This is a big one I have the honor to bring today, I got the opportunity to do the Shinobi Art of Vengeance Review, and right out of the gate I will say Sega and Lizardcube really outdid themselves in all aspects. There’s some very minor nitpicks about the experience, but overall this game is yet another certified classic that will live through generations and never really age. Fun comes in slices, and there’s a ton of slicing and dicing to do as Joe Musashi, leader of the Oboro Clan, who returned to us after a long hiatus.
For those who remember the older days of Sega, Shinobi was a very important IP to them, to the point it had its best installments right on the Megadrive itself. All of these games surprised past gamers, thanks to them being a technical marvel and running so well compared to other games of the time. The innovative Enemy AI truly blew the minds of many back in the day too, as it tried to adapt in unexpected ways which made it looks more advanced. Of course, this is all in the past, all of these tricks are very familiar, so what did Sega and Lizardcube do to revive Shinobi?
The answer is very simple, keep all the amazing things about it, such as the sharp as a blade art, its amazing soundtrack, and tight gameplay. By doing this, they also revitalized the experience by adding more things to it. Shinobi Art of Vengeance has some very huge levels, in each of them, we will explore every nook and cranny while also advancing always to the right. The twist is that hidden things and a ton of collectables have been added, a first on a Shinobi game where the 2D action gameplay is the main focus.
All of this integrates perfectly with the series, to the point it even respects the chronology by showing us how Joe Musashi is happily married to Naoko, the woman he rescued in the older installments from Neo Zeed. All of this is perfectly referenced, and it seems that they are a very happy family, they even have a cute dog named Yamato after all. However, peace cannot last forever, and a new threat has risen that quickly annihilated a big part of the world as we know it, including Oboro Clan’s village.
ENE Corporation is a villainous entity ruled with an iron fist by Lord Ruse, having the power of death itself, it proves to be one of the strongest enemies Joe Musashi has faced yet. Technology and demons will stand in our way as we move forward to take revenge on ENE Corporation, and unlikely allies will also help us through the journey as we keep advancing further through a story about birth and death. All of this draws parallelisms with the other games in the series, as this is a clear continuation from Shinobi III on the Megadrive, with way bigger stakes but a rather expected conclusion.
As mentioned before, stages are big and chock full of secrets, we have to keep into account that one of the developers involved with this game is Lizardcube, known for its Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap Remake. So it feels like they have used a similar engine to make this one, the art is completely hand drawn, and this game also seems to take a Metroidvania-ish approach to things. Levels, however, are from point A to B, which is the usual Shinobi affair, what saw a massive change was the combat and how you traverse the levels too, as you can warp through the huge map with checkpoints.
The combat has a ton of new things, mainly an interesting combo system, and the fact that enemies now have life bars. There’s a ton of mechanics to combat and many options on how to tackle it, almost as if they were a puzzle of sorts. It is all very well designed and even some of the bosses happen to be references to previous enemies you can find in the series. I personally got familiar with the basic combo system, light and hard attacks combined to cripple your opponents and juggle them, as I found that the Ninpo abilities weren’t that necessary aside from some obligatory cases.
The game does feel rather easy compared to the other punishingly tough Shinobi titles, but if you are feeling like the base experience isn’t that challenging, you can crank out the difficulty settings by customizing the experience however you see fit. Another nitpick of mine is that tutorial popups seem to appear even near the end of the game, which kills the flow of the experience, perhaps it is a bug as I could swear some of them, I already read them before. There does not seem to be any toggle in the options to disable that. These are pretty much the only complains to be had with the game.
Some of the bonus stages are also clear references to Shinobi III, especially the surfboard section, and there’s tons of love put into the amazing graphical display and frantic electronic soundtrack scored by Tee Lopes himself. It truly feels like an interactive painting of sorts, and a very good one at that, the weight of attacking enemies feels perfect, and you can even juggle their dead bodies to rack up more combo hits until they explode just like they used to do in the 16-bit era, even that little detail is kept. The secrets are different collectables, such a different Ninpo and moves that you get by exploring levels, you can even unlock skins.
Some of these moves open up path in previous levels in a Metroidvania fashion, and if you want to get a 100% in each, you will have to explore them again by selecting them from the world map. If you are a completionist you will really love this new entry on the Shinobi series, it is a fact that almost every element is taken care of, aside from some minor nitpicks with the bothersome tutorial repeats popping up, and there being an overwhelming amount of systems to the combat that feel like absolute overkill for what the enemies can do in comparison, too many choices, but the bread and butter combos broken are enough.
The more you advance, the stronger you become, and it feels like the most challenging part on levels is trying to avoid pitfalls and obstacles, a ton of those like spikes send you back a few inches away from them. The checkpoint system is also rather forgiving, and if you die you can just continue right from the last one. If you are really feeling like a master, you can crank up all the options in the game to make it even more challenging, the hardest parts of the game in my opinion are the optional Ankou Rift challenges, most of them being highly technical parkour stages you find hidden in the huge levels.
The story is just okay, as mentioned before, it is a canonical continuation of what you see in the old games so there’s nothing mind blowing about it, it’s a bit better than the older games. For fans who have been keeping up since the 80’s, there’s a ton of things you will love about it however, but you will have to play to discover such spoilers. Stage variety is on point, everything is so vibrant and detailed that it really feels like they had a ton of fun doing art for the stages and enemies. While some enemies are recolors, beware, they have new patterns and unique attacks to throw you off if you think they are just that
Shinobi Art of Vengeance Review – Verdict
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance: This new Shinobi entry truly feels like a work of passion and love from Sega and Lizardcube, it is filled to the brim with some unexpected references to the older titles such as some bosses and story elements. The art is the best part, it truly nails down what Shinobi should look like nowadays, Tee Lopes outdid himself with the adrenaline pumping soundtrack. If it weren't for the tutorial pop-ups, the rather easy base difficulty, and the average plot this would be a perfect revival. – Hiro
[Editor’s Note: Shinobi: Art of Vengeance was reviewed on PC and a copy was provided to us for review purposes.]
