Shinobi on the Sega Master System is a port of the successful arcade title to the 8-bit system. The game has you act as Joe Musashi, rescuing the children, killing bad guys, throwing ninja stars (or even shooting a gun), and performing ninja magic. That sounds cool, it is cool, but at its heart the game is a basic but solid action-platformer. A couple gimmicks are thrown in with the bonus stages, which have you switch to a first person view, trying to throw stars at ninja to earn your ninja magic (think of a shooting gallery type experience). Another unique feature is the ability to move up-and-down between different planes of the stage. This allows you to move underneath or above enemies before going up or down for a better positioned attack. Overall, Shinobi is a pretty good title, especially considering that it was one of the earlier releases on the Master System. However, the system library is already jam packed with other great action-platforming titles (including Ninja Gaiden). While Shinobi certainly holds its own against those other titles, I'd also say that an avid gamer should probably visit some of the other system greats before giving this title a try.
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