The Revenge of Shinobi

From Sega Retro

For the Game Boy Advance game, see The Revenge of Shinobi (2002).

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RevengeOfShinobi title.png

The Revenge of Shinobi / The Super Shinobi
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Sega Mega-Tech, Virtual Console, Steam
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Genre: Action

















Release Date RRP Code
Wii Virtual Console
JP
600pts600
Wii Virtual Console
US
800pts800
Wii Virtual Console
EU
800pts800
CERO
Missing Parameter!

The Revenge of Shinobi, released as The Super Shinobi (ザ・スーパー忍) in Japan, is a 1989 Sega Mega Drive game, developed and published by Sega as a sequel to Shinobi. It should also not be confused with the 2002 game with the same name.

Story

Taking place three years after Shinobi, the criminal organization Zeed from the original game has reformed and renamed themselves Neo Zeed (literally New Zeed). Neo Zeed decide to have their revenge on the first game's protagonist Joe Musashi and his fellow members of the Oboro Ninja Clan, by killing Joe's master and kidnapping his fiance Naoko. Joe, having reached his Clan too late, manages to learn of Neo Zeed's plot from his dying master. Joe decides to travel the world to gain his revenge on Neo Zeed, and try to save his fiance before it's too late.

Revenge of Shinobi does not reference the arcade sequel to Shinobi, Shadow Dancer. However the Mega Drive reimagining, Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi, is considered a sequel to this game.

Gameplay

Basics

The Revenge of Shinobi is a traditional side-scrolling platform game. The player controls Joe Musashi, who must traverse 8 districts (Rounds; see below) before his final confrontation with the head of Neo Zeed. Each district consists of 3 scenes, the last of which is a battle against a unique boss character.

The D-pad moves Joe around, while A, B and C are used to perform a ninjitsu technique, attack (with sword or shuriken knives, which must be collected) and jump respectively. A key move in The Revenge of Shinobi is the somersault, performed by jumping and pressing jump again at the height of a jump. The somersault maximizes Musashi's jumping height and enables him to throw 8 shuriken at once in mid-air. Additionally, some stages consist of multiple layers (e.g. indoor/outdoor, on or next to the road); switching between these is also accomplished using the somersault move.

Ninjutsu techniques

Besides his regular assortment of moves and attacks, Musashi has the ability to perform four special ninjutsu techniques. Only one can be used in each level, unless a Ninjitsu item was picked up, or the ninjutsu of Mijin was used to reset your life total. The four techniques employed by Joe are as follows:

  • Ninjutsu of Ikazuchi (the art of thunder): Envelopes Musashi with a shield of lightning energy that sustains damage for four consecutive hits.
  • Ninjutsu of Karyu (the art of fire): Summons four dragon-shaped columns of flame that move across the screen and damage all enemies in their path.
  • Ninjutsu of Fushin (the art of floating): Improves Musashi's agility by heightening his jumping capability.
  • Ninjutsu of Mijin (the art of pulverizing): The most powerful Ninjutsu technique in the game. Musashi explodes, damaging all enemies on screen at the cost of one life. Minjin will, like Karyu, destroy all weaker enemies on screen, but with this Ninjitsu, Musashi's power against boss enemies is much greater. This is an interesting and strategic Ninjitsu, as though Joe loses a life in performing it, doing so causes his health to be fully restored and he is granted an extra Ninjitsu attack. It is possible to use Mijin on Joe's last life, but this requires a Continue to be used to resume his quest.

Power-ups

A variety of crates can be found in each level, some hidden in the scenery. These contain simple power-ups such as extra shuriken or health packs, as well as special items that award extra lives or Ninjutsu uses. Howeverm some crates contain time bombs, which detonate when their fuse runs out or if Musashi comes too close (though he can walk out of the blast radius if the player is quick enough).

Options

The game is divided into four difficulties: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Hardest. As difficulty increases, more enemies appear per stage, Musashi takes twice as much damage on Hardest and the amount of starting lives decreases from 10 to 1. From the options menu, the player can also choose the amount of starting shuriken from 0 to 90 (though a code does exist that allows infinite shuriken).

Rounds

  • Ibaraki Province, Japan: This bamboo forest is where the game begins. Through these ancient ruins, Musashi must make his way to The House of Confusion. At the end of this district, he is confronted by the mighty samurai Blue Lobster.
  • Tokyo: Musashi begins this stage near a rocky canyon. Winged ninja swoop down from the sky to attack him. Past the waterfalls, Joe stalks the darkened roof tops of Tokyo, and eventually enters a blinding disco where he must battle with the Shadow Dancer.
  • The Military Base: This military complex of Neo Zeed's is heavily guarded by armed soldiers. Joe must contend against light infantry as well as enemies armed with flame throwers and attack dogs. The second scene takes him on board an air carrier. If he touches one of the air locks, he dies. The aircraft is controlled by a powerful supercomputer that houses a human brain, which Joe must defeat in order to progress.
  • Detroit: Detroit is one big junkyard, with countless cars being moved by conveyor belts and into a melting furnace. A tough Terminator-like android guards the site.
  • Area Code 818: This stage takes Musashi past skyscrapers and freeways. The final battle is fought on top of an armoured vehicle carrying a gigantic ballistic missile.
  • Chinatown: After a showdown with the kung-fu gangs of Chinatown, Musashi hops on board a speeding train. Eventually he finds himself in the clutches of a shapeshifter who attacks in the form of Spider-Man and Batman. A revised version (1.01; see below) of the game replaced Batman with Devilman.
  • New York: Ninja and machine gunners guard the breakwater of New York's dockside. Leaping from boat to boat, Joe infiltrates Neo Zeed's container ship and comes face to face with Godzilla.
  • Neo Zeed Marine Stronghold: Here Musashi will face his final enemy, the leader of Zeed himself. His fiancee Naoko is trapped somewhere beneath the maze-like cellars of this stronghold, and Joe must terminate Zeed quickly before Naoko is killed by the latter's trap.

The introductory cutscene and subsequent title screen feature the famous martial arts actor Sonny Chiba dressed as Hattori Hanzou from the popular TV series Kage no Gundan.

History

Release

Versions

Because of copyright issues regarding certain boss characters (many of which were based on cultural icons) there were at least four versions of the game released in Europe and North America, with the later two also appearing in Europe. Another revision was eventually released for the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console.

Version ROM CRC32 Details
1.00 (1989) 5c7e5ea6 The Super Shinobi. This is the original 'final' version, only released in Japan and the only version released in Japan.
Bosses clearly resembling Godzilla, Spider-Man, the Terminator and Batman are present. Both Spider-Man (albeit red and black, not red and blue) and Batman are actually impersonations by the boss of Chinatown, who upon defeat reverts to a small bat-like creature and flies away. Furthermore, enemies with flamethrowers resemble the movie character John Rambo.
1.01 (1989) 05f27994 The Revenge of Shinobi. First international release.
Batman is replaced by the anime character Devilman. Godzilla and Spider-Man remain unmodified, the latter still morphing into the bat-like creature when defeated. Enemy soldiers with flamethrowers are also changed to bald men with headbands, away from their original likeness to John Rambo.
1.02 (1990) fe91ab7e The Revenge of Shinobi. Second international release.
The fake Spider-Man is recoloured into the licensed character from Marvel Comics, and acknowledged by a copyright notice (Sega already had the license to the character for another game they were developing at the time, Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin). Since he is now the real Spider-Man, he doesn't morph into a bat-like shape; instead he actually leaves the battle when enough damage is inflicted, with Devilman entering to replace him. Godzilla is unaltered.
1.03 (1990) 4d35ebe4 The Revenge of Shinobi. Third international release.
Godzilla is replaced by a skeletal dinosaur. Everything else remains intact from the previous revision, including the licensed use of Spider-Man. This version was used in the 6-Pak cartridge.
1.04 (2009) (Unknown) Since the licensed use of Spider-Man was for a limited period of time, the game was subsequently prevented from being re-released in recent years on compilations and digital download services. The 2009 release for the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console features a new specific software revision that omits the Marvel copyright notice and replaces Spider-Man with a pink palette swap of the character, which still behaves the same as the licensed Spider-Man [1]. The picture of Sonny Chiba used on the title screen was also altered slightly to resemble a more generic ninja, presumably as the license to use his likeness also expired. ([2])

Prototype versions also exist, one of which was (presumably mistakenly) released on the compilation Sega Smash Pack. This version features some cheats enabled by default, missing bosses and music, and other differences [3].

Legacy

The Revenge of Shinobi was later released on the Mega Drive based arcade platform the Mega-Tech.

The game was also released in several compilations: Mega Games 2 and 6-Pak for the Mega Drive, Sega Classics Arcade Collection for the Sega Mega-CD, Sega Smash Pack for PCs, and Sega Smash Pack for the Sega Dreamcast. It was re-released for the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console in 2009 and on the Sega Vintage Collection series as part of the "Alex Kidd and Company" digital compilation for the Microsoft Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade in 2012.

From a strictly Japanese perspective, The Revenge of Shinobi was followed by Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (a.k.a. The Super Shinobi II). However, from a western perspective the Shinobi III name can cause problems, as it either implies Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi is the "second" game (with RoS being the first), or that Shadow Dancer is not part of the main series (which appears to contridict earlier promotional material).

Soundtrack

The Revenge of Shinobi's soundtrack was composed by Yuzo Koshiro, who composed the music for other games including the Streets of Rage series.

A suite of music from The Revenge of Shinobi was performed live by an orchestra at the Fourth Symphonic Game Music Concert in 2006 at the Gewandhaus zu Leipzig, Germany. The arrangement was done by Koshiro himself. Music from the game was also performed at two concerts of PLAY! A Video Game Symphony in Stockholm, Sweden in 2007, and during the encore as the most voted song when PLAY! was performed in Singapore in June 2007.

Production Credits

Promotional Material

Physical Scans

Mega Drive version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
92
94 №2, p98/99
94 №4, p36/37
93 №99, p92
88 №28, p36/37
96 №6, p76/77
81 №3, p78
91 №9, p21
90 №1, p65
85
94 №1, p80[1]
93 №17, p94
94 №1, p16-18[2]
95 №2, p36/37[3]
91
92 №3, p58/59[4]
93 №14, p18/19
100 №23, p54
96 №5, p51[5]
90 №18, p67
90 №81, p63/64
97 №5, p51
Sega Mega Drive
92
Based on
22 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
50
[6]
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
50
[7]
Aktueller Software Markt (DE)
89
[8]
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
83
[9]
Computer Entertainer (US)
100
[10]
Complete Guide to Consoles (UK)
94
[11]
Complete Guide to Consoles (UK)
94
[12]
The Complete Guide to Sega (UK)
94
[13]
Console XS (UK) PAL
90
[14]
Cool Gamer (RU)
50
[15]
Computer & Video Games (UK)
93
[16]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
85
[17]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 10 (RU)
60
[18]
Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK)
93
[19]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
70
[20]
The Games Machine (UK)
88
[21]
Joystick (FR)
96
[22]
Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK)
81
[23]
Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL
81
[24]
Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J
83
[25]
Mega (UK) PAL
91
[26]
Mega Action (UK)
90
[27]
Mega Fun (DE) PAL
85
[28]
MegaTech (UK)
94
[29]
MegaTech (UK) PAL
93
[30]
Mean Machines (UK)
94
[2]
Mean Machines Sega (UK)
94
[31]
Megazone (AU)
96
[32]
Player One (FR)
95
[3]
Power Play (DE)
91
[33]
Raze (UK) PAL
92
[4]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
93
[34]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
100
[35]
Sega Pro (UK)
96
[36]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
90
[37]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
81
[38]
Tilt (FR)
90
[39]
Tricks 16 bit (RU) NTSC-U
72
[40]
Tricks 16 bit (RU) NTSC-J
82
[41]
User (GR) NTSC-J
90
[42]
Zero (UK)
97
[43]
Sega Mega Drive
86
Based on
41 reviews

The Revenge of Shinobi

Mega Drive, US
Revengeofshinobi md us cover.jpg
Cover
RoS MD US Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, US (Sega Classic)
RoS MD US Box Classic.jpg
Cover
RoS MD US Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, US (Sega Classic; 1995 re-release)
Revengeofshinobi md us classics cover.jpg
Cover
RoS MD US Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, EU
Revengeofshinobi md eu cover.jpg
Cover
RoS MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, JP
RoS MD JP Box.jpg
Cover
TheSuperSHINOBI MD JP CartTop.jpg
RoS MD JP Cart.jpg
Cart
Supershinobi md jp manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, AU

Mega Drive, BR
RevengeofShinobi MD BR cb cover.jpg
Cover
RoS MD BR Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, KR

SuperShinobi MD KR carttop.jpg
SuperShinobi MD KR cartback.jpgSuperShinobi MD KR cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, KR
rerelease

SuperShinobi MD KR 4064 cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, CA
RoS MD CA Box.jpg
Cover

Mega-Tech version

Mega-Tech,
RevengeofShinobi MT cover.jpg
Cover

External links



Games in the Shinobi series
Arcade
Shinobi (1987) | Shadow Dancer (1989)
Sega Master System
Shinobi (1988) | The Cyber Shinobi (1990) | Shadow Dancer (1991)
Amiga
Atari ST
Amstrad CPC
Commodore 64
ZX Spectrum
IBM PC compatibles
MSX
Shinobi (1989)
Sega Mega Drive
The Revenge of Shinobi (1989) | Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi (1990) | Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (1993)
Sega Game Gear
The GG Shinobi (1991) | The GG Shinobi II: The Silent Fury (1992)
Sega Saturn
Shinobi Legions (1995)
Game Boy Advance
The Revenge of Shinobi (2002)
Sony PlayStation 2
Shinobi (2002) | Nightshade (2003)
Nintendo 3DS
Shinobi 3D (2011) | 3D Shinobi III (2013)
Nintendo Switch
Sega Ages Shinobi (2019)
Shinobi related media
Music
The Super Shinobi & Works (1989) | Shinobi Original Soundtrack (2002) | Legend of Joe Musashi: Shinobi Music Collection (2009) | Shinobi 3D Original Soundtrack (2012) | Kunoichi Original Soundtrack (2014) | Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (2015) | The Revenge of Shinobi (2016) | Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi (2022)
Book
Shinobi: The Fear Pavilion (1994) | Shin Shinobi Den Hisshou Kouryaku Hou (1995) | Prima's Official Strategy Guide: Shinobi (2002) | Shinobi: The Rise of Hotsuma (2002) | Shinobi: The Complete Guide (2002) | Shinobi the Wide Ilustration Archive (2003) | Kunoichi Koushiki Guide Book (2003) | Kunoichi Perfect Guide (2004)
  1. File:Megatech UK 01.pdf, page 80
  2. 2.0 2.1 File:MeanMachines UK 01.pdf, page 16 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachines UK 01.pdf_p16" defined multiple times with different content
  3. 3.0 3.1 File:PlayerOne FR 002.pdf, page 36 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:PlayerOne FR 002.pdf_p36" defined multiple times with different content
  4. 4.0 4.1 File:Raze UK 03.pdf, page 58 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Raze UK 03.pdf_p58" defined multiple times with different content
  5. File:Segapro UK 05.pdf, page 51
  6. 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 187
  7. 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 207
  8. Aktueller Software Markt, "März 1990" (DE; 1990-0x-xx), page 80
  9. Beep! MegaDrive, "February 1990" (JP; 1990-01-08), page 68
  10. Computer Entertainer, "January 1990" (US; 1990-01-20), page 18
  11. Complete Guide to Consoles, "Volume Two" (UK; 1990-04-xx), page 98
  12. Complete Guide to Consoles, "Volume IV" (UK; 1990-11-xx), page 36
  13. The Complete Guide to Sega, "" (UK; 1991-05-xx), page 50
  14. Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 133
  15. Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 186
  16. Computer & Video Games, "February 1990" (UK; 1990-01-16), page 92
  17. Electronic Gaming Monthly, "March 1990" (US; 1990-xx-xx), page 20
  18. Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 10, "" (RU; 2003-10-08), page 133
  19. Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 83
  20. Famitsu, "1990-01-05,19" (JP; 19xx-xx-xx), page 17
  21. The Games Machine, "March 1990" (UK; 1990-02-08), page 36
  22. Joystick, "Juin 1990" (FR; 1990-05-xx), page 76
  23. Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "November 1992" (UK; 1992-xx-xx), page 78
  24. Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 94
  25. Mega Drive Fan, "March 1990" (JP; 1990-02-08), page 63
  26. Mega, "June 1993" (UK; 1993-05-20), page 21
  27. Mega Action, "June 1993" (UK; 1993-05-20), page 65
  28. Mega Fun, "09/93" (DE; 1993-08-18), page 73
  29. MegaTech, "Xmas 1991" (UK; 1991-12-06), page 80
  30. MegaTech, "May 1993" (UK; 1993-04-23), page 94
  31. Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 140
  32. Megazone, "June/July 1991" (AU; 1991-0x-xx), page 23
  33. Power Play, "3/90" (DE; 1990-02-19), page 97
  34. Sega Power, "January 1991" (UK; 1990-12-06), page 18
  35. Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 54
  36. Sega Pro, "March 1992" (UK; 1992-02-20), page 51
  37. Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 67
  38. Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 85
  39. Tilt, "Septembre 1990" (FR; 1990-0x-xx), page 63
  40. Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 141
  41. Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 254
  42. User, "Noémvrios 1990" (GR; 1990-1x-xx), page 63
  43. Zero, "March 1990" (UK; 1990-0x-xx), page 51