Systems > Xbox 360 > S > Shinobi > User Review
Sign up for a free user account and you can leave feedback for this review or even submit a game review of your own!
Review by joseph_valencia
June 30, 2009
But first, the primer:
This is a game of precision. Your ninja does not have the luxury of a "life bar". He can attack enemies from a distance with throwing stars, or he can get up close for a quick melee kill. Most enemies go down with a single shot or strike. Observe and execute. Sometimes it's more about observing than executing, and sometimes you just have to “do it”, but above all its precision that makes or breaks a "Shinobi" run, whether its the precision of reflexes or the mind.
As far as coin-operated games go, "Shinobi" is very fair in regards to challenge. The controls are as precise and reliable as any console game I can think of. On normal, it is fairly possible to make it to the Mandara boss without using a single 1-UP, credit, or ninja scroll. The trick is beating Mandara without dying on the first try. He (it?) is a born coin sucker, and is merciless in its efforts to dry up your wallet. Beyond that part, I've found that you can get endless mileage out of your credits on sheer skill. Hell, I’ve even beaten Mandara on the first try, twice, although I had to douse my fiery thumbs with water afterwards.
There is a display of restraint, a resistance to sucker-punching the player, that makes "Shinobi" great. Consider a lesser action game like "Ninja Gaiden", which is dependent on re-spawning enemies. Sometimes you scroll the level just enough that you hit a "sweet spot" for re-spawns, such that you may find yourself in front of a gap while an endless barrage of Zombie Atheletes charge at you like pre-teens on Robert Pattinson. You’re posed with a Catch-22: keep fighting off enemies until the timer runs out, or attempt a jump that will be blocked by the mindlessly charging drones. "Shinobi" is above that. The same precision we exercise in playing the game is also practiced by the designers who plotted the layout of enemies and obstacles. Little is left to chance.
Beyond these technical qualities, "Shinobi" is a very imaginative game. It has a distinct 80s touch, with its gritty urban streets, its juxtaposition of ninjas and helicopters, and a fairly "pop" soundtrack. The first boss, a towering hulk who wears samurai armor, makes a cameo in each of the two stages that precede his boss battle. He has a tiny little weak spot on his head, and each of his palms shoot streams of fire that seem to have a mind of their own. In a lesser game, he would be the fourth boss. Sega did not pull any punches.
The aforementioned Mandara is formidable because it is gaurded by a wall of rotating buddha statues, which encroach on your space in an attempt to knock you into an electrical current. It is a mixture of the divine and the hi-tech, of holy idols and laser beams. The Master Ninja, the ultimate villain of "Shinobi", has so many defenses that by the time you reach him he's built up a mystique. To get to him, you must traverse a bamboo forest where spinning ninjas fly about from no where, where treading without caution is rewarded with a ninja sword to the face. Then there's the inner sanctum, in which Sega takes the "kitchen sink" approach. Almost every grunt you've encountered in the game is waiting for you: gunners, ninjas, bone-slinging ghouls, shielded Mongols...but even at the end, there’s curveballs. The Master Ninja himself is easier than you'd think, but there's so much anticipation and anxiety in making it to his lair that the greatest threat is you might choke up. All of this is compounded by a distressing amendment to the rules in the final level: no more continues.
What else? The bonus game. One of my most vivid childhood images was waiting around an arcade and glancing at the various monitors. On one, marked “Shinobi”, there was a hand tossing stars at a crowd of approaching ninjas. The demo always ended with one ninja jumping in the distance, then suddenly dropping right in front the screen. Very terrifying. What I never saw was the shower of paper fans that greeted whoever managed to fell all the ninjas. This is one of the best bonus stages in video game history.
The Xbox Live port is flawless. The emulation is completely accurate, and the configuration options are plentiful and functional. There's even a save feature, though I can't imagine why anyone would want one in a game like this. If you have friends on Xbox Live, you can compare scores on the online leader board. All that and a great game for 400 Microsoft Points, about five bucks. Few are the number of Xbox Live Arcade games that will take your $5 as far as "Shinobi". In the original arcade cabinet, a skilled player could also get very far on a single credit. I call this "Shinobi-nomics".
Rating: 10/10
|
|
|
Most recent video game reviews written by joseph_valencia
Mega Man Zero 2 (Game Boy Advance) [July 06, 2010]
Mega Man Zero (Game Boy Advance) [June 28, 2010]
Mega Man Zero Collection (DS) [June 28, 2010]
Super Street Fighter IV (Xbox 360) [May 15, 2010]
Street Fighter IV (Xbox 360) [May 06, 2010]
|
You can click the tabs on the above bar to choose whether you wish to read comments from visitors who have posted on Facebook, or from registered site users who have left feedback on the forums. Please leave a comment of your own if you have anything to say!
|
|
|
Follow Us |
Advertise exclusively for 1 month... only $1000!
Recent Forum Discussions
+ Alpha Olympics 2012
+ JoeTheDestroyer's Tales of Phantasia review
+ holdthephone's Final Fantasy XIII-2 review
+ Where's SkyWard Sword's review ? And please bring back the rating feature.
+ JoeTheDestroyer's Area 51 review
+ zippdementia's Mega Jump review
+ [News] Schafer has pitched Psychonauts 2, Minecraft dev says 'let's make it happen'
+ playstation vita, yo.
+ RotW January 29 - February 04 2012
+ Games to be added to the database...
+ The Final Fantasy XIII-2 thread
+ [News] Final Fantasy X HD will be a remaster, not a remake
Staff Game Reviews
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| SoulCalibur V |
| The Simpsons Arcade Game |
| Quarrel |
| Star Ocean: The Last Hope |
| Pushmo |
| Medal of Honor: Airborne |
Site Staff
 |  | ||
 |  | ||
 |  | ||
 |  | ||
 |
Featured Reviews [+]
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Rayman Origins |
| Othello |
| Scarface: The World is Yours |
| The Last Express |
| Golden Axe II |
| Assassin's Creed: Revelations |
Exclusive User Reviews [+]
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Tales of Phantasia |
| Mega Jump |
| White Knight Chronicles |
| Dragon Wars |
| F-Zero GX |
| Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door |
Info |
Help |
Privacy Policy |
Contact |
Advertise
© 1998-2012 HonestGamers
None of the material contained within this site--from reviews, guides, cheats and editorials to message board posts--may be reproduced in any conceivable fashion without permission from the author(s) of said material. This site is not sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, or any other such party. Shinobi is a registered trademark of its copyright holder. This site makes no claim to Shinobi, its characters, screenshots, artwork, music, or any intellectual property contained within. Opinions expressed on this site do not necessarily represent the opinion of site staff or sponsors.
