We haven’t seen Ryu Hayabusa on a Nintendo console for nearly nine years. although Ninja Gaiden 3: Razors Edge made its way to Wii U in 2012, rumors had previously surfaced of a reboot trilogy compilation on Switch. Like many popular characters, Ninja Gaiden’s protagonist Ryu Hayabusa has often been solicited for Smash, and reboot director Tomonobu Itagaki has weighed in.
Have worked on the above Ninja Gaiden restart, Ninja Gaiden II and Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword, Tomonobu Itagaki recently spoke to Dexerto about the series. When asked if he believed Ryu would ever come Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, he gave the idea “two thumbs up”.
Further on to this he replied:
Super Smash Bros is a very popular game. I think it’s a stage big enough for Ryu Hayabusa to take an active role.
It is worth noting that in 2008 Tomonobu Itagaki left Tecmo to form his own team, Valhalla Game Studios, which you may recall Devil’s Third on Wii U. As such, Itagaki would not be able to confirm whether there are any plans to add Ryu, although we know he is currently looking for a new project.
In the meantime, while we wait for more news on that trilogy gate, you can still watch the original NES game via the Switch Online service.
Would you like Ryu to join Smash Bros? Would he be a likely candidate? Let us know in the comments.