Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi
Sega Genesis
Nostalgia Factor:
Do you ever wind up with a video game in your collection and you have no idea where it came from? That's what happened to me with this game. It was never on any of my Christmas or birthday wish lists. I never bought it myself. I'm sure it was given to me by someone, but who? I can't remember.
As a kid, I played through this game from beginning to end a small handful of times before I ended up trading it in to buy a new game. I liked this title, but I didn't consider it a keeper like the Sonic games or any of my other Genesis favorites. Just like that, the game exited my memory forever.
Even when I began compiling my Every Single Video Game I Have Ever Played list a few years ago, I did not include this game on the list because I had completely forgotten about it. It first re-entered my memory about a week ago when I saw a screenshot of the ninja character with his wolf. I started wondering why that screenshot looked so familiar to me. I looked it up and saw some other screenshots from the game, but even then I couldn't remember if I had played it or not. It wasn't until I started watching a YouTube playthrough when it all started to come back to me.
Why I had completely forgotten about this game, I have no idea, especially considering it is a pretty fun game. I closed the YouTube video and made up my mind right then and there that I was going to come back to this game and immortalize it with one of my blog reviews. Then I could never forget that I had played it!
Story:
Don't expect much from this game's story. In the distant future of 1997, an evil lizard man has arisen to power, destroying cities and taking hostages. You play as a ninja and his wolf companion as you fight your way through this game's five stages. At the end of the game, you kill Lizard Man and restore peace and order to the world once again.
Gameplay:
The game is comprised of five levels, each one made of three stages. The first two stages are your typical platforming stages while the third is a boss battle. Complete all five levels and you complete the game.
Have you ever played Michael Jackson's Moonwalker? If so, you understand the basic premise of how this game works. You fight through each stage, defeating all your enemies, while searching for a pre-set number of hostages to rescue. Save all the hostages and you can make your way to the stage's end marker. Exit the stage to complete it and move on to the next one.
Your character can run, jump, throw ninja stars, and use a slash attack against enemies who are up close. You also have a special attack that either kills everyone on screen, or if used during a boss fight, removes two bars of health from the boss's life meter. Take one hit and you die.
What makes this game different is that your character has a dog companion, and you can use this dog to help subdue your enemies. All you do is hold down the attack button to fill a charge meter for the dog. Let go of the button and the dog sprints towards the closest enemy in the direction you are facing. The dog doesn't actually kill the enemy, but distracts them so that you can come in without fear of attack and finish your enemy off. This is particularly handy when there are multiple enemies filling the screen with projectiles. Siccing the dog on one of them makes it much, much easier to run in and join the fight without getting immediately hit.
Graphics:
Considering this game is 30 years old, it looks REALLY good. I love the colors. I love the detailed backdrops. Your character, the dog, and your enemies are all very detailed and well-animated. You can tell a lot of love went into this game's presentation. The graphical appeal of this game is timeless.
Sound:
This game sounds like a dream too. It's obvious it was created by the same people who made Sonic the Hedgehog, as several sound effects seem like they were either taken directly from that game or inspired by it. What makes Shadow Dancer's sound awesome, however, is the music. Almost every level had me grooving along with its tunes. The little introduction music before each stage is awesome too. I couldn't help but constantly be reminded of Sonic as I played. Any one of these tunes would have fit perfectly in any one of the blue hedgehog's Genesis titles. Truly fantastic.
Overall:
It was a real treat coming back to this game. I still have NO idea how I had come to completely forget about it. No, this game isn't very long and no, it isn't very challenging. But it is just so dang fun. I played through the game twice and you'd think that would make me sick of it. But no, here I am wanting to fire it up for the third time in three days.
This is an excellent game and one that will stay in my collection forever. No trading it in. No forgetting about it. It's here to stay. Even more exciting is the fact that there is an arcade version of this game out there as well, and apparently it is somewhat different from this game. I can't wait to play it!
Final Score:
A-
If you liked this review, check out some of my other game reviews:
No comments:
Post a Comment