BODY: Swinging between rooftops on a rope of chewing gum shouldn't feel this good. But that's the takeaway from GungHo Online Entertainment's booth at Tokyo Game Show 2026, where Ninjala 2: Uncharted Planet is playable for the first time — and where the series' signature bubblegum ninja action has been transplanted out of the battle arena and into a full open world.
The Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive picks up at WNA Academy, the ninja school from the original game, which is mysteriously transported wholesale to an unknown planet. That premise sets up an adventure structure rather than the eight-player online scrums that defined Ninjala since 2020.
The TGS demo offered two courses. The Planet Exploration route turned players loose on open terrain to fight Space Ninjas, capped by a boss encounter. The Photo Capture course was the lighter of the two, sending players around the academy to photograph NPCs using a range of camera modes — a clear signal that GungHo wants downtime activities alongside combat.
The gum itself does more work than ever. It still grabs enemies, fires as a projectile, launches you onto high ledges and chains into combos, but the open world adds traversal: swinging between structures and hunting shortcuts feels natural in a way the old closed arenas never allowed. One new wrinkle lets you temporarily summon three companions for four-on-one assaults on tougher enemies.
Release is set for spring 2027. Pricing and business model remain unannounced.
The insider take
That last detail is the one to watch from Tokyo. The original Ninjala was free-to-play, and it quietly became a fixture among Japanese elementary schoolers — the kind of game that spawns manga tie-ins, anime shorts and Shogakukan magazine coverage rather than esports headlines. A single-player-leaning open world on premium hardware is a genuine pivot for GungHo, a company still funded largely by Puzzle & Dragons mobile revenue. Whether Ninjala 2 stays free, goes boxed, or splits the difference will tell you a lot about how GungHo reads the Switch 2 audience.
Originally reported by GAME Watch (Japanese).