The Revenge of Shinobi (Genesis / Mega Drive) Playthrough

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Published on January 17, 2015 2:15:36 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PHD2L-j7z0

Game:

The Revenge of Shinobi (1989)

Category:

Let's Play

Duration: 28:20

560 views

4

This is a playthrough of The Revenge of Shinobi (the original version, REV00) for the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive, playing on the Hardest difficulty and starting with no shurikens.

Opinions:

This is my review of the game I made back in 2012:
http://www.retrouprising.com/video-games/reviews/revenge-shinobi/t13241/#post220405

Well to sum it up, The Revenge of Shinobi is my personal favorite of the Shinobi series. While not necessarily the best developed game in the series (Shinobi III would take that), I just love this game a bit more.

The graphics for the time were quite good for an early Genesis game. The intro sequence looked impressive for the time, though
simplistic by today's standards, though still effective. There is a lot of detail in the sprites, though the animation is a bit choppy but its tolerable given its age. The backgrounds are kind of mixed bag: the first half (and a few of the second) of the game looks presentable, but the second part tends to be uneven in quality, suffering from bland and/or grainy backdrops at times.

The music from Yuzo Koshiro is amazing for an early Genesis game with Over the Bay, China Town, Terrible Beat, Make Me Dance, and Run or Die being my favorites from this game. Most of the music is excellent, though I will admit that a few are a bit lacking like Labyrinth and the Ninja Master. The sound effects are decent for the most part, though some like the shuriken reflecting, and the voice samples doesn't sound that great and could have been better.

The game is a great side-scroller with the classic Shinobi formula: move from left to right (or down to up), killing any bad guys or bosses that get in your way. There is some differences like no child hostages to save, no bonus stages, but provides Joe a life bar that increases as your score increases... and a choice of 4 ninjitsu instead of one like in the original is neat and adds a bit of strategy and help to get through the stages when needed. Despite the added help, the game is no pushover though. While the game never gets as difficult as the original Shinobi, it can still be a hard game, added with the annoying fact that Joe gets pushed back when he is touched by an enemy or hit which can get annoying when you are being thrown into a bottomless pit or falling at the bottom of the stage. While it may be a little slow and that stupid flying back thing, it makes up for it in fun and enjoyment. Most of the level design is fine, it has its problems like the most infamous parts of the game: the two parts (the China Town and the Harbor levels) where you have to be very close to the edge of the floor and time your double jump to reach the next platform. While the China Town portion isn't too bad (at least you have as many chances as you want), the Harbor on the other hand isn't as you'll die if you miss the platform. The bosses are challenging enough though newcomers and less skilled players may have some trouble determining how to damage some of the bosses as they aren't so clear at times. The bosses are some of the weirdest I've seen, and that's why I love it. At first it seems typical like the giant black-armored samurai and the ninja with multiple shadow clones, but then it goes to a brain-controlled machine, the Terminator-Hulk, Spider-Man, Batman, and Godzilla. The only lame one of the bunch is the armored vehicle one which is quite dull, compared with the others. Unfortunately to avoid lawsuits from Marvel, DC Comics and Toho, the sprites (except the Terminator-Hulk boss) were changed to original designs in later revisions with the notable exception being the Spider-Man boss actually kept in the game for a while until the 2009 Virtual Console release onwards. While the newer designs are cool (the skeletal dinosaur boss being the highlight), I prefer the original versions of the bosses for their overall charm, absurdity, and personality.

The controls are pretty responsive with the added ability to change the button mappings to your liking. I've seen a lot of reviews that complained that the double jump doesn't work half the time, but it really isn't as bad as people say. The thing is that you have to time your double jump when your jump is at its highest peak or around there. I'll admit that it is quite a steep learning curve trying to time at first, but you get used to it soon enough.

Grade: B+

Developer: SEGA
Publisher: SEGA
Year: 1989
Platforms (from Wikipedia): Sega Genesis / Mega Drive, Mega-Tech, Dreamcast, PC, Virtual Console, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade

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