If you’ve never played aNinja Gaidengame before, you might think it’s pretty simple where to start - the first game, right? If you’ve ever played a Ninja Gaiden game before, you’d know there’s no answer as simple as the ‘first game’, because that’s a handful of different games. There are quite a few of them.

And that’s just a single game. The Ninja Gaiden series as a whole has always had constant re-releases, many of which are far from just upgraded versions of previous games. They’re not all 3D action games either, with plenty of older games building the series' foundations. So let’s take a quick look at just how many Ninja Gaiden games there are.

How Many 2D Ninja Gaiden Games Are There?

While the action games are easily the most well-known of the series, that’s a far cry from what it started as. Ninja Gaiden began back in 1988, with a simultaneous release on the NES and in arcades. From there, quite a few more games released. Some sequels, a prequel, and too many more that were also called Ninja Gaiden butwere in no way connected to the original game.

Eventhe original NES and Arcade versionsare basically different games.

1988-1992

Arcade, NES, Game Gear, Master System, Amiga, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST, Amstrad, Atari Lynx

1990-1991

1991-1993

1991-1992

Game Boy

The original Ninja Gaiden isthe only game with major other versions, with both sequels being mostly the same across all releases. Ninja Gaiden 3 got a handheld version at the time, which was a slimmed down version of the original game but with roughly similar content. Ninja Gaiden Shadow was a prequel, and only ever released on the Game Boy.

The Ninja Gaiden Trilogy was also released for the SNESin 1995, which were direct ports of the three games on the NES with some redrawn cutscenes and other changes.

Counting just the dedicated unique games though,we have four games, though that number could easily increase based on how unique you want to consider each different version.

How Many 3D Ninja Gaiden Games Are There?

This is when the series reaches its international acclaim. After over ten years without a new game, the series returned as 3D action games, with a massive emphasis on difficulty and trying to be as smooth and stylish in combat as possible. What also came with that wascopious re-releases not dissimilar to the original 1988 game.

Here are each of the mainline games, alongside every version of said game that exists. Many of these other versions feature new additions, such as extra characters and bosses, thoughthey also come with a bevy of removed content and dramatic gameplay changesthat leave no version as completely ideal.

2025-06-20, 2021

2008-2025

Xbox 360, PS3, PS Vita, PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch

2012, 2021

Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch

The original Ninja Gaiden came with two DLCs known as the Hurrican Pack 1 and 2. These added new content to the game, but also changed enemy AI, scoring system, added new combat abilities, and more. They were more than just content, and these were eventuallycompiled into the Ninja Gaiden Black version. These were all exclusive to the original Xbox until Sigma, which brought it to PS3 alongside even more changes.

This trend continued with Ninja Gaiden 2 and 3, though Ninja Gaiden 2 is the most contentious of the group.It’s Sigma version dramatically reduced enemy countand made those that remained stronger, while also removing the Karma system from the story among a series of other changes. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black aimed to rectify many of these changes, though was built from Sigma 2’s foundation as the code to the original Ninja Gaiden 2 was unavailable.

Ninja Gaiden 3 features the least dramaticchangesin terms of its Razor’s Edge version, though is also the game that is the most unlike the previous two entries overall as well.

In total,that gives just three mainline games, though one could argue there are many more due to the degree of changes made with the Black and Sigma versions of each game.

How Many Spin-Off Ninja Gaiden Games Are There?

And now, the Ninja Gaiden spin-offs. There aren’t too many of these, with the series losing direction quickly after Ninja Gaiden 3, and then going into another long hiatus. Most of the games weren’t particularly well-received either, and half of them stayed exclusive to Japan. Let’s check them out.

2004

2012

2014

2008

DS

Only four games here.Ninja Gaiden X was a small game, released on phones in Japan with just a single level designed in the style of the original Ninja Gaiden sidescrollers. 100 Man’nin no Ninja Gaiden is a fascinating one as it tried to emulate the style of Dragon Sword, though with addedcard-collection elements. It also never saw a release beyond Japan.

Yaiba and Dragon Sword both released internationally, and got dramatically different receptions. Yaiba was overly viewed quite negatively, being an unfocused and rather repetitive game, even if it sported a new art-style. Dragon Sword, on the other hand, was seen as a genuinely inventive action game that utilised the DS in smart ways, even if it didn’t always live up to the original Xbox Ninja Gaiden.

How Many Ninja Gaiden Games Are There In Total?

And that brings us to our conclusion. The Ninja Gaiden series began way back in 1988, though has witnessed enough pauses throughout its existence that it has had more downtime than up. In total,16 years when games were consistently releasing, versus around 21 with nothing. So despite that long life, it’s not surprising that the number of total games is relatively small.

Counting all the 2D, 3D, and spin-off games,the Ninja Gaiden series has around 11 games, though you could easily add a few if you wanted to count all the different versions.