10 Video Game Reboots That Saved Dying Franchises

10. Ninja Gaiden

When it comes to spectacle fighters, for my money it doesn't get much better than Ninja Gaiden. Sure, it might only really be the original Xbox game and its sequel that reached the highest heights of the genre, but they were so good it made up for any missteps in the following years.

They were so solid (and so popular), that you might not have even realised they weren't the first Ninja Gaiden games. There were no fewer than nine titles released before that reboot in 2004, with the series launching all the way back in 1988 in the arcades and on the NES.

Back then it was a simple (yet still devilishly difficult) action-platformer, but it burned out quickly, with the final title of this era releasing only 4 years later in 1992. 12 years later and it was back for another short stint, better than ever.