Shinobi Art of Vengeance is the latest in a series that needs no introduction. But in the event you have somehow been living under a rock for the past like 40 years, Shinobi started its life as an arcade game in the 1980s. From there, Sega went on to release 12 more titles in the series. Those titles would move from the arcades into homes with the game coming to the Genesis, Game Gear, Saturn, Playstation 2, 3DS, and a few more platforms beyond those. This is the 13th title in the series and the first 2D side scroller we’ve seen in roughly the last 30 years.
So let’s take a look at Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, the latest title in the renowned series that is Shinobi.
The story of Shinobi: Art of Vengeance tells the story of Joe Musashi as he returns to avenge his clan after their village is destroyed and his people turned to stone by a corporation known as ENE. The leader of ENE Corp known as Lord Ruse is ruthless and seeks world domination.
This is the story of Shinobi: Art of Vengeance in a nutshell. Though this is very basic, the writing in the game is done very well. The story does a great job to keep the player engaged. Couple this with the voice acting that helps to give each character personality and breathes life into the story. Should the game not tell the story through animated cutscenes and wonderful voice acting, I don’t think the story would be as engaging and fun as it is.
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance has gone back to the roots where it all started. This latest entry is a 2D side scrolling platforming game. The first time we’ve seen a game like this in many years. You traverse through various stages ranging from Forests, fields of flowers, snowy mountainous villages and passes, all that have a lot to offer in terms of gameplay. As you progress through the game, you will come across a wide range of enemies that take some time to take down. Though the most basic enemies can put up a fight, it’s still very rewarding to take them out. You will get coins, some health back, and even some daggers you can throw.
Speaking of daggers, your weapons are a standard sword, throwing knives as previously mentioned, as well as two types of magic. You have Ninjitsu, and Ninpo magic at your disposal. Both of which are earned over time as you take down your enemies, once you unlock their use of course.
Ninpo magic is elemental magic that can be used during combos to serve up some devastating damage to your enemies. Ninjitsu magic is magic that once you do enough damage to build up the meter, you can unleash upon everything on screen. Much like the magic attacks you had access to in one of the previous titles called Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi. Besides earning the ability to use them, you can purchase new magic in addition to being able to upgrade the magic you currently own.
Coming back to purchasing magic and items, you have access to a merchant that can be found in certain stages which will allow you to spend money or relics to upgrade Ninpo, Ninjitsu, learn new moves, upgrade current moves, and purchase items that can help get you through the stage.
Speaking of stages, they range from focusing on platforming, minor environmental puzzles with some areas style enemy clearing to progress through the stage and solve the puzzle, to auto scrolling levels that will have you taking out enemies as you traverse the stage automatically.
Graphically, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever played and definitely the best looking in the series. Sega originally developed and published the series up to this release, but gave development for this over to Lizardcube, the same devs that gave us Streets of Rage 4. Given their past and how Streets of Rage 4 came out, I was curious and a bit concerned with how Shinobi: Art of Vengeance would turn out.
Now that’s not to say Streets of Rage 4 is a bad game, just not the first choice I would make when it comes to graphics for a game in its franchise. Now Shinobi on the other hand, the art direction blew me away. Shinobi Art of Vengeance is a game that is absolutely breathtaking in its appearance. Lizardcube went with a cel-shaded art style. I was kind of concerned when I saw the trailers for it, but once I started playing it, the game is just incredible looking.
The game doesn’t just have a cel-shaded look to it, it looks like a water color painting that has magically come to life. The pastel color palette mixed with the stark reds and oranges when there is fire and magic involved is really spectacular. Every animation is butter smooth and looks fantastic. I mean I really don’t know how they did it, but they really made the game look and feel like an interactive water color painting and I am very impressed with how the game looks.
So the graphics are great and beautiful looking, but how is the performance? Well I played this on the Xbox Series X and as one would expect with a side scrolling game like Shinobi Art of vengeance, the game plays without issue. I would say the one caveat being the load times when you go between stages. Now with that said, the load times are about a minute or two, maybe even less than that. So really it’s not too bad, but wanted to let those of you that really care about that kind of stuff know, that yes there is a bit of a load time between stages.
Shinobi Art of Vengeance is one of those games that has some rather amazing music. I mean it kinda hits you like a ton of bricks. Or I guess you could say the music does and then the graphics do.
From the opening track to every other track in the game, there is something truly special here. Each track is melodic and just beautiful to listen to. I mean you could seriously just sit in a stage just to hear some of these tracks. Now the cool thing is, you can listen to the sound track even without playing the game which is really kind of a neat thing, especially with this sound track.
Sound effects in the game are as you would expect for the most part. Sword swinging and knife throwing sound like they should and isn’t much to write about quite literally. What is pretty awesome in the way of audio is the voice acting and the environmental sounds. The voice acting in the game is really spot on and gives some really good emotion to the character dialogue and overall story telling. The environmental sounds are really nice, with the sounds of cracking flames, the sound of your feet running through fields and along the grass. It shows a surprising level of detail and dedication to the sound design that went into this title.
Shinobi Art of Vengeance is a game that I never thought we would see. I never thought that we could get another 2D side scrolling game and here I am gladly being proved wrong. I mean this game is beyond any expectations I could have for this game and this genre for that matter.
From the first time I played this game and every time after that going into it, the game has never ceased to put a big smile on my face as I play it. This game really scratches the nostalgic itch a lot of fans have been craving. If you’ve played the series from the franchise start up until now, you need to play this game. Shinobi Art of Vengeance brought me back to the glory days of gaming in the 90’s and yet has a very modern feel. If you want that feeling again, then pick up this game and play it. Even if you’ve never played any of the Shinobi games, this is a great place to start and you too should definitely play this game!
The last thing I will say is thank you Lizardcube and Sega. Thank you both for giving 90’s gamers a means to travel back in time while still maintaining a level of modern gaming simultaneously. This magical blend of timelines if you will make this game one that you really must play, regardless if you’re a gamer or not. This game really has something for everyone and deserves to be played by all!
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
In addition to writing articles, Ryan Byers also creates content for his YouTube channel called "Obscure Games and Consoles", collects video games, and dabbles in video game development.