Dan Geeks Out: Video Game Review #363: The Revenge of Shinobi

The Revenge of Shinobi

Sega Genesis

Nostalgia Factor:

I've never been a huge fan of the Shinobi series, and I'm not sure why. I had the chance to play two Shinobi games growing up: the original Shinobi for the arcade and Shadow Dancer for the Sega Genesis and I really liked both of them. So why did I never bother to check out the rest of the series?

I can't answer that question, but maybe now is the time to make up for that egregious mistake. Here we go, with my last review for 1989: The Revenge of Shinobi for Sega Genesis.

Story:

This game takes place three years after the original Shinobi. The remnants of the gang from the first Shinobi game have gotten back together, this time even more powerful than before. They decide to take revenge on the first game's protagonist (Joe Musashi) by kidnapping his wife and killing his ninja master. Taking control of Joe, you have to track down this nefarious group and save your wife before it is too late.

The basic setup for this game's story is oddly similar to Double Dragon II: The Revenge, which I just reviewed not too long ago (you can find the link for this review at the bottom of the page). The events of both of these sequels could have been avoided if the main heroes had just shown no mercy and finished off the gang for good in the first game!

Gameplay:

The concept of the game is pretty simple, but being able to master it is quite difficult. This is a 2D platformer. You take control of the ninja Joe Musashi. You can move left and right on the screen, while being able to duck and jump. There is a double jump in the game that can be quite frustrating. You have to jump while holding up and then hit the jump button at JUST the right moment in order to get it to work, and it is very spotty. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Expect to die a lot due to double jumps inexplicably failing you when you need them the most.

Although you have a sword, you will mainly use shurikens - little ninja stars that you throw at your enemies. Shurikens are valuable items, so try not to waste too many of them! In fact, I'd advise you to turn up the number of shurikens you carry on the main menu before you even start playing this game. Normally I like to leave all the settings for games on default, but when I come across something this difficult I don't mind bending the rules from time to time.

There are 8 levels in this game, each of which contains three stages. The first two stages are typical platforming levels while the third generally has you fighting a boss character. The platforming stages are, as I said before, quite difficult. Enemies pop up on the edge of the screen and can often inflict damage to your character before you have much of a chance to react. Other areas are crowded with too many enemies, making it difficult to make it through without taking damage. Certain crates, which usually hold items that help your character out, sometimes contain bombs that blow you up if you aren't paying attention. There are many bottomless pits that will kill you if you fall into them. And as I said before, the double jump is very unreliable and will often lead to many frustrating deaths. Basically: everything in this game is out to kill you.

You can tell this is going to be a tough game very early on. The first few stages aren't too horribly difficult, but quickly you're going to find yourself dying quite often. Boss battles are fun and require certain strategies in order to defeat them. Trial and error is the name of the game here. You're going to die a lot, and that is completely normal and expected. Just make sure to learn from your past mistakes.

This game is filled with all types of copyright infringements. Along the way you'll fight boss characters such as Spider-Man, Godzilla, and the Terminator, among others. None of these characters were used with permission from their creators. There are several revised copies of the game out there where these characters are removed and replaced with original Shinobi villains, but I was fortunate enough to play the original version of the game.

Before I move onto the game's graphics, I have to touch on its magic powers. You start out with a selection of magical powers you can pick from. Using the magic button on your controller, you can unleash these powers at any time. There are some screen-clearing attacks as well as a shield that I found quite useful and an item that makes jumping a lot easier. Normally you can only cast one of these spells until you die, when your magic meter is replenished. But as you play you can collect scrolls that allow you to hang onto multiple magic spells at a time. This came in handy for me, as I was able to hang onto these to use in some particularly troublesome boss battles *cough* Godzilla *cough cough*.

Graphics:

This game looks fantastic, especially considering it was one of the very first games ever released for the Sega Genesis. This came out in 1989. Look at some other games which came out for the NES around the same time: Friday the 13th, Willow, Batman, the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, etc. I never encountered Revenge of Shinobi as a kid, but if I had, I would have immediately tossed my NES aside and demanded to my parents that they buy me a Genesis. This game is light years ahead of anything you'd see on home consoles back then. And you know what? It still holds up. The characters, the backgrounds, the stage design, the big boss fights, all the small atmospheric effects like the waves splashing on the shore stage. It all looks so good. Even the title screen got me pumped to play this game.

Sound:

While I wouldn't say this game necessarily has an all-time great soundtrack, it is very good. Again, a very impressive feat considering this was one of the first Genesis games ever made. Each musical track seems to fit its assigned stage perfectly. I was bumping and grooving as I played through this game. Can I remember any of these tunes now that I'm done with the game, though? Nope.

Overall:

This is a fun game, and I am very glad I finally took the time to play it. I'm certain I would have loved this game as a kid. I can just see myself playing this for hours and hours every single day until I had it mastered. I don't have much free time to dedicate to single video games these days, so admittedly I played through Revenge of Shinobi here in 2022 using save states so I wouldn't lose my progress after burning up all of my extra lives. But back in the day I absolutely would have poured the time and effort into mastering this game.

What does the game do wrong? There are a few things. I already harped on the double jump, but I'll do it again here: it's unpredictable and it sucks. The difficulty level of the game is also just a *tad* too high for my tastes. Like I said, I'm sure I would have been able to master this game as a kid, but it would have taken a lot of trial and error. I feel there are too many cheap deaths in this game. Enemies appearing out of nowhere and hurting you before you can react. Weak platforming sections. And the knockback. Oh man, it is so bad in this game. You know how in old video games when you'd get hit, you'd often get flung back a few feet? That happens in this game, and it is a major pain in the butt. I can't even tell you how many times I'd be killed by knockback when trying to make my way through delicate platforming sections. This is especially bad in the stage where you are trying to make your way across the water, with enemies constantly jumping out and flinging stars at you. Ugh.

While I enjoyed the boss fights (for the most part), many of them are extremely cheap. It is difficult to figure out their patterns until you've already been killed at least two or three times. Obviously this makes subsequent playthroughs slightly easier and slightly easier, but I would have preferred a little less of a trial and error approach.

Now that the nitpicking is out of the way, I can put my foot down and say that I still really enjoyed this game. It has great graphics and great sound. The controls (with the exception of the double jump) are spot on. The levels are well designed. I like the items you can collect and the spells you can use. The plethora of copyright infringement boss battles is hilarious to me - and awesome. You can earn two endings, the good or the bad ending, depending on if you save your wife during the final boss battle or not - which is pretty cool. I don't recall any other games from the 80s that offered multiple endings. More important than any of that stuff: this game is fun. And that's really what it boils down to for me: is the game fun or not? And this is definitely a yes. If I had grown up with this game and I had nostalgic feelings attached to it, I could see this going down as one of my favorite Genesis titles of all time. For now, it has to settle for being just a "very good" Genesis title in my mind - just a tiny notch below Shadow Dancer.

Revenge of Shinobi is another Mop Up Duty success story. I might have never played this game if I wasn't specifically looking for games from 1989 to play through. As we move into the 90s and beyond, I can't wait to see what else I've missed out on over the years.

THE GRADE:

B+

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1982 reviews:

1983:

1984: