Ninja games defined the best gaming trend in 2025

For the ninja-obsessed folks who may have grown up on Sho Kosugi movies, Naruto manga, or classic ninja video games, 2025 was their year, thanks to a confluence of releases both nostalgic and new. After a spate of popular ninja games in the late 1980s (Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi, Strider) and early aughts (uh… Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi, Tenchu), ninja representation has cooled — but not this year, when no less than six major releases arrived on virtually every modern platform.