Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (1993)

Preliminary: Welp done with the first Round. And tho some of the backgrounds have been great and it's fun enough figuring out the enemies' mechanics as you go along, it just feels blah. And quite repetitive and dull so far. Like the bosses so far have felt really boring. In some ways this is good--ease us into the mechanics--but I dunno, just not hooking me so far.

Welp the horse second round is also quite boring, tho the music is good. And it's a cute touch that you can still do the jump-then-downward-kick move I came upon as the ninja, but with the horse now :-p Let's see if I can doublejump too..

And even as I was admiring the nighttime skyscrapers later in Round 2, I was really debating whether it was worthy of pushing through. There is a lot great about this game, particularly the backgrounds, but the jumping is slow and clunky and a relic of the past (Tho I do love repeatedly jump-kicking, I just can't stand the slow start to the jumps and landings and general sluggishness of the jump, which is something a lot of Genesis games like to do, I think some people prefer that genuine bend-down-then-jump and squat-for-a-second-when-land mechanic, but I dunno... I don't :-p ). I think I will finish Round 2 and see how the rating works out, likely a 3 star because I do like it, it's just so... blah. And predictable. Like I'm going up this elevator and every one of the openings (surprise!) have an enemy in it, so I jsut shoot in advance as soon as I can into the opening and tada I called it :-p There is a lot of slow waiting in this game too.

I will say I am proud to say that I am solid at the double jump timing, probly from the past games :-p, but still.

Yeah no I don't like this Round 2 boss and not worth pushing through.

Look: 8/10 Great backgrounds, tho the main character sprite and enemy sprites could've been more spectacular

Sound: 8/10 Some jams for sure

Play: 7/10 Incredibly run of the mill. This almost got a 6.5 but I like that they added the Dash and I like feeling good at the Shinobi double jump (also I thought the back and forth wall jump was in Shinobi II at least? but apparently that's new too and I liked it)

Feel: 7/10

Attachment: 7/10

Overall: 7.4/10 (I'm really too nice with ratings in 93... if this were an 88 game it likely would've gotten 2 stars despite having played this much... dunno why I'm getting so nice... maybe because it's the era I got into gaming with)

Shinobi III decided that its mechanics from Revenge of Shinobi were permissible and decided to build upon them. As much I detested them, the amount of care and design that was put into this entry is enough for at least a palatable experience.

Neo Zeed and the Shadow Master are threatening the world once again with robots and mutants and all that jazz - can Joe stop them once more? Back from Revenge of Shinobi are limited kunai, the four ninjutsu (lightning, fire, bounce, explode), and that accursed double jump. At the least the platforming isn't completely centered around double jumping, and there's a dash and a wall jump to spice things up a little bit. Vehicles such as horses and surfboards are also present in fun little segments.

The visual and audio design is pushed to its very limits - one of the finest a late-stage Genesis game can offer. Swirling backgrounds, massive amounts of parallax, and grotesque creatures that almost seem right at home in R-Type. The music is also top-notch - while not something I'll be saving in a soundtrack anytime soon, it keeps the action of the moment. Set pieces range from airships to falling rocks to all sorts of exciting encounters.

The gameplay is rough and limited (especially that double jump) but if there's one thing to be learned about this series it's that when it looks and sounds cool enough, it can get away with its core issues.

No one reviewed this classic yet? On my journey too Ninjahood Shinobi sucked me into, right away. First, the grapfics are incredible for its time, mostly the backart facinatet me, i mean look at this

or this

Second the Boss-fights are cool cool cool, every boss is completley different and createt with much love and links to 90s culture

Third the game is fast as a ninja game should be, you feel like a real elite-fighter using daggers, blades, climbing walls, hanging from the ceiling, riding a horse or surf(!) trough an industrial canal. Only critic i have - sadly there is no real story, i didnt knew whom i fight against or for what reason but all in all a incredible good game, maybe the best on the Genesis, 5/5 made it into my top 100