Ninja’s! those pestering bastards and their shuriken shenanigans… I am about up to my knees with the amount of disturbance I’ve had around my neighborhood and my city, and all at the hands of their stealth assassinarry. Okay all kidding aside I think we can all agree that a ninja is badass, it’s with no introduction that I present to you Sega’s own Shinobi!
With the exception of Shinobi on the Saturn, I hadn’t had much if any introduction to the Shinobi series. For whatever reason growing up, this title never caught on to me as a kid, which is baffling because it’s an insanely awesome story and premise that encapsulates the series. I guess I did have my fare go at the Ninja Gaiden series on the Nintendo, but I am uncertain of whether these two series and universes had any association, because I do recall a subtle but foretelling reference from the first Ninja Gaiden. All that aside, I was plummeted face first into this action with no real introduction.
Starting out the game is relatively easy and straightforward, but behind the mask is a more detailed and complex machine working. See, you need to take into account the vast array of abilities you have at your disposal, and you can’t just go around throwing shuriken’s all willy nilly, because there is a limit and you will run out, speaking of which can summersault and spread an array of shuriken’s or simply throw one front forward.
Throughout your experience you will tread through many different environments and one thing I like about the game is that with each level you begin to develop and learn new maneuvers and techniques that prepare you for later stages of the game.
Which brings me to the real meat and potatoes of the game, which is the final stage. Because while, I do feel like the entire game does have a certain form of cohesion and balance and flow. When you get dropped into the final stage all that goes out the window.
This is a nightmare, where you will be forced to perform and do actions which require very quick and precise actions, and yes, if you haven’t figured it out yet by now, it’s by no accident or mistake but this game does indeed want to make and prepare you to be a menacing ninja yourself.
The sound, the music the atmosphere setting and art and overall presentation is picture perfect. And it is a very nuisance and multilayered experience, because there are many different variables to the game mechanics. It was with much excitement and resolve finally settling this beast, I look forward to more adventures and games to come.
