The last year was a great one for fans of '90s ninja-themed action games, with Game Kitchen's excellent Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound and Lizardcube's Shinobi: Art of Vengeance doing a superb job of paying tribute to their respective franchises.
Interestingly, though, as we recently learned, these don't seem to be the only games hoping to keep the spirit of the genre alive, with a new indie project currently being in the works that is hoping to provide the same "challenging old-school" gameplay that the original NES Ninja Gaiden was famous for.
Eclipse Blade recently crossed our radar thanks to friend of the site, Shiryu. It is a new Steam game being developed by the indie developer, TiNTz, and certainly looks the part, if the newly released trailer is anything to go by, showcasing some lovely parkour mechanics (wall climbing/climbing across bars), some beautiful "hand-crafted pixel art," and a range of ninja-themed weapons (shuriken, kunai) and abilities (such as sword and fire-based arts).
Right now, there doesn't seem to be a release date, but a Steam page is currently live, which you can wishlist, giving a bit more information. Here, it states the goal of the project is to pay tribute to "classic ninja games from the 1990s," while "delivering the pure thrill of classic action in a fresh new way."
Here's a short description of the story:
An eclipse has opened the Eclipse Gate. From it, ancient evil soldiers pour into the human world. Darkness is spreading. Humanity is on the verge of destruction.
As the chosen ninja, you must enter the Eclipse Gate with your katana and ninja skills, fight through the evil army, and destroy the darkness at its source.
On Steam, there's also mention of optional "hardcore and speedrun modes," so if you consider yourself a dab hand at the original Ninja Gaiden trilogy and are looking for a new challenge, this might be right up your street.
Here are some more screenshots of the game: