Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z was supposed to launch on March 4, but Tecmo Koei has quietly slipped it back by two weeks. In announcing the launch of a free tie-in comic book, the publisher confirmed yesterday that the undead spin-off is now due to hit PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on March 18.

Tecmo Koei gave no reason for the delay, but one imagines it's only a minor hiccup.

As for what's apparently the big news in all this, the first issue of Dark Horse's three-part tie-in comic is out now for free, readable in your browser or through the Dark Horse Comics app. It's a little bit of backstory, telling the history of Yaiba's broken sword named 'Heartless.' With the game itself proud to show off dreadful, dreadful writing like in this trailer, who wouldn't want to know the whole backstory?