, adds some exclusive artwork, and includes Ayane, Rachel, Momiji, and Kasumi as playable characters.

In the gameplay footage, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is on display, and the remastered visuals are fairly evident, specifically the enhancement to the game’s textures and models. The video shows series protagonist Ryu Hyabusa traveling to the summit of Mt Fuji, one of the better known levels from Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. The level culminates in a battle with one of the game’s main villains, Genshin, at the erupting summit of the mountain. Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection’s enhanced visuals are perhaps most evident during the cutscene, where the lighting and increased fidelity can be seen as Hyabusa faces off with his foe.

While the reception to the new Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection has been mostly positive, there have been some who have criticized Team Ninja for using the somewhat controversial Sigma versions of the games in the Ninja Gaiden Master Collection. Ninja Gaiden Sigma does add more content to the first game, however, the original Ninja Gaiden Black is known to offer more of a challenge, along with having some extra puzzles and cutscenes that are missing from the remake.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is perhaps more notorious, not only having a lower difficulty than its original counterpart, but also having all of the game’s gore removed, with dismembered foes releasing an odd purple mist instead of blood. The choice to include these versions of the Ninja Gaiden games has certainly raised the ire of a subset of fans, but overall, the decision is likely to make for a more coherent gameplay experience, with the Sigma titles being more recent and having a more reasonable level of difficulty for most players, at least by Ninja Gaiden standards.

Despite fans squabbling over these details, the Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection will be a great opportunity for fans of the series to pick the game up on PC and consoles, and likely a way for people who missed out on the original games to enjoy the hack and slash adventures of Ryu Hyabusa in 2021. Team Ninja is perhaps better known for the highly successful Nioh games these days, but perhaps this new Master Collection will reinvigorate fan interest enough that the company will consider a Ninja Gaiden 4.

Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection releases on June 10 for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.

Via gamerant