Revenge of Shinobi
System: Genesis
Release Date: December 2, 1988
Developer: Sega AM7
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Action
Joe Musashi is back in Revenge of Shinobi and the evil Zeed corporation is back as Neo Zeed. No longer content to kidnap the children of world leaders, they’re straight up trying to take over the world with their mercenary ninjas. You are the only one who can save the world, so it’s up to your Ninjitsu skills, as well as your ninja magic to kill them all.
Both long-range and melee attacks are activated with the B Button. Shurikens are finite this time around, and must be picked up through the level if you want long-range attacks. Joe has the ability to jump with the C Button. You can fire out of a jump if you need to. If you press the C Button again at the peak of your jump, you get a double jump. If you shoot while in this somersault, you throw a barrage of 8 knives to attack a spread of enemies.
There are plenty of items to pick up along the way through the destruction of boxes and hitting the right spots in the environment. Thanks to Shurikens being a consumable resource, you have to keep your supply up with the 5 or 20 pickups. Your weapon strength can increase when you find POW blocks, but one hit will drain your extra power. You can find an extra magic icon, which allows the use of an extra spell. Heart icons are always appreciated, as they are the only way to regain health. Finally, the worst thing in this game is the bomb. It detonates as you get close or on a timer and is a quick way to put a drain on your life bar.
Ninja magic is called upon with the A Button. There are four different spells available to you. Ikazuchi is the Art of Thunder and gives you a shield that lasts for several hits. Kairu, the Art of the Fire Dragon scorches enemies on screen, killing them, and uncovering hidden items. Fushin is the Art of Floating, allows you to jump higher, and is required to get through some levels. Mijin, the Art of Pulverizing kills you and destroys normal enemies and injures bosses on screen.
There are eight districts with three stages each. The final stage in each district is a boss. I played a late revision, so got to fight Spider-Man, but Batman and Godzilla had been reskinned. Getting to the bosses was a huge pain. Enemies start attacking while off screen, causing many deaths that are garbage. The spells aren’t super useful, as you only get to use one per life. As it was, I couldn’t get the good ending, because I couldn’t kill the Neo Zeed boss fast enough, sorry girlfriend…
Graphics: 3.0
The graphics look nice, but I was able to run into flickering and slowdown, especially in the Spider-Man fight.
Sound: 1.5
Music and sound are absolutely nothing to write home about. It’s all incredibly generic.
Gameplay: 1.0
Musashi controls pretty awkwardly. I kept jumping down from platforms when I didn’t mean to.
Difficulty: 2.0
Getting attacked from off screen is infuriating. You’re going to die a lot learning each level.
Fun Factor: 1.0
I didn’t really like playing Revenge of Shinobi. There were too many cheap deaths for my taste.
Overall Grade: 1.7
The Revenge of Shinobi earns a C-. A surprising drop in quality from the Master System to the Genesis. Super disappointing, really. I couldn’t recommend this.