PixlBit

I have been meaning to beat this game since the 90's on my Sega Genesis. Well, fast forward to 2014, and I finally beat it on my Sega Genesis collection on my PSP. It is near Sega Genesis exact in porting. Here is my review. Forgive me if I'm rusty at this!

This game is the second game in the Shinobi series of ninja action games released on the excellent 16-bit Sega Genesis. It is a bit different from the arcade version of this game. The story, gameplay, and stages are a bit different. Why? I'm not sure.

Story: 5/10

In this version, you play as the early mainstay ninja: Joe Musashi. After defeating the mighty Neo-Zeed crime organization, there was a brief time of peace before Neo-Zeed rebuilt itself for Shinobi III. During this time another crime organization tried to move in and spread terror in New York: Union Lizard. While smaller in scope next to the mighty Neo-Zeed, they still posed a threat. They managed to kill Joe's friend. Joe took his friends dog--with combat skills--and set out to stop Union Lizard.

Apparently,  Union Lizard set the city of New York on fire.

Gameplay: 6/10

Master ninja shinobi, Joe Musashi, seems have to forgotten some moves while on vacation. His double jump and shuriken spread attack from Revenge of Shinobi are absent. This game plays a bit more like the original Shinobi. You have unlimited shurikens to toss and a katana for up close attacks. His shuriken can be powered up by recuing hostages found throughout the games short 5 levels. Rescuing hostages is optional, but it gives him the power up and extra points.

You side scroll through some nice looking levels while battling a small assortment of foes ranging from sheild tossing strongmen, ninjas, riflemen, and mutant creatures. Sometimes enemies are placed in difficult to reach spots. That is where the dog comes in. The dog can rush enemies while you rush up to them to attack. If the dog gets hit, however, it turns into a puppy for awhile and is useless. Use the dog strategically. Unfortunately, the dog attack only is usefull a handfull of times and is more gimmicky than useful. The idiotic dog actually makes the game worse by barking annoyingly and constantly.

There are cool little bonus stages that allow you to shoot as many ninja's as possible for extra points.

There are 3 sublevels to each level, and you fight a boss on the 3rd sublevel. These bosses are fairly challenging, and you must remember patterns. Fortunately, you have preselected magic attacks for each stage, and they can be used on bosses.

Challenge: 8.5/10

You will die many times while figuring out the patterns of enemies. The final boss is a high challenge. This is the most satisfying aspect of the game.

Graphics: 7/10

As Revenge of Shinobi proved as a launch game, The Sega Genesis was capable of better graphics early on. Shinobi III absolutely destroys this in graphics. The backgrounds and effects were pretty good, but nowhere near great.

The final boss. The greatest challenge of the game and the coolest aspect.

Sound: 6/10

The music in the game suffers like the graphics next to Revenge of Shinobi. Forgettable music. The last boss theme is pretty good though. Sound effects are decent.

Conclusion: 7/10

A fun and challenging game with only ok graphics and sound. A bit too short for a stand alone game, but as part of the Sega Genesis Collection for either PSP or PS2, this is a nice game. It is also available on Nintendo Virtual Console and Part of Sonic's Ultimate Genesis collection on PS3.

A bit of a mystery is that it's subtitle "The Secret of Shinobi" makes no sense to me, since I never discovered any secret. Am I missing something? Thanks for reading.