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20 Awesome Ninja Games #4: Shinobi


On 02/06/2014 at 11:32 AM by The Last Ninja

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Linked to Article Series: Blog a Day (BaD) 2014

cover

Released: 1987

System: Arcade

Developer: Sega

Publisher: Sega

In this classic Arcade action game, Joe Musashi must rescue his students which have been kidnapped by a terrorist organization. The game is comprised of five missions with objectives given at the beginning; these objectives are extremely obvious, to say the least. "Pursue the Terrorists" and "Destroy the Enemy Ninja Group" are two examples of the objectives; pretty simple, but the life of a ninja is not complicated (kill!). Shinobi fights with a sword and can also throw shuriken. One hit will kill most bad guys, which often have guns; some, however, are ninjas with swords (there's even a bad guy that crawls on the wall like Spider-Man!). The game looks primitive by today's standards, but was huge for the time. The port of Shinobi for Sega's Master System remains one of the best games for the system. Classic. Shinobi would go on to star in several more games for the Sega Genesis.


 

Comments

Aboboisdaman

02/06/2014 at 11:44 AM

I have fond memories of playing through this game. It's almost like a Genesis version of Kung Fu. Those Spider-man enemies are hilarious too. Shinobi 3 totally blows this one away though.

The Last Ninja

02/06/2014 at 04:02 PM

Shinobi III is the best of the bunch. This is still a classic though.

Ranger1

02/06/2014 at 01:06 PM

We had the arcade cabinet in the student center at my college. I didn't play it myself (too busy playing the pinball machine next to it), but I used to watch my friend Kenichi play. He was really good at it.

The Last Ninja

02/06/2014 at 04:02 PM

Wow, that's awesome! What a shame you never played it, but pinball is fun too.

Ranger1

02/06/2014 at 04:17 PM

I was counting my quarters carefully back then, I paid for school myself and everything was budgeted to the last penny. I had x amount set aside for entertainment, and I could get more out of a quarter playing Pinbot than I could out o Shinobi. Plus, it was a lot of fun watching Kenichi kick ass (or learning swear words in Japanese when he wasn't kicking ass, lol).

KnightDriver

02/07/2014 at 01:56 AM

Oh, Pinbot's cool. 

Super Step Contributing Writer

02/06/2014 at 03:04 PM

That looks amazing for a 1987 console game.

The Last Ninja

02/06/2014 at 04:04 PM

No, this is the Arcade version. Here's what the Master System port looked like:

port

Super Step Contributing Writer

02/07/2014 at 12:00 AM

Ah. Gotcha. Read too fast.

C.S.3590SquadLeader

02/06/2014 at 04:25 PM

This looks fun, I'd waste so many quarters on this game if I saw it at an arcade.

The Last Ninja

02/06/2014 at 07:44 PM

I would do the same. Any ninja game draws me in like a magnet.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

02/06/2014 at 05:27 PM

this is kind of a weird game.  I remember playing it on arcade and on my SMS.  I never got very far... it was tough for me.  But I always had this feeling for its mystique. 

I eventually played Revenge of Shinobi and the others like a maniac. 

The Last Ninja

02/06/2014 at 07:45 PM

Yeah, it's a little rough perhaps, but the sequels certainly improve on everything. Sadly, the only one I've played is Shinobi III for Genesis, but I really want to play the others.

Cary Woodham

02/06/2014 at 07:22 PM

Arcade Shinobi and Arcade Roling Thunder always reminded me of each other.  Who copied who?  Namco or SEGA?  Who can say, they both did it to each other!

The Last Ninja

02/06/2014 at 07:51 PM

Well, they might both feel the same, but RT had a female protagonist along with the male protagonist, and it was espionage, not simple ninja missions. At this time, many games were copying the formulas of others (sad shame).

jgusw

02/06/2014 at 08:50 PM

Always loved playing Shinobi.  I never beat it though.

KnightDriver

02/07/2014 at 01:54 AM

Played some Shinobi III on the Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection. Liked that one. Shinobi arcade is an unlockable on that collection too.

BrokenH

02/07/2014 at 02:27 AM

Shinobi broke my will to live. Why do you do this,why?!

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