The GG Shinobi

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The GG Shinobi
System(s): Sega Game Gear, Palm OS, Virtual Console
Publisher: Sega Enterprises, Ltd. Sega Corporation
Developer: Sega R&D 2 M2
Distributor: Tec Toy (BR)
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1991-04-26 ¥3,8003,800 G-3302 US 1991-06 $39.9539.95 2402 EU 1991-06-29 2402 UK 1991-06-29 £24.9924.99 2402 BR 199x 012110 US 2003-04-14 $19.9519.95 JP ▼ 2012-03-14 ¥286 (300)286 (300) US ▼ 2012-03-15 $3.993.99 EU ▼ 2012-03-29 €4.004.00 DE ▼ 2012-03-29 €4.004.00 UK ▼ 2012-03-29 £3.603.60 AU ▼ 2012

The GG Shinobi (Ｔｈｅ ＧＧ忍), also referred to simply as Shinobi on Western game covers, is an entry to the Shinobi series. Released exclusively on the Sega Game Gear in 1991, it sees the player rescue differently coloured Shinobi characters, each playable with their own special skills.

Story

Terror and destruction have made their way to Ninja Valley. The Master of the Oboro school of shinobi sends his best students to investigate the suburban areas. They return with news of a powerful dark force that has established a base within Neo City.

The Master knows that only a warrior trained in the arts of ninjutsu can stand against this menace. One by one his greatest pupils enter Neo City to locate and destroy the source of the evil. Ninja Valley has lost contact with each of them. All are believed to be captured.

Now Joe Musashi, the Red Shinobi, must carry out this dire mission. As the oldest and strongest of his ninja disciples, Musashi must use his special skills in the art of ninjutsu to free his fellow shinobi. With their combined strength, they can destroy the City of Fear.

Gameplay

Pause menu

The GG Shinobi is a hack-and-slash action game with mechanics similar to The Revenge of Shinobi but with the addition of a character-switching system. The player starts the game as the Red Ninja, whose goal is to rescue four kidnapped allies who are being held captive in different rounds. The first four rounds can be played in any order; the final round is unlocked after the others have been completed. Each ninja character has a unique weapon, ninjutsu, and ability.

The ninja can be moved around with or and can crouch with . He can move while crouching with and . He can enter doorways with . He can jump with and jump off a platform with +. The button strikes with the ninja's primary weapon. The  START  button invokes up a menu that allows the player to change the currently played ninja or use the current ninja's ninjutsu ability by selecting 忍術. The player can use ninjutsu abilities a finite amount of times; the player starts with no uses available but can gain opportunities by finding the Ninjutsu item throughout the game. The number of uses of ninjutsu is retained between rounds but not if the player loses a life.

The ninjas share a life gauge, which is diminished each time a ninja takes damage from an enemy weapon. It can be replenished by finding a Heart item. Each round (except the last) contains a Power-Up item that permanently augments the player's life gauge. Touching an enemy but not a weapon knocks the ninja back without doing damage. If a ninja loses the entire life gauge, the player loses a life. If the player runs out of lives, the game ends, but it can be continued.

Ninjas

The Red Ninja is initially available, but the others must be unlocked by completing rounds.

	Red Ninja
	Main Weapon: Short-ranged, 180-degree sword slash towards the front. Special Technique: None. Ninjutsu: Earthquake. Damages all enemies on the screen and destroys cracked boulders.
	Blue Ninja
	Main Weapon: Manriki-kusari. Blade with a long chain. Powerful and medium range. Special Technique: Swinging from grappling points by hitting them with the end of his weapon. Ninjutsu: Tatsumaki. Turns into a whirlwind and flies around the screen. Can be controlled. Use it to reach high places. Also damages enemies it touches while flying.
	Yellow Ninja
	Main Weapon: Chi blasts. Medium-ranged weak projectiles fired from hands. Holding the attack button allow firing a more powerful blast. Special Technique: Walking over water. Ninjutsu: Ikazuchi. Creates a lightning barrier that protects the user from damage until it takes enough damage or disappears.
	Pink Ninja
	Main Weapon: Short-ranged but powerful bombs. Special Technique: Walking on ceilings by jumping and holding on the ceiling. Release to drop off the ceiling. The ninja cannot attack while on a ceiling. Ninjutsu: Flash. Creates a blinding light that stuns the enemies and illuminates dark areas.
	Green Ninja
	Main Weapons: Shurikens, long range but weak power. Special Technique: Double jump by jumping and pressing again at the height of the jump. Pressing during the double jump fires 5 shurikens towards the ground, similar to the special attack in Revenge of Shinobi and Shinobi III. Ninjutsu: Mijin. Creates a powerful blast that will kill all enemies on the screen and cause heavy damage to bosses. Costs one life.

Items

Items are revealed by breaking open item boxes and then can be collected by moving onto them.

	Heart
	Replenishes two points on the player's life gauge.
	Ninjutsu
	Gives the player another opportunity to use a ninja's ninjutsu ability.
	Power-Up
	Permanently increases the player's life gauge by two points. There is one hidden in each of the first four rounds.
	1-Up
	Gives the player an extra life.
	Bomb
	Explodes and damages the player if in range.

Rounds

The first four rounds are available immediately and can be played in any order. Each of them unlocks a different ninja as a playable character once completed, and Neo City is unlocked once they have all been completed. Some of the rounds contain obstacles and hazards that are trivialized by a ninja's abilities, so there is an element of strategy in selecting the optimal order in which to play the rounds.

Additionally, each of the initial four rounds contains a hidden Power-Up item, which permanently extends the player's life gauge by two points. Some of them can only be accessed by certain ninjas.

	Highway
	Maps: 1️⃣ | 2️⃣
	Unlocks the Pink Ninja upon completion.
	Harbor
	Maps: 1️⃣ | 2️⃣ | 3️⃣
	Unlocks the Yellow Ninja upon completion.
	Valley
	Maps: 1️⃣ | 2️⃣
	Unlocks the Blue Ninja upon completion.
	Woodland
	Maps: 1️⃣ | 2️⃣ | 3️⃣
	Unlocks the Green Ninja upon completion.
	Neo City
	Maps: 1️⃣ | 2️⃣ | 3️⃣
	Unlocked once the other four rounds are completed. A series of trap rooms, each requiring the skills of a particular ninja character in order to pass it. Almost all rooms have two exits which lead to further distinct trap rooms. The player encounters the bosses of the previous rounds, eventually finishing with the final one.

History

Legacy

The GG Shinobi was followed by Shinobi II: The Silent Fury (The GG Shinobi II in Japan), another exclusive Game Gear game.

The game was re-released for Palm OS in 2003 and for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console service in 2012. It was included as one of the four games pre-installed on the red model Game Gear Micro in 2020.

Production credits

• Planning: The Hase, K.O.B.
• Program: Lunarian SG, Yuichi.M
• Artwork: Kudor-Yo, 7July Big King
• Sound: Yuzo Koshiro
• Sound Management: TN
• Special Thanks: LLG, Asohy, B.Back Stage
• Presented by: Sega

Source:

In-game credits

One of these aliases is Yukio Futatsugi.

---

• Japanese cover & manual artist: Sega Research and Development Dept.

Source:

Sega TV Game Genga Gallery

File:Sega TV Game Genga Gallery.pdf

Magazine articles

Main article: The GG Shinobi/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1991-05: "May 1991" (1991-04-08)
also published in:

• Mega Drive Fan (JP) #16: "May 1991" (1991-04-08)

Print advert in Pixel (GR) #96: "Fevrouários 1993" (1993-0x-xx)

Artwork

• 

  Logo

• 

  Virtual Console banner

• 

  US cover

• 

  JP cover

• 

  JP cover

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score ACE (UK) 70 Ação Games (BR) 92 Aktueller Software Markt (DE) 83 Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 63 Consoles + (FR) 91 Console XS (UK) PAL 84 Computer & Video Games (UK) 94 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK) 92 Excalibur (CZ) 88 Game Mania (UK) 90 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 96 Gamers (DE) 73 Games-X (UK) 78 Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J 80 Hobby Consolas (ES) 92 Joystick (FR) 97 Micromanía (segunda época) (ES) 72 Mean Machines (UK) 90 Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL 91 Power Play (DE) 83 Raze (UK) 82 Sega Power (UK) 73 Sega Power (UK) PAL 100 Sega Pro (UK) 79 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 93 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 84 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 76 User (GR) PAL 92 Video Games (DE) 84 Zero (UK) 90

	85
Based on 30 reviews

The GG Shinobi

Game Gear, JP
Cover
Cart

Game Gear, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Game Gear, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Game Gear, BR
Cover
Cart Manual

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
✔	CRC32 83926bd1 MD5 21d2e4e7c508e6abbb12bb96c7aac868 SHA-1 c5e1c2329f94f0804140792a3e3d5be2ac0d5d0d	256kB		Cartridge (JP)
✔	CRC32 30f1c984 MD5 8fa7438dec1403f2e9d7b1ca60b29f1a SHA-1 2e7303f82d885cb84fa557e211954808c8ebe779	256kB		Cartridge (World)	Revision A
✔	CRC32 b62d934a MD5 a0c373a38ec4271ac42ec99afa2a6be3 SHA-1 9ad7313da97ef00463800199ab9e4e6f39fbcb0d	256kB		3DS Virtual Console (World)	Revision A

External links

• Sega of Japan 3DS VC catalogue pages: Game Gear
• Nintendo catalogue pages: JP, US, UK, AU