Shinobi

Originally written 11-17-11

A village is attacked by what appears to be the Neo Zeed organization, a long time enemy of the Shinobi. Jiro responds to the attack but is unable to save his village. Armed with his kunai's, sword, amazing agility and magic; the ninja ventures on a mission of vengeance. -summary

The best way to describe this game is old school. This incarnation of Shinobi has a likening to the games from days long gone; very challenging with a high difficulty, relying on memory, patterns, and control movements. It's been a few years since I played a game that gave me so much trouble, and although I found myself frequently frustrated with the vast obstacles, the challenge was still a refreshing feel when looking at how easy a majority of games are these days.

Sega continues the franchise with its newest addition Shinobi 3DS. As a fan of the series, I can't exactly say there's anything truly original in the games core premise. Shinobi practically uses the entire franchise as its pool source, from Revenge of Shinobi up until Nightshade. There are plenty of borrowed elements with new twist to them, and I'm sure long time fans will get a kick out of these all too familiar elements. I would actually look at it as a lack of creativity, if not for the fact Sega was able to add some type of twist to this rehashing of old ideas. In any case, lets see what's going on with possibly the oldest ninja in gaming.

Game play:

Shinobi is a 2D side scrolling plat-former with 3D backgrounds. The object is to guide Jiro through various missions with plenty of sub-stages, en route to battling with an end boss. Jiro's full abilities are at the ready, and nothing needs to be found or leveled up concerning his skills. Jiro throws kunai blades, slashes with his sword, double jumps and hurls hordes of kunai in the air, wall jumps, clings to ceilings, does basically everything a ninja should do, or a ninja in Shinobi games at least. Jiro's most powerful ability is his ninja magic, that either destroys all enemies on screen, weakens bosses, shields him, increases his jump ability, as well as other things. One thing I always liked about Shinobi games is that even though a majority of moves would make a return, there's always at least one new thing introduced, and here it's the grappling hook. The grappling hook can be used while standing or jumping but it can only be used upwards. It's meant to gain higher ground, but it can also be used in boss battles using a God of War like mini-game to deal more damage to bosses. The second new addition is the parry move which deflects most attacks.You will have to try and master all your moves, because the game will put you in situations where you must become a pro with them.

I don't remember exactly how many stages there are at the moment but it may be about 8 total. The stages can be pretty long and there are no alternate routes, except for one stage close to the end which is a maze that will throw you off, other than that it's very straight-forward. This is wire-tight platform gaming at its finest here, and you should be prepared to die plenty of cheap deaths. The stages range from moderately difficult to completely unforgiving, and patience is a must if you want to survive this one. The regular grunts can give you a thrashing, thankfully, they follow a set pattern and dealing with them becomes a little easier. The bosses aren't really a cake walk at first either, fortunately like the grunts they also follow a set pattern and can be easily dispatched.

The level designs have some creative moments, and the battles take place in a village, traffic, fiery caverns, under-water bases, and even on a space-craft. The game reaches into Shinobi 3 and injects horseback riding and water skiing with objects that need to be avoided. Now I'm seriously not exaggerating when I mention how hard this game can be, and the final stage is a great example with very tight, close call jumps that will grate on a lot of players nerves. These obstacles leave about 2% chance of error, and the result is a quick fall to your death. It can seem ridiculous on just how hard this stage can be. I actually had to take breaks in between all that damn dying.

The lowest point of the game is sure as hell the incoherent story. We all know Jiro is seeking revenge, but the game begins in the year 1256, and all of the sudden jumps 800 years. Along the way Jiro is battling ninjas, later the Neo Zeed organizations military, biological creatures, and later aliens. There are some cut scenes with a little bit of dialog and some with none. I mean the story makes no sense, and nothing seems to jell together even in the slightest. It's clear this is a sequel to the Shinobi series and I think it follows the third game, but I gave up trying to connect the dots.

Controls:

For a game where you're living life on the razor's edge, there better be some damn good controls. Thankfully, Sega comes through here and the controls perform very well on the 3DS. At times it may seem like the jump button is way too sensitive and wall jumping can be unresponsive, but if you can settle down and relax during those tight squeezes, then you'll see how smooth they are. Jumping and parrying will no doubt require the most practice. Everything else is pretty much pick up and go.

Graphics/Music/Sound:

Visually, I've seen better for the 3DS by this point, however, what bit is here to be found looks good. The movements are very fluid, and watching Jiro quickly parry the shots from a mini-gun is cool to watch. He moves gracefully during his wall jumps, dive, and slide kicks. The animation is among the strong points. The backgrounds use the 3D quite well for some stages, with the first stage being the village looking really nice, with the sunset shining the evening lights down on the carnage. Later on in the same stage, there's a snow laden backdrop with people frozen solid which foreshadows the first boss battle. The under-water base has an eerie feel with a gigantic shark pacing back and forth, and the later boss battle in that stage probably takes advantage of the stereoscopic 3D the best. The cut scenes are animated and has a manga influence to them. They're mainly something anime fans will heavily get into.

The soundtrack blends very well and compliments the stage designs; featuring traditional Japanese instrumentals during the village, and action packed jams during the quicker paced stages. The little bit of voice acting present feels a little too stereotypical, still, nothing I can say is bad. The sound effects appear pretty crisp for the clashing blades during parrying, and whipping sounds when getting smacked by tentacles. Shinobi works very well concerning style.

Replay:

The game is single player with no on-line play at all. Despite this there is replay value though. The difficulty increase enhances the challenge a great deal, and the game encourages you to beat the harder levels and there are handicaps. For example, the Normal mode begins you with 5 lives and unlimited continues. Hard mode provides you with 3 lives and 3 continues. So if you're feeling brave then there's some replay value.

Final Thoughts:

If you found Super Mario 3D Land to be too easy and you're looking for a real challenge then here you go. Shinobi is a refreshing experience because it puts your skills to the test. Unlike many games that seek only to test your brain with a bunch of puzzles, and your only real problem is being stuck. This title sticks to straight up hardcore gaming. I think it's a very good follow up and it stacks up quite well with Revenge of Shinobi, Shinobi 3, and Shinobi Legions, which have been regarded as the best in the series. Serious fans of the series are going to love the homages plus returns of classic villains.

Rating: 7/10

Pros: Challenging game play, tight controls, good visuals

Cons: Horrendous story, some will hate the difficulty