10 Video Games The World Wasn't Ready For

After three high fidelity and at least comparatively more serious entries, in 2014 Team Ninja wanted to do something different with the Ninja Gaiden franchise by giving it a well deserved and high energy spin-off.

In terms of the gameplay, Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z is just as good and as challenging as the core series, requiring focus and keen reaction time. Where it sings though, is also where it lost a lot of love from the franchise’s established audience. This time around your foes are largely zombies, and your adversary is mainstay protagonist Ryu Hayabusa.

Completely shifting gears, Ninja Gaiden Z has a far more comedic tone the main games, poking fun at tropes of the genre and the series itself and generally being bombastic and ridiculous.

In a post-Doom 2016 world, which celebrated the series by honouring it and playfully mocking it, you have to wonder if this cheeky side-game would’ve landed better with Western audiences than it did in 2014.

Western critics gave it some brutal reviews, which were in a strange juxtaposition to Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu’s strong score of 36/40. Detaching yourself from expectation of canon and tone, which is a much more Japanese approach to gaming, and you’ll find a beautifully cel-shaded, arcade-y, hack and slash romp. Think of it as the Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon of the series.