The Revenge of Shinobi (The Super Shinobi)

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JaySevenZero
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The Revenge of Shinobi (The Super Shinobi)

Post by JaySevenZero »

Here's where you can contribute your thoughts and opinions for The Revenge of Shinobi (The Super Shinobi) for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.

A friendly reminder that where the feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but keeping it brief is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mostly reading out essays. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.
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Mr Ixolite
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Re: 570: The Revenge of Shinobi (The Super Shinobi)

Post by Mr Ixolite »

Booting this up immediately after Shadow Dancer, I initially felt like a lot of my gripes with that game had been adressed. Level designs were more elaborate, there were more of them, and crucially Joe Musashi could now take more than one hit before crumpling like a piece of paper. You could even recover your hit points! And so I played through the early stages of the game with way fewer newfangled assists than before.

Yet as I progressed through the stages frustration set in again, in new ways. I would often find myself running out of shurikens, especially during boss battles, leaving me almost entirely ineffectual. The more elaborate stages would increasingly rely on a fiddly double jump that I could maybe generously execute 1 out of 4 times. But the real kicker was the enemy placement, which progressed from tricky to infuriating. I would constantly take damage from shots fired offscreen, or be knocked backwards into instant death by an enemy who suddenly materialized at the other side of the pit I was trying to jump. Some of these enemies were so clearly placed just to troll the player that I couldn't help but laugh, but it became a bitter laugh, and by the highway stage where I had to juggle soldiers, moving cars, ninja-nuns and changing from the background to the foreground with the fiddly double jump I was rewinding as much as I ever did in Shadow Dancer.

With trial and error and repeated playthroughs everything in this game can of course almost certainly be learned, I just wasn't having enough fun to ever consider such a time commitment. After bumbling around in the final level labyrinth for a while I decided to put the game down. Still, the gameplay steps taken here were enough to convince me to stick with the series for shinobi 3, as well as the fact that the game still certainly had personality. Even in the lightly altered version I played, theres just something fun about fighting what are clearly discount versions of Spider-Man and The Terminator.

3 word review:
Unreliably somersaulting ninja
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ColinAlonso
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Re: 570: The Revenge of Shinobi (The Super Shinobi)

Post by ColinAlonso »

Since Mr Ixolite mentioned it, if people want more shurikens, there is a cheat for infinite shurikens.

Go to the options screen and change the amount of shurikens to 00 and leave the cursor there for a while. The 00 will change to an infinite symbol.

Some 90s childhood knowledge there, can't remember the last time I played without that cheat.
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Seph
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Re: Our next podcast recording (20.5.23) - 570: The Revenge of Shinobi (The Super Shinobi)

Post by Seph »

Is there anyone who owned a Mega Drive that didn't play this game? Given its availability in bundles and game packs, it was practically issued to every home in the western world whether you played games or not.

While Revenge of Shinobi is mostly remembered for its brazen, "I can't believe they thought they could get away with this" IP theft bosses; it still holds up well today. As modern indie games have shown us, tight side-scrolling hack 'n' slashers never age or fall out of style. And despite being an early game in the Mega Drive's lifespan, the visuals were much better than they had any right to be. The trick of moving to the background in some levels was the coolest thing I'd ever seen as a young player.

The music, especially during the first stage, has been rent free in my head since I first played the game. That Mega Drive sound chip just had a way of making games sing in a way it's contemporaries could never replicate.

Yes, I'll admit that I used the infinite shuriken cheat every time I played this game, because even as a child I valued quality of life. Also, if memory serves me right, I think there's a way to gain infinite lives on one of levels. These make what is a difficult game a little more fun. I forgot the name of it, but the explosion special move was ironically a life saver on the more difficult bosses as some of the hit boxes are complete bullshit.

I've only finished the game once and I don't think I've played it since. It's a fun game when playing in the moment, but I can see the difficulty being a barrier for anyone trying it for the first time.
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TomFum
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Re: Our next podcast recording (20.5.23) - 570: The Revenge of Shinobi (The Super Shinobi)

Post by TomFum »

This is one of best games on the megadrive for me, me and my brother had an import copy he got from a friend when it came out, we spent many hours playing it and finally beat the game. it was a real journey. great graphics and oozed coolness. Along with that thumping soundtrack and sound effects it really felt like an arcade game at home. Again plenty better words from others on this game but its a classic game for me. Love it!

Also amazing how many gamers dont know about the infamous shuriken cheat but i love that its in there.
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