The Revenge of Shinobi

Infobox VG
title = The Revenge of Shinobi


caption =
developer = Sega (AM7)
publisher = Sega
designer = Shizuoka Taro (lead designer)
composer = Yuzo Koshiro
released = 2 December 1989
genre = Platform game
modes = Single player
platforms = Sega Mega Drive
media = 4 megabit cartridge
input = Control pad

"The Revenge of Shinobi", published in Japan as nihongo|"The Super Shinobi"|ザ・スーパー・忍|Za Sūpā Shinobi is a video game developed and published by Sega in 1989. It was the first Shinobi game developed for Sega Mega Drive.

The game is a sequel to Shinobi, a 1987 arcade game, and boasts an acclaimed soundtrack by the famous video game music composer Yuzo Koshiro. The game was included in the compilations: Mega Games 2, Mega Drive 6 Pak, Sega Classics Arcade Collection (for Sega CD), and Sega Smash Pack (for the PC and Dreamcast).

Gameplay

The game is a traditional side-scrolling platform game. The player controls Joe Musashi and must complete 8 districts before the final confrontation with the head of Neo Zeed. Each district consists of 3 scenes, the last of which is a battle against a unique boss-character.

The D-pad moves Musashi around while the A, B and C buttons are used to perform a ninjitsu technique, attack and jump respectively. The most important move in "The Revenge of Shinobi" is the somersault, performed by pressing the jump button and then pressing it again at the height of a jump. The somersault maximizes Musashi's jumping height and enables him to throw 8 shuriken at once in mid-air. Additionally, some stages consist of multiple layers, such as the first scene of the Military Base and the freeway in Area Code 818. Switching between layer (outdoor/indoor, or on-the-highway/next-to-it) is also done with the somersault move.

Ninjutsu techniques

Besides his regular assortment of moves and attacks, Musashi has the ability to perform four special ninjutsu techniques. Only one can be used in each level, unless an additional bonus was picked up or the ninjutsu of Mijin was used to reset your life total. The four ninpo techniques employed by Joe Musashi are as follows:

* Ninjutsu of Ikazuchi (the art of thunder): Envelopes Musashi with a shield of lightning energy that sustains damage for four consecutive hits.
* Ninjutsu of Karyu (the art of fire): Summons four dragon-shaped columns of flame that move across the screen and damage all enemies in their path.
* Ninjutsu of Fushin (the art of floating): Improves Musashi's agility by heightening his jumping capability.
* Ninjutsu of Mijin (the art of pulverizing): The most powerful ninjutsu technique in the game. Musashi explodes, damaging all enemies on screen at the cost of one life. If the player does not have a life to spare Mijin becomes inaccessible.

Bonus crates

A variety of bonus crates can be found in each level, some hidden in the scenery. These include simple power-ups such as extra shuriken or health packs, as well as special items to gain lives or extra ninjutsu turns. Besides power-ups, some crates may contain time bombs: explosives that detonate when their fuse runs out or if Musashi comes too close.

Options

The game is divided into four difficulties: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Hardest. As difficulty increases, more enemies appear per stage, Musashi's life bar grows shorter and the amount of starting lives decreases from 10 to 1. From the options menu, the player can also choose the amount of starting shurikens from 0 to 90. A well known cheat in "The Revenge of Shinobi" enables infinite shuriken, by highlighting 0 shuriken from the options menu long enough until the 00's turn to $infty$. In the Japanese version, "The Super Shinobi", there are options (not cheats) for No Death, and level select.

Stages

*Ibaraki Province, Japan: This bamboo forest is where the game begins. Through these ancient ruins Musashi must make his way to The House of Confusion. At the end of this district, he is confronted by the mighty samurai Blue Lobster.
*Tokyo: Musashi begins this stage near a rocky canyon. Winged ninja swoop down from the sky to attack Joe. Once he makes it past the waterfalls, the district moves on to the darkened roof tops of Tokyo, and eventually into a blinding disco where Shinobi must battle with the Shadow Dancer.
*The Military Base: This military complex of Neo Zeed is heavily guarded by armed soldiers. Joe will encounter light infantry as well as flame throwers and attack dogs. The second scene takes Musashi on board an air carrier. If he touches one of the air locks, he dies. The aircraft is controlled by a powerful supercomputer that houses a human brain.
*Detroit: Detroit is one big junkyard, heaps upon heaps of cars, running through conveyor belts and into a melting furnace. A tough Terminator-like android guards this wreckage.
*Area code 818: This stage takes Musashi past skyscrapers and freeways. The final battle is fought on top of an armoured vehicle carrying a gigantic ballistic missile.
*Chinatown: After a showdown with the kung-fu gangs of Chinatown, Musashi hops on board a speeding train. Eventually he finds himself in the clutches of characters resembling Spider-Man and Batman. [http://youtube.com/watch?v=zzh7kMcuDYY youtube video]
*New York: Ninja and machine gunners guard the breakwater of New York's dockside. Leaping from boat to boat, Joe infiltrates Neo Zeed's container ship and comes face to face with a flame-spewing monster.
*Neo Zeed Marine Stronghold: Here is where Musashi faces his final enemy, who appears to be the leader of Zeed himself. The beautiful Naoko is trapped somewhere beneath the cellar maze of this stronghold, and Joe must terminate Zeed quickly before the cell trap kills Naoko.

Versions

Because of copyright issues regarding certain boss characters (many of which were based on cultural icons) there were at least three versions of the game in the US.

* Software revision 1.00: Bosses clearly resembling Batman, Godzilla, and Spider-Man are present. There are also two endings depending whether or not the player saves Naoko.
* Software revision 1.01: Batman is replaced by a bat-like man but Godzilla and Spider-Man remain unmodified.
* Software revision 1.02: Godzilla is replaced by a skeletal dinosaur and Batman is still replaced by a bat-like man but Spider-Man is still present, this time acknowledged by a copyright screen. Enemy soldiers with flamethrowers also changed to bald men with headbands from likeness of Rambo. There is only one ending and the player must save Naoko to win the game.

Use of the boss Spider-Man was licensed (since Sega was developing "The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin" at the time), but the characters resembling Batman and Godzilla are not; they are deemed to be merely look-alikes. This explains why Spider-Man simply appears to leave battle, instead of being destroyed and defeated like the other bosses of the game.

Reception

The game was greatly received by the time of its release for being the first game to truly show the potential of Sega's new hardware. Both graphics and soundtrack stood out even compared to games from the technically advanced home computers, with the gameplay meeting highest standards as well.

Trivia

* As one of the flagship games for the new SEGA Genesis the game was displayed under clear glass in The Sharper Image stores across the United States. The controller was accessible for customers to play the game.
* The introductory game screen in "The Revenge of Shinobi" features famous martial arts actor Sonny Chiba dressed as Hattori Hanzō from the popular Kage No Gundan TV series.
* A suite of music from the game was performed live by an orchestra at the Fourth Symphonic Game Music Concert in 2006 at the Gewandhaus zu Leipzig, Germany. The arrangement was done by original composer Yuzo Koshiro himself. Music from The Revenge of Shinobi was also performed at two concerts of PLAY! A Video Game Symphony in Stockholm, Sweden in 2007. It was also played during the encore as the [http://www.gameaxis.com/home/?blog=1343 most voted] song when PLAY! A Video Game Symphony was performing in Singapore (June 2007).
* In 2002, another game titled "The Revenge of Shinobi" was released for Game Boy Advance. The gameplay and plot however were only loosely related to the Sega Genesis game.
* Like several other ninja games, the UK version of the game replaced shuriken with throwing knives due to their legal status.

External links

* [http://www.phm.lu/Shinobi/SuperShinobi/ Super Shinobi fan page]
* [http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/shinobi/shinobi.htm Hardcore Gaming 101: The Shinobi Series]
*
* [http://www.sega-16.com/feature_page.php?id=115&title=History%20of:%20The%20Shinobi%20Series Sega-16.com's retrospective on the Shinobi series]