Better Late Than Never #1

Shinobi by Sega (1987) - Master System

Oh hey, what's going down? Welcome to another new (kind of) feature here at Red Parsley! As I've no doubt mentioned before, despite my enthusiasm for and love of video games, especially ones of the 80s and 90s, I've never been particularly good at them. Some I could complete, but there were many I could not. There were some games that have stuck in mind all these years as being ones I played a lot and got quite a long way into a lot, but never managed to finish. This feature, whilst otherwise very similar to my existing Game Gallery posts, will showcase my (probably save state-assisted) journey to finally completing some of the offending games. First up is one of my very favourite games for one of my very favourite consoles:

Click here for the full review of this fine game.

Shinobi Series - Part 7

The GG Shinobi (1991)
By: Sega Genre: Platform/Fighting Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Sega Game Gear First Day Score: 000,000
Also Available For: Nothing
Download For: 3DS Virtual Console

This great, now-celebrated series was only four games old but it had already started looking as though it was heading downhill. The original game and the MegaDrive sequel were both widely acclaimed (with good reason) but Shadow Dancer (both versions) less so, and Cyber Shinobi, the series' only Master System exclusive, was not well received at all. The next title would need to be a corker or Musashi-san might be heading for the gaming retirement home. Luckily for keen assassins such as myself and no doubt many of you, it looked as though the title in question might restore Joe's crown as gaming's top ninja! In an effort to push their shiny new handheld, Sega made the game an exclusive for it. Known simply (and slightly confusingly) as 'Shinobi' outside Japan, fans always refer to it these days by it's Japanese title - The GG Shinobi - and here's a look at it.

Shinobi Series - Part 6

The Cyber Shinobi (1990)
By: Sega Genre: Platform/Fighting Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Sega Master System
Also Available For: Nothing

Pretty much all the Shinobi games have been big news at the times they were released but almost certainly the least well-known and least appreciated of them all must be Cyber Shinobi. It was released only for the Master System which didn't really open it to the biggest audience, but it was intended as a direct sequel to the superb (if not entirely accurate) MS conversion of the original Shinobi which meant it could also be superb. In theory at least, but it didn't meet with a huge amount of praise from the press of its day so I've always been a bit wary of it to be honest. Now, however, I am forced by this sometimes-splendid blog to dip into these seldom-tested waters with the hope that time has been kind. The story sounds interesting enough - nothing too original or ground-breaking I'll grant you, but more of the same if fine by me if the 'same' is Shinobi!

Shinobi Series - Part 5

Shadow Dancer (1990)
By: Sega Genre: Platform/Fighting Players: 1 Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Featured Version: Sega MegaDrive / Genesis First Day Score: 395,200
Also Available For: Nothing
Download For: Wii Virtual Console

It at least has a better title screen...

Sega's mighty MegaDrive was their most popular console and one of the reasons for that is the many ultra-spiffing arcade conversions it played host to. Among these must surely have been the second Shinobi game which had graced arcades of the world around the time the MD itself was being unleashed. Oddly, however, Sega instead opted to release a mostly-new game bearing the same name, but with the added subtitle of 'The Secret of Shinobi'. They seem to have had some trouble deciding whether to follow the same story or not though. The hero in the white pyjamas is either the legendary Joe Musashi in the UK version, or Hayate (Joe's son, as in the arcade game) in the Japanese version, both of which grace my collection. The objective in both versions is more akin to the original Shinobi than its sequel though, which sees you rescuing various hostages taken by evil terrorist organisation, Union Lizard, who have occupied New York City and run amok.

Shinobi Series - Part 4

The Revenge of Shinobi a.k.a. Super Shinobi (1989)
By: Sega  Genre: Platform/Fighting  Players: 1  Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Featured Version: Sega MegaDrive / Genesis  First Day Score: 1,399,500
Also Available For: Nothing
Download For: Wii Virtual Console

It might seem obvious to follow up a successful game with a sequel or two but not all of them receive one. As we know now however, Sega sensibly released many sequels to the classic Shinobi and the first two appeared very close together. First came Shadow Dancer, a fellow arcade game which updated the basic Shinobi formula nicely. Following closely behind it was this game, known in Japan, where it was first released of course, as Super Shinobi. Here in the UK it was renamed as above and was a launch title for the eagerly-awaited MegaDrive console. Even now, there has seldom been a launch game that so ably and immediately demonstrated the abilities of the system on which it's based. The effect it had on me was profound at the time and is still keenly felt today.

Shinobi Series - Part 3

Shadow Dancer (1989)
By: Sega  Genre: Platform/Fighting  Players: 1  Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Arcade  First Day Score: 146,100
Also Available For: Master System, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum

Shinobi is still regarded as one of the all-time classic games from Sega's sizeable back-catalogue, and rightly so. It was a game perfectly suited to its time and still plays as well today as the day it was released. Rather than shamelessly cash-in on its popularity, however, Sega took its time with the sequel and released a fresh-feeling game with a few new ideas, and yet despite this it never even approached the success of it predecessor. Is that because it was crap? No, it's not, but considering I was one of the ones who paid the game so little attention upon its release I'm not really sure what the problem was! Thanks to the wonders of retro gaming, however, I've got the chance to make amends.

Shinobi Series - Part 2

Shinobi (1987)
By: Sega  Genre: Platform/Fighting  Players: 1  Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Sega Master System  First Day Score: 331,150
Also Available For: Arcade, Nintendo NES, PC Engine, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum
Download For: Wii Virtual Console, Xbox 360 Live Arcade

The original version of Shinobi was a fantastic game for its day and proved to be extremely popular, but for many years the only version of it I knew was this version that Sega treated all of its loyal Master System customers to. It's one of the few conversions handled by Sega themselves and happily it's a splendid version of the arcade great, arguably the best, but it's not identical. The game's story is still the same, which involves the children of the Oboro clan (or of various world leaders, according to the Western versions, as I recall) being kidnapped, but unlike the arcade version where rescuing the children was mandatory, here you don't actually have to rescue them. You can though, if you want, and it's a very good idea to do so anyway, for each one bestows upon courageous Joe a reward of special magnificence!

Shinobi Series - Part 1

Shinobi (1987)
By: Sega  Genre: Platform/Fighting  Players: 1  Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Arcade  First Day Score: 74,610
Also Available For: Sega Master System, Nintendo NES, PC Engine, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum
Download For: Wii Virtual Console, Xbox 360 Live Arcade

Ninjas are cool. Everyone knows that, it's just one of those facts everyone automatically accepts. These masters of stealth have many abilities beyond the use of martial arts and the awesome weapons they employ, not least their magical abilities which include invisibility, teleportation, shapeshifting, command over birds and beasts, and various others. How could they not rule? In the 80's they became popular in the West thanks largely to their depiction as mysterious yet highly skilled warriors, either good or bad, in various low-budget films such as the classic American Ninja. Inevitably various videogames followed soon after, although on this occasion with good reason - ninjas characters are ideal to build a game around, and there were many superb offerings. One of the earliest and most popular was the intriguingly-named Shinobi.