This section of the shinobi series follows a ninja, Joe Musashi, trying to rescue kidnapped children or hostages that had been taken from the Oboro clan by a criminal syndicate known as the "zeed". Joe must make his way through five stages of increasing difficulty (each consisting of about 3 or 4 acts) to finally reach the final boss... the masked ninja.
In each act there are hostages, the amount can differ from about 1 to 9, and when all hostages per act have been collected, the act is finished.
This section of the shinobi series follows a ninja, Joe Musashi, trying to rescue kidnapped children or hostages that had been taken from the Oboro clan by a criminal syndicate known as the "zeed". Joe must make his way through five stages of increasing difficulty (each consisting of about 3 or 4 acts) to finally reach the final boss... the masked ninja.
In each act there are hostages, the amount can differ from about 1 to 9, and when all hostages per act have been collected, the act is finished. Although, the last act of the last mission does not include any hostages, simply a boss (masked ninja) which Joe has to defeat. Also, at the end of every stage (except the 5th) Joe
is taken to a special bonus round, where, if he can kill all the attacking ninjas advancing at him with his ninja stars (shuriken), he is rewarded with an extra life.
Joe has several different attacks, such as shuriken or ninja stars which can be thrown at the enemy from a distance, but, subsequently are not as powerful as the more direct attacks. Secondly, there is his punch and kick moves at close ranges, which are still rather weak. But, one hostage in each act gives him a power up, which turns his shuriken into a gun that fires a large bullet at the enemy, also his punch/ kick is turned in to the katana attack which deals far more damage than other attacks. Although, the most useful attack by far is Joe’s “ninja magic”, even though it can only be used once in each act, it kills all enemies on screen and deals a lot of damage to bosses if used.
The score system on shinobi is very gratifying and can give some hardcore players a goal to reach. It works mainly based on performance and techniques used, for example: if you have not used ninja magic in an act, you will be rewarded an extra 5000 points. Also you can earn 20,000 points if you only use punches, kicks, and your katana (basically, no projectile weaponry) and remaining time at the end of each act is calculated in to points to so speed can be of the essence! If you play it enough and memorize the acts, strategies can be deployed to try and complete it in the quickest time possible.
Overall, shinobi is a very gratifying and fun 2D side-scroller with great replay value, as you can always try and beat your old time!
