Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z Message Board

The blood and puns never stop flowing in this zombified installment of the storied ninja franchise.

It's a shame that words and phrases like "gnarly," "radical" and "totally tubular, dude" aren't considered common these days. If they were, I'd know exactly how to describe Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z. I'd know just how to highlight the game's ludicrous, over-the-top tone and obscene jokes. I'd have a word to describe its damn-the-odds combat. I'd be able to precisely encapsulate how it feels to be a cyborg ninja that wields the limbs of undead clowns like they were nunchuks.

Ah, what the heck: Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z is one of the most gnarly, radical, <insert '90s slang here> game I've ever played. I just wish it was a little less focused on being Xtreme to the MAX and more focused on remaining consistently fun.

Take a closer look at how combat unfolds in Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z

A jam-packed special edition of Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z will be available in limited quantities for PS3 and Xbox 360, bundling the game with a full-color comic from Dark Horse, some Yaiba costumes for Ryu Hayabusa and Mimoji in Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate and the full Yaiba soundtrack. Publisher Tecmo Koei has also revealed some bonus costumes and screenshots for Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z. You can see a Mighty No. 9 crossover and a schoolgirl get-up in our galleries below.

Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z tells the story of Yaiba Kamikaze, a ninja who is almost killed when he encounters Ninja Gaiden series poster child Ryu Hayabusa. Yaiba loses an arm and an eye in the fight and has them replaced with cybernetic implants. He agrees to help a corporation quell a zombie outbreak in return for information on where to find Hayabusa so that he might exact his revenge.

Yaiba launches on the aforementioned consoles, along with PC through Steam, on March 18.

Like a zombie slowly shuffling toward tasty, tasty brains, the release date for Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z has limped from March 4, 2014 to March 18. For those who can't wait to witness zombie murder at the hands of a ninja cyborg, however, Team Ninja and Dark Horse Comics have released the first of a three-part comic series that provides insight into the world and story of the upcoming game.

Written by Tim Seeley (Army of Darkness vs. Hack/Slash) and Josh Emmons (Ex Sanguine), the debut issue has main character Yaiba explaining how his sword came to be known as "Heartless." Just a wild guess here, but we're going to wager it has something to do with it being used to kill a lot of people. Maybe we're wrong, though! You can find out by downloading the first issue for free from the Dark Horse digital store or via the iOS or Android apps. The comic will also be available in physical format when the game releases.

Yosuke Hayashi, Keiji Inafune, and Shinsaku Ohara discuss the new mechanical ninja, Yaiba.

The wacky new Ninja Gaiden spin-off is getting a retro-themed Arcade mode.

Also known as NGZ Mode.