Shinobi (game, 1987)

Shinobi uses an eight-way joystick and three action buttons: attack, jump and use ninjutsu to control it. The player can walk crouched, jump to the floor above or below. The usual weapon of the protagonist is an unlimited number of shurikens , as well as punches and kicks when attacking point-blank. Saving some hostages intensifies the attack. In the enhanced version, shurikens are replaced by a pistol that fires large explosive bullets, and a katana is used for melee attacks. The ninjutsu technique can only be used once per stage and clears the screen of all enemies or does significant damage to the boss.

The main character dies if the enemies hit him or hit him with any kind of shell, and also if he falls into the abyss. In this case, the level starts over, but already saved hostages do not need to be saved again. When a player runs out of life, he can insert additional coins and continue the game (except for the last mission). At the end of each stage, three minutes are given for. Depending on the speed of passage, bonus points are awarded.

Between missions, a bonus round is available with a first-person view in which the player must shuriken in enemy ninjas, not allowing any of them to get close to him. If a player successfully completes the bonus round, he gets an extra life ^[1] .

The player controls a ninja by the name of Joe Musashi, who is supposed to stop a criminal organization called "Zeed" who has abducted children from his ninja clan. During 5 missions (the first of which consists of three stages, and the subsequent of four), Musashi must get to the Zeed headquarters and release all the hostages in the first two or three stages, and in the last stage fight with the boss. At the beginning of each mission, the players are shown the goal, as well as a folder with a photo of the boss and a map indicating the location of the next stage.

Sega Master System

The Shinobi version for the Sega Master System was released in Japan on June 19, 1988. It was later released also in North America and Europe. The game is slightly different from the arcade version: the player’s character does not die from one blow, but touching the enemy leads to loss of health.

Home Computers

In 1989 , Shinobi ports were released for Amiga , Atari ST , Commodore 64 , Amstrad CPC , and ZX Spectrum . All five ports were developed by The Sales Curve , and published by Virgin Mastertronic in Europe and Sega in North America (except for versions for Amstrad and Spectrum). On an IBM PC, the game was released in North America by Sega, and was developed by Micromosaics Inc.

PC Engine

The PC Engine version was released only in Japan by Asmik on December 8, 1989. The graphics and mechanics of the game in this version are similar to the version for machines, but there are no melee attacks and bonus rounds. Also removed the time limit for completing the level. The second mission is completely missing.

Nintendo Entertainment System

The Nintendo Entertainment System version was released by Tengen exclusively in North America without a license from Nintendo. Game mechanics are based on the version for the Master System, but there are no melee weapons (sword, nunchucks and chains) and grenades. Only basic kicks, kicks, dagger throwing and a pistol are available. All vertical scroll steps have been redesigned into horizontal scroll steps.

Wii and Xbox 360

The original version for vending machines is available for download on Wii ( Virtual Console service ) and Xbox 360 ( Live Arcade service ). These releases contain minor graphic changes due to copyright issues.

Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection

Shinobi is also covertly present in the Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. To access it, a player must go through the first round of Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master , without using a sequel. Although this version is also an emulated version for arcade machines, the graphic changes that are present in the versions for Virtual Console and Xbox Live Arcade are not included in it.

The Shinobi version for the Master System has received general acclaim. Dragon magazine reviewers assigned 4 out of 5 stars ^[2] .

In 1989, Sega released a sequel called The Revenge of Shinobi , one of the first games for its new Sega Mega Drive . In Japan, this game was released under the name Super Shinobi . On arcade machines, the sequel was released under the name Shadow Dancer , also in 1989. The original mechanics were preserved in it, but now the dog helped the hero.

Other Shinobi sequels have been released on the Sega Game Gear , Sega Mega Drive , Sega Saturn , PlayStation 2, and Nintendo 3DS . In 1990, a parody of Shinobi Alex Kidd in Shinobi World with the mascot Sega Alex Kidd as the main character was released on the Master System.

• Official site (Japanese)