Shinobi is one of the most memorable games for the SMS.
You play as a ninja named Joe Musashi and have to beat five levels (that are each separated into several parts) to complete the game. The story (which is not mentioned in the game) is about a group called the “Ring of Five”, lead by evil ninja masters who have captured the children of the world’s leaders. It’s up to you to save them and to defeat the Ring of Five (thanks to Matthew Huddleston for the info,…I already forgot about the storyline).
The controls in Shinobi are very simple and work like this: The distance between you and your enemy determines whether you automatically use your melee- or ranged weapon. Among the weapons you can find are shurikens, a sword, a nunchaku, knives and even a gun. At the moment you get a new weapon it replaces the old one and you have to use it. So for example you could have a sword and some knives to throw at your enemy, but as soon as you pick up a gun it will replace the knives.
You can find different power-ups that can upgrade the power or length of a weapon, refill or increase your health bar, or let you play an additional bonus round.
To get those power-ups you have to rescue the hostages that are spread everywhere throughout the levels. You “pick” them up just by touching them.
At certain points you can switch between “heights” by holding up or down on the d-pad and pressing the jump button. You can use this to give the game a tactical aspect (like walking by an enemy who’s above you, than jumping up and attacking him from behind).
The enemy roster consists of ninjas, gunmen, thugs…you get the idea. One very cool thing in Shinobi are the bosses you have to fight to reach the next level. Some of them are tough and require special tactics to beat them. The highlight is the final boss who changes his fighting style three times until you can finally really take him out.
About the bonus rounds between the levels, where you can earn extra lives and ninja-magic: In those stages there a ninjas jumping and moving on platforms (which is actually presented in some very cool 3-D style). As they get closer to you, you have to shoot them with shurikens. When one of them gets too close to you, you fail.
The ninja magic is also a nice addition: The six different types of magic enable you to stun all enemies, destroy them with a lightning or to fly for a short period of time. While you don’t get to use the magic very often, it adds more depth to the gameplay.
Now, about the graphics: Aside from some flickering that rarely occurs here and there, the visual presentation of Shinobi is OK. The backgrounds look very simple but sometimes have nice details to them (like posters of Marilyn Monroe in the first level).
The animations are average and the characters behave a little stiff. They also could have been more detailed. The SMS was absolutely capable of more.
But one thing that really looks cool is how the bonus rounds are presented. Kind of a 3-D style makes them a lot of fun to play.
There are only a couple of different tunes in Shinobi, and to be accurate, there are exactly three tunes. However, they just sound right and somehow don’t get on your nerves. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I can still remember the main theme of the levels and the bonus stage music (and I haven’t played the game in over 10 years).
The sounds here are standard for the games of that era and don’t have anything special to them. Some of them sound rather poorly, actually.
While the game is quite short it’s by no means easy: The levels feature some tough jumping parts and, as I said before, some boss fights are also difficult.
The fact that you probably have to play this game over and over to beat it (in one session) raises its replay value. Anyone who can beat Shinobi without even one continue is truly an excellent player and a master of the game.
What are the bad sides of the game?! Well, for starters, the ending is…how can I put this right……I’ll just leave it as a big surprise to anyone who has yet to “enjoy” it.
Some of the jumping parts can be really frustrating. I see a lot of controllers flying towards the wall.
And then there’s the music issue: Although the tunes are very memorable, I’m sure that it would have been possible to adapt more songs from the (original) arcade- to the SMS version. The graphics could have also been made easily better.
Whatsoever, Shinobi was really an instant classic that had been converted from the arcade to a lot of systems. If you’re even the least old school and haven’t played it already, try to do so when you get the chance!