The Revenge of Shinobi

For the Game Boy Advance game, see The Revenge of Shinobi (Game Boy Advance).
The Revenge of Shinobi

Sega Genesis cover
Developer(s) Sega
Publisher(s) Sega
Director(s) Noriyoshi Ohba
Designer(s) Shizuoka Taro
Composer(s) Yuzo Koshiro
Series Shinobi
Platform(s) Sega Genesis, Mega-Tech
Release date(s)
  • JP: December 2, 1989
  • NA: December 2, 1989
  • PAL: March 22, 1990
Genre(s) Platform, hack and slash
Mode(s) Single-player

The Revenge of Shinobi, also known as Shinobi II: The Revenge and originally known in Japan as 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 the Sega Genesis, and was later released on the coin-operated version of that console, the Mega-Tech.

Alongside Shadow Dancer, the game is a sequel to Shinobi, and features a soundtrack by 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 the Sega CD), and Sega Smash Pack (for the PC and Dreamcast). It was re-released for the Wii Virtual Console in 2009 and on both the PlayStation 3 via PlayStation Network and Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade download services in 2012.[1]

Plot

Taking place three years after the first game, the criminal organization Zeed from the original game has since reformed and have renamed themselves "Neo Zeed". They decide to have their revenge on the Oboro Ninja clan and Joe Musashi by killing his master and kidnapping Joe's bride, Naoko (ナオコ). Joe, having reached the clan too late, manages to learn about Neo Zeed's plot by his dying master. Joe decides to travel the world to gain his revenge on Neo Zeed as well as try to save his bride before it's too late.

Gameplay

The game is a traditional side-scrolling platform game. The player controls Joe Musashi and must complete eight districts before the final confrontation with the head of Neo Zeed. Each district consists of three scenes, two of which are platforming levels and the third being a battle against a unique boss-character.

The directional pad moves Joe around while the A, B, and C buttons are used to perform ninjitsu techniques, attack, and jump respectively. A key move in The Revenge of Shinobi is the somersault, which maximizes Joe's jumping height and enables him to throw eight 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.

Although his standard ability of moves and attacks, Joe has the ability to do four special ninjutsu techniques. Only one can be performed in each level, unless a ninjitsu item was picked up, or the ninjutsu of Mijin was used.

A variety of bonus crates can be found in each level, some hidden in the scenery. These include simple powerups such as extra shuriken or health packs, as well as special items to gain lives or extra ninjutsu attacks. Besides powerups, some crates may contain time bombs: explosives that detonate when their fuse runs out or if Joe comes too close (though he can walk out of the blast radius if the player is quick enough).

The game is divided into four difficulties. As difficulty increases, more enemies appear per stage; on Hardest, Musashi takes twice as much damage and the amount of starting lives decreases from 10 to 1. From the options menu, the player can also choose the amount of starting shuriken from 0 to 90 (though a technique does exist that allows infinite shuriken).

Batman in The Revenge of Shinobi

Release

The Super Shinobi (JP, 12/02/89) front cover Japanese version

Because of copyright issues regarding certain enemy characters (many of which were based on cultural icons) there were at least four versions of the game in Japan and North America, with the later two also appearing in Europe.

The credit roll, shown when achieving a "good" ending, was removed from the non-Japanese versions of the game. In versions 1.00 and 1.01, "©SEGA 1989 / MUSIC ©1989 YUZO KOSHIRO" would be shown at the bottom of the title screen like normal; when the Spider-Man copyright notice was added to the game, all copyright bylines were moved to a screen displayed before the intro.

Sega Smash Pack

The version included in volume 1 of the PC Smash Pack collection appears to be a prototype version. The internal ROM date says March 1989, and the product number is filled with zeroes. In the notes section of the ROM header (at 0x1C8), there is the string, "A0115 Sega_Channel", whereas all other releases have that area filled with ASCII space characters. The header also is only marked as being a Japanese release, while all other versions are marked as Japanese, US, and European.

The title screen always uses The Super Shinobi regardless of the console region. The game has an invincibility mode in the options screen, and a level select at the main menu. Enabling invincibility also gives infinite lives from falling off screen, out open doors, and using Mijin (it also prevents the player from gaining lives). There are other changes found in the options menu: the shuriken option is spelled "syurikin" (in other versions, it is spelled "shurikin"), and the sound test option lacks music titles, showing only a hex number (in other versions, sound effects are numbered in decimal).

There is no copyright screen. The introduction uses the final version Round 1 music (The Shinobi) instead of its own theme. The sound effect when Musashi changes his grip does not play, and the sparks when the shuriken hit the sword stay on screen longer. There are no demos other than the opening animation (i.e. no plot text or gameplay demos).

Using Mijin uses up ninjitsu; in other versions ninjitsu is still available after using Mijin. Mijin also remains selected after it has been used, instead of switching to Ikazuchi. There is also no shouting sound effect when ninjutsu are activated.

The final game has 19 music tracks, but this version only has the first seven (the order of music in the sound test is unchanged). Because of this, there are differences in what music is used for what round, but even when the music is in all versions, different tracks are used. The music used in 1-1 is China Beat, and 1-2's music is "Make Me Dance" while in the final, both stages use The Shinobi. The game over screen has no music and is missing Zeed's laughter. The drum samples used throughout the game are also different.

For the most part, the enemies resemble the REV00 versions with the exception of Spider-Man, which is red and blue instead of red and black. However, he is still missing the eye mask.

Some bosses appear incomplete. The Godzilla boss of Round 7 seems to be invincible, and the fight ends after the boss goes through a few attacks. The Round 3 and 8 bosses appear to be missing completely (although the maps themselves are there); the game switches to the end of level screen shortly after starting. There is no ending either: the game loops back to Round 1 after 8-3.[3]

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
MegaTech94%[4]
Mega91%[5]
WizardC-[6]
Award
PublicationAward
MegaTechHyper Game

The game received 5 out of 5 stars in Dragon; the final boss battle was criticised, however, for being too difficult.[7] MegaTech magazine praised the "smart gameplay, graphics and sound". Mega placed the game at #18 in their Top Mega Drive Games of All Time.[8] Reviewing the game's appearance in Sega Arcade Classics, Glenn Rubenstein said it "was one of the first Genesis games released, and it shows how far Sega has come since then."[6]

Legacy

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 most voted song when PLAY! A Video Game Symphony was performing in Singapore (June 2007).

References

  1. ↑ "Lots of Sega classics confirmed for XBLA, PSN". Computerandvideogames.com. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  2. ↑ Nintendo Life. "Spidey goes pink in The Revenge of Shinobi". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  3. ↑ "The Revenge of Shinobi – The Cutting Room Floor". Tcrf.net. Retrieved 2013-07-26.
  4. ↑ MegaTech rating, EMAP, issue 5, page 78, May 1992
  5. ↑ Mega rating, issue 9, page 23, Future Publishing, June 1993
  6. 1 2 Rubenstein, Glenn (January 1993). "At the Controls". Wizard. Wizard Entertainment (17): 21–24.
  7. ↑ Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (November 1990). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (163): 47–50.
  8. ↑ Mega magazine issue 1, page 76, Future Publishing, Oct 1992
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