Dotemu and The Game Kitchen have released a new patch for Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, adding in a whole bunch of new features, fixes, and improvements.
Perhaps most crucially, however, is the addition of a new performance mode targeting 60fps, but there’s a catch… As detailed in Dotemu’s announcement post, the game will default at 30fps on the Switch, while it’s recommended that only those on the Switch 2 activate the 60fps option.
There’s also a really cool CRT filter available for those who really want to relive the good ol’ days. Both this and the frame rate option is available by navigating to ‘Options’ and ‘Video’ via the menu.
Now, let’s check out the full patch notes:
New features & improvements
- Restart from Checkpoint option added.
In addition to restarting the entire level, you may now restart from the last checkpoint you found. This will let you quickly retry a level section or boss without the need of getting yourself killed.
- Hard Mode can now be unlocked by winning the duel against Ryu.
In addition to the Hard Mode being unlocked by finishing the game for the first time, you may unlock it earlier by winning the duel against Ryu on level 1-1. If you want to leap right away to Hard Mode, you will first have to prove yourself worthy of the challenge!
- New dialogues have been added at the beginning of levels S-4, S-5 and S-6.
- A new alternative dialogue portrait for the Masked Agent on level 4-4 has been added.
- Hit stop and Screen shake can be now disabled through Accessibility settings.
- Golden Skins are now available immediately upon achieving S rank on all levels, without the need to complete the final level afterwards.
- Added many sound effects on enemies, projectiles and menus.
Bug Fixes
- Adjusted required kills to achieve the highest score on level 3-2 on Hard Mode.
- Kenji could climb a wall and leave the camera’s field of view towards the end of level 3-5.
- Large obstacle meant to be destroyed by Hypercharge was vulnerable to Kama Spider Weapon on stage 3-1.
- Luring a Cursed Fire enemy towards the collapsing platform allowed Kenji to get stuck in level 3-4.
- During Rhyvashi’s boss fight, the big rock could block your attacks right after disappearing during a brief period of time.
- In level 4-5 on Hard Mode, Kenji could be hit when skipping the cutscene in which he jumps onto a helicopter.
- Motorbike could flip after jumping against a wall on stage 2-2.
- In level 4-1, Kenji could roll through some steel containers which made him out of bounds.
- Kenji could be killed by skipping the cutscene right after defeating Jagäzk on level 4-6.
- Added support for DirectInput controllers.
- If Kumori were to perform a roll attack whilst wearing the Black Spider Uniform, the default skin would be displayed during the animation.
- Removed invisible ceiling on level S-6 on Hard Mode, near the end of the tree section.
- Bio Grunts frequently remained locked in their attack animation for a brief time if Kenji was positioned close to their spawn point.
- On level 5-1 you could lose control of Kenji or Kumori when starting Rhyvahsi’s fight.
- On level 5-1, a long wait time was present after defeating Rhyvashi.
- Kenji could climb over a wall and skip part of the level, causing camera issues on level 3-5 on Hard Mode.
- The kill streak counter disappeared every time the game was paused or cutscene took place.
- On level 3-2 on Hard Mode, a Hanging Demon enemy could end up frozen and unable to attack.
- Level 4-4 boss shockwave projectiles could appear in the air rather than on a surface.
- Striking Level 4-4 boss in the back with a Hypercharge attack pushed it to the other edge, making it behave incorrectly.
- During the elevator section on level 4-4, drone enemies could attack Kenji while being outside the camera.
- Bio Blocker’s enemy projectile hitbox remained active after being killed.
- On level 3-2, during the Eels boss fight, the camera could be unlocked if Kenji reached a low point of the arena.
- Gurthka’s landing animation could not work properly when the boss fight started on levels 1-2 and 1-3.
- Jagäzk’s ribcage was immune to the Grenade Spider Weapon.
- On level 4-2, you could leave the camera bounds by using guillotine boosts on a helicopter.
- Kumori’s Hypercharged roll-jump kunai projectile could traverse an enemy without hitting it.
- On level S-8, a guillotine boost platforming section could be skipped by climbing a wall and moving through the ceiling.
- On level 2-2 the player could lose control of the motorbike when reaching the outdoor area.
- While playing as Kumori during a Demon Altar section, Kumori wouldn’t be able to manually hypercharge if Kenji’s health was too low.
- Cyclops Demon’s eye disappeared instantly rather than using a proper animation if the enemy was killed and the eye was away from their body.
- Kenji could clip through the subway tunnel’s ceiling during his epilogue.
- Backtracking during Kenji’s epilogue could cause inconsistent camera transitions.
- Exiting the credits from the main menu caused the music to reset and make the portraits not move properly.
- Many other performance improvements and bug fixes.
Ragebound’s frame rate was one of our biggest gripes when we reviewed it back in August, and although those on the Switch might not benefit all that much from the patch, Switch 2 owners can now enjoy the game at a (mostly) silky-smooth 60fps. Glorious.
