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Ninja Gaiden (2004 video game)

Updated: 12/20/2025, 11:19:32 AM Wikipedia source

Ninja Gaiden is a 2004 action-adventure game developed by Team Ninja and published by Tecmo for the Xbox. A reboot of the Ninja Gaiden franchise, set in the modern day, players control Ryu Hayabusa, a master ninja, in his quest to recover a stolen sword and avenge the slaughter of his clan. It was inspired by Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden series, and is set in the same continuity as Team Ninja's Dead or Alive fighting games. Tecmo developed Ninja Gaiden for five years, targeting a western audience. The game's violence created difficulties obtaining content ratings, and it was censored in some regions. Making use of the Xbox's internet connectivity, Tecmo promoted Ninja Gaiden with a series of international online contests; record-breaking numbers of players competed for places in the live final held at the 2004 Tokyo Game Show. Ninja Gaiden received critical acclaim, with praise for its combat, graphics, and level of difficulty. It was also a commercial success, selling over 1.5 million units worldwide and becoming one of the top 10 best-selling Xbox games. It sold 362,441 copies in North America in the first month of release; however, Japanese sales were poor. Team Ninja released two packs of downloadable content, which were also incorporated into a reworked version, Ninja Gaiden Black, in 2005. In 2007, Ninja Gaiden was ported to PlayStation 3 as Ninja Gaiden Sigma, with graphical improvements, and even though some extra content was added, a lot of the original content and mechanics got altered; this was released on the portable PlayStation Vita as Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus. Ninja Gaiden was followed by Ninja Gaiden II (2008), Ninja Gaiden 3 (2012) and Ninja Gaiden 4 (2025). Ninja Gaiden Sigma was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One as part of the Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection on June 10, 2021.

Infobox

Developer
Team Ninja
Publishers
mw- WW: Tecmo[a]EU: Eidos Interactive (PS3)
Director
Tomonobu Itagaki
Producer
Tomonobu Itagaki
Designers
Masanori SatoNoriaki KazamaKatsunori Ehara
Programmer
Takeshi Kawaguchi
Artist
Kenichiro Nakajo
Writers
Masato OnishiDaisuke Suzuki
Composers
Ryo KoikeWakana HaraMakoto Hosoi
Series
Ninja Gaiden
Platforms
Xbox, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One
Release
mw- March 2, 2004 XboxNA: March 2, 2004JP: March 11, 2004EU: May 14, 2004AU: May 28, 2004BlackXboxNA: September 20, 2005JP: September 29, 2005EU: October 21, 2005SigmaPlayStation 3JP: June 14, 2007NA: July 3, 2007EU: July 6, 2007AU: July 13, 2007Sigma PlusPlayStation VitaWW: February 22, 2012JP: February 23, 2012Sigma (Master Collection)PS4, Switch, Windows, Xbox OneWW: June 10, 2021
Genres
Action-adventure, hack and slash
Mode
Single-player

Tables

Aggregate scores
PS Vita
PS Vita
Aggregator
PS Vita
Score
PS3
Score
Xbox
GameRankings
GameRankings
Aggregator
GameRankings
Score
N/A
Score
87%
Score
93%(Black) 95%
Metacritic
Metacritic
Aggregator
Metacritic
Score
72/100
Score
88/100
Score
91/100(Black) 94/100
Aggregator
Score
PS Vita
PS3
Xbox
GameRankings
N/A
87%
93%(Black) 95%
Metacritic
72/100
88/100
91/100(Black) 94/100
Review scores
PS Vita
PS Vita
Publication
PS Vita
Score
PS3
Score
Xbox
1Up.com
1Up.com
Publication
1Up.com
Score
N/A
Score
A
Score
A(Black) A+
Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Publication
Eurogamer
Score
N/A
Score
7/10
Score
9/10
GamePro
GamePro
Publication
GamePro
Score
N/A
Score
4.75
Score
5/5(Black) 5/5
GameSpot
GameSpot
Publication
GameSpot
Score
N/A
Score
9.0/10
Score
9.4/10(Black) 9.4/10
IGN
IGN
Publication
IGN
Score
N/A
Score
9.3/10 (US)8.8/10 (AU)
Score
9.4/10(Black) 9.4/10
VideoGamer.com
VideoGamer.com
Publication
VideoGamer.com
Score
N/A
Score
8/10
Score
9/10
Publication
Score
PS Vita
PS3
Xbox
1Up.com
N/A
A
A(Black) A+
Eurogamer
N/A
7/10
9/10
GamePro
N/A
4.75
5/5(Black) 5/5
GameSpot
N/A
9.0/10
Black) 9.4/10
IGN
N/A
9.3/10 (US)8.8/10 (AU)
Black) 9.4/10
VideoGamer.com
N/A
8/10
9/10
Awards
IGN
IGN
Publication
IGN
Award
Best Xbox Action Game 2004Best Xbox Downloadable Content 2004(Black) Best Xbox Action game 2005
X-Play
X-Play
Publication
X-Play
Award
Best Action/Adventure Game 2004
EGM
EGM
Publication
EGM
Award
Xbox Game of the Year 2004
GameSpot
GameSpot
Publication
GameSpot
Award
(Black) Best Xbox game 2005
TeamXbox
TeamXbox
Publication
TeamXbox
Award
(Black) Best Xbox Action Game 2005
Publication
Award
IGN
Best Xbox Action Game 2004Best Xbox Downloadable Content 2004(Black) Best Xbox Action game 2005
X-Play
Best Action/Adventure Game 2004
EGM
Xbox Game of the Year 2004
GameSpot
(Black) Best Xbox game 2005
TeamXbox
(Black) Best Xbox Action Game 2005

References

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