Difference between revisions of "Shadow Dancer"

From Sega Retro
Line 69: Line 69:
 
''Shadow Dancer'' on the Master System retains a lot of the arcade game's content, but simplifies the graphics and sound to better suit the hardware. Level layouts are slightly different, and the decision to use sprites similar in size to the arcade version means that fewer enemies can appear on screen at any one time. Sprite flicker is a common sight, and entire sections of levels are removed to save space.
 
''Shadow Dancer'' on the Master System retains a lot of the arcade game's content, but simplifies the graphics and sound to better suit the hardware. Level layouts are slightly different, and the decision to use sprites similar in size to the arcade version means that fewer enemies can appear on screen at any one time. Sprite flicker is a common sight, and entire sections of levels are removed to save space.
  
−
The most striking omission in the Master System version of ''Shadow Dancer'' is the dog, which does not appear in any form at any point during the game.
+
The most striking omission in the Master System version of ''Shadow Dancer'' is the dog as an active character.  When a valid target is onscreen, the player must crouch until a dog head-shaped meter at screen bottom fills up.  When the meter is full, pressing attack will cause the dog to appear out of nowhere and occupy the enemy.
  
 
===Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum versions===
 
===Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum versions===

Revision as of 09:49, 31 August 2017

n/a

ShadowDancer S18 title.png

Shadow Dancer
System(s): Sega System 18, Sega Master System, Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum
Publisher: Sega, U.S. Gold (home computers)
Developer:
Genre: Action

















Release Date RRP Code
Sega Master System
EU 		9009
Sega Master System
BR
Sega Master System
KR 		GB4010JG
Amiga
ES
Amiga
UK 		£24.9924.99[3]
Amiga
UK
(Kixx)
Atari ST
UK 		£24.9924.99[3]
Amstrad CPC
ES
(Cassette)
Amstrad CPC
ES
(Disk)
Amstrad CPC
UK
(Cassette) 		£10.9910.99[4]
Amstrad CPC
UK
(Disk)
Amstrad CPC
UK
(Kixx)
Commodore 64
UK
(Cassette) 		£10.9910.99[4]
Commodore 64
UK
(Kixx)
ZX Spectrum
ES
(Cassette)
ZX Spectrum
UK
(Cassette) 		£10.9910.99[4]
ZX Spectrum
UK
(Kixx)
For the Mega Drive game, see Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi.

This short article is in need of work. You can help Sega Retro by adding to it.

Shadow Dancer (シャドー・ダンサー), known as Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi on Master System covers, is an action platform game developed by Sega for the Sega System 18 arcade system in 1989. A port of the game was published by Sega for the Sega Master System, and ports to several home computers were published by U.S. Gold. Alongside The Revenge of Shinobi, this game was the first sequel to Shinobi.

A similar game titled Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi was released for the Sega Mega Drive, which features an entirely different set of levels.

Story

“ 忍法の修行に励む若者のもとには、忠実なる一頭の忍犬がいた。 一方、都市の中心では、テロ集団が暴虐の限りをつくし、 あろうことか街のいたる所に時限爆弾を仕掛け始めたのであった。 若き忍者とその相棒の忍犬は、仕掛けられたすべての爆弾を回収するとともに、テロ集団をあやつる悪の組織を壊滅するため、果敢にも行動を開始した。 „



“ The young Ninja battles together with his faithful pet dog. In the center of the city, a group of terrorists are committing known to man, including the planting of time bombs throughout the metropolis. Our youthful hero and his canine companion courageously set out to gather all the explosives placed by the evil gang and annihilate the syndicate that manipulates them. „


At the time of release, Shadow Dancer was not strictly affiliated with Shinobi in terms of plot, though the set-up is very similar to the original arcade game. The naming of the characters varies between home versions of the game, as do their motives.

Gameplay

Shadow Dancer expands on the gameplay seen in Shinobi, being a side-scrolling action game inspired by the likes of Namco's Rolling Thunder. The original game's moveset remains in-tact, however rather than saving children, the task is to defuse bombs. Most notably, Shadow Dancer adds an AI-controlled dog which can be used to take down enemies.

Versions

Master System version

Shadow Dancer on the Master System retains a lot of the arcade game's content, but simplifies the graphics and sound to better suit the hardware. Level layouts are slightly different, and the decision to use sprites similar in size to the arcade version means that fewer enemies can appear on screen at any one time. Sprite flicker is a common sight, and entire sections of levels are removed to save space.

The most striking omission in the Master System version of Shadow Dancer is the dog as an active character. When a valid target is onscreen, the player must crouch until a dog head-shaped meter at screen bottom fills up. When the meter is full, pressing attack will cause the dog to appear out of nowhere and occupy the enemy.

Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum versions

The Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum versions of Shadow Dancer share similar cutbacks and are likely based on the same code. Both versions opt for a more zoomed-in look than is perhaps ideal, introducing extra vertical scrolling. Music is nonexistent (save for the title screen if running on a 128kB Spectrum) and sound effects are limited. Both also omit some backgrounds, presumably to save space.

The Amstrad uses more colours but the Spectrum runs in a higher screen resolution.

Commodore 64 version

On the Commodore 64, Shadow Dancer has no in-game music. While the backgrounds are simplified considerably on the C64, an attempt was made to retain the parallax scrolling, which is missing in most home versions of the game.

Amiga and Atari ST versions

Images created the Amiga and Atari ST versions simultaneously, targeting the ST first and then porting the game's contents to the Amiga, where minor improvements would be added[5]. Sega did not give the team access to the game's source code, so sprites were copied from a video of the game and touched up in the Atari ST version of OCP Art Studio[5].

As was to be expected, the two versions are very similar, however the Atari ST omits the introduction sequence to save space. Parallax scrolling is missing in both versions, as are the intermission screens.

Production credits

System 18 version

Master System version

Graphic: Yatsute Miro, Gaga
Program: M.Wakayama
Sound: K.T.
Manual: May
Special: Hagi Chan, H.Sekiguchi

Amstrad CPC version

Coding: Dave Semmens
Graphics: Doug Townsley
Software House: Images

Magazine articles

Main article: Shadow Dancer/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

  • System 18 US flyer

  • System 18 JP flyer

  • Home computers IT print advert

Logo-pdf.svg
Home computers print advert in Computer & Video Games (UK) #115: "June 1991" (1991-05-11)
also published in:
Logo-pdf.svg

Physical scans

System 18 version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
73 №77, p91[7]
Arcade
 73
Based on
1 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
Arcade
 N/A
Based on
0 reviews

Shadow Dancer

System 18, US
ShadowDancer System18 US Marquee.jpg
ShadowDancer System18 US Bezel.jpg
Shadow Dancer System 18 US Manual.pdf
Manual
System 18, JP

Master System version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
71 №1, p154[8]
73 №4, p56/57[9]
78 №23, p160[10]
71 №16, p54/55[11]
84 №16, p74/75[12]
69 №5, p40[1]
62 №3, p56/57[13]
Sega Master System
 73
Based on
7 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
Consoles + (FR)
21
[14]
Console XS (UK) PAL
69
[15]
Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK) PAL
71
[8]
Gamers (DE) PAL
53
[16]
Hobby Consolas (ES) PAL
73
[17]
Joypad (FR)
89
[18]
Joystick (FR) PAL
78
[10]
Mega Force (FR) PAL
70
[19]
Mean Machines (UK) PAL
71
[11]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL
71
[20]
Player One (FR) PAL
84
[12]
Play Time (DE) PAL
19
[21]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
69
[1]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
69
[22]
Sega Force (UK) PAL
62
[13]
Video Games (DE)
27
[23]
Sega Master System
 62
Based on
16 reviews

Shadow Dancer

Master System, EU
ShadowDancer SMS EU cover.jpg
Cover
ShadowDancer SMS EU Cart.jpg
Cart
Master System, BR
ShadowDancer SMS BR cover.jpg
Cover
ShadowDancer SMS BR Cart.jpg
Cart
ShadowDancer SMS BR Manual.pdf
Manual
Master System, KR
ShadowDancer SMS KR cover.jpg
Cover
ShadowDancer SMS KR cart.jpg
Cart

Amiga version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
74 №45, p56[3]
63 №2, p82,84[24]
82 №9, p38[25]
90 №17, p192/193[26]
83 №73, p68/69[27]
Amiga
 78
Based on
5 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
ACE (UK)
74
[3]
Amiga Power (UK)
63
[24]
Aktueller Software Markt (DE)
40
[28]
Games-X (UK)
80
[29]
Joystick (FR)
90
[26]
Megazone (AU)
84
[30]
Power Play (DE)
68
[31]
Raze (UK)
82
[25]
Zzap!64 (UK)
83
[27]
Amiga
 74
Based on
9 reviews

Shadow Dancer

Amiga, UK

ShadowDancer Amiga UK Disk.jpg
Disk
Amiga, UK (Kixx)
ShadowDancer Amiga EU Box Back Kixx.jpgNospine-small.pngShadowDancer Amiga EU Box Front Kixx.jpg
Cover
ShadowDancer Amiga EU Disk Kixx.jpg
Disk
Amiga, ES

Amstrad CPC version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
85 №17, p192/193[26]
Amstrad CPC
 85
Based on
1 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
Joystick (FR)
85
[26]
Amstrad CPC
 85
Based on
1 review

Shadow Dancer

Amstrad CPC, UK (cassette)

Amstrad CPC, UK (disk)

Amstrad CPC, UK (Kixx)
ShadowDancer CPC UK Box Kixx.jpg
Cover
Amstrad CPC, ES (cassette)

Amstrad CPC, ES (disk)

Atari ST version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
85 №17, p192/193[26]
Atari ST
 85
Based on
1 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
Aktueller Software Markt (DE)
37
[28]
Games-X (UK)
100
[32]
Joystick (FR)
85
[26]
ST Action (UK)
78
[33]
ST Format (UK)
67
[34]
Atari ST
 73
Based on
5 reviews

Shadow Dancer

Atari ST, UK

Commodore 64 version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
89 №7, p36/37[35]
83 №73, p68/69[27]
83 №56, p26/27[36]
Commodore 64
 85
Based on
3 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
Aktueller Software Markt (DE)
28
[28]
Commodore Force (UK)
82
[37]
Commodore Format (UK)
89
[35]
Power Play (DE)
46
[31]
Zzap!64 (UK)
83
[27]
Zzap! (IT)
83
[36]
Commodore 64
 69
Based on
6 reviews

Shadow Dancer

Commodore 64, UK

Commodore 64, UK (Kixx)

ZX Spectrum version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
85 №113, p14/15[38]
ZX Spectrum
 85
Based on
1 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
Games-X (UK)
100
[39]
Sinclair User (UK)
85
[38]
ZX Spectrum
 93
Based on
2 reviews

Shadow Dancer

ZX Spectrum, UK

ZX Spectrum, UK (Kixx)
ShadowDancer Spectrum UK Box Kixx.jpg
Cover
ZX Spectrum, ES

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 File:SegaPro UK 05.pdf, page 40 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:SegaPro UK 05.pdf_p40" defined multiple times with different content
  2. ↑ File:AcaoGames BR 001.pdf, page 8
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 File:ACE UK 45.pdf, page 56 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:ACE UK 45.pdf_p56" defined multiple times with different content
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 File:CVG UK 110.pdf, page 155
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 File:CUAmiga UK 011.pdf, page 35
  6. ↑ Computer & Video Games, "July 1991" (UK; 1991-06-15), page 70
  7. ↑ File:CommodoreUser UK 77.pdf, page 91
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, Virgin Books, page 154 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachinesEssentialSegaGuide Book UK.pdf_p154" defined multiple times with different content
  9. ↑ File:HobbyConsolas ES 004.pdf, page 48
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 File:Joystick FR 023.pdf, page 160 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Joystick FR 023.pdf_p160" defined multiple times with different content
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 File:MeanMachines UK 16.pdf, page 54 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachines UK 16.pdf_p54" defined multiple times with different content
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 File:PlayerOne FR 016.pdf, page 74 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:PlayerOne FR 016.pdf_p74" defined multiple times with different content
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 File:SegaForce UK 03.pdf, page 56 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:SegaForce UK 03.pdf_p56" defined multiple times with different content
  14. ↑ Consoles +, "Janvier 1992" (FR; 199x-xx-xx), page 114
  15. ↑ Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 144
  16. ↑ Gamers, "Februar/März 1992" (DE; 1992-xx-xx), page 43
  17. ↑ Hobby Consolas, "Enero 1992" (ES; 199x-xx-xx), page 56
  18. ↑ Joypad, "Janvier 1992" (FR; 1991-12-1x), page 46
  19. ↑ Mega Force, "Novembre 1991" (FR; 1991-11-19), page 79
  20. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 136
  21. ↑ Play Time, "3/92" (DE; 1992-02-05), page 93
  22. ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 72
  23. ↑ Video Games, "1/92" (DE; 1992-02-03), page 35
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 File:AmigaPower UK 02.pdf, page 82 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:AmigaPower UK 02.pdf_p82" defined multiple times with different content
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 File:Raze UK 09.pdf, page 38 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Raze UK 09.pdf_p38" defined multiple times with different content
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 26.4 26.5 File:Joystick FR 017.pdf, page 192 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Joystick FR 017.pdf_p192" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Joystick FR 017.pdf_p192" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Joystick FR 017.pdf_p192" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Joystick FR 017.pdf_p192" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Joystick FR 017.pdf_p192" defined multiple times with different content
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 File:Zzap64 UK 073.pdf, page 68 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Zzap64 UK 073.pdf_p68" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Zzap64 UK 073.pdf_p68" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Zzap64 UK 073.pdf_p68" defined multiple times with different content
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 Aktueller Software Markt, "August/September 1991" (DE; 1991-07-26), page 58
  29. ↑ Games-X, "3rd May 1991" (UK; 1991-04-26), page 16
  30. ↑ Megazone, "August/September 1991" (AU; 1991-xx-xx), page 50
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Power Play, "8/91" (DE; 1991-07-1x), page 39
  32. ↑ Games-X, "7th-13th June 1991" (UK; 1991-06-07), page 22
  33. ↑ ST Action, "June 1991" (UK; 1991-05-xx), page 74
  34. ↑ ST Format, "August 1991" (UK; 1991-07-11), page 64
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 File:CommodoreFormat UK 07.pdf, page 36 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:CommodoreFormat UK 07.pdf_p36" defined multiple times with different content
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 File:Zzap IT 56.pdf, page 26 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Zzap IT 56.pdf_p26" defined multiple times with different content
  37. ↑ Commodore Force, "August 1993" (UK; 1993-06-24), page 20
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 File:SinclairUser UK 113.pdf, page 14 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:SinclairUser UK 113.pdf_p14" defined multiple times with different content
  39. ↑ Games-X, "8th-14th August 1991" (UK; 1991-08-08), page 35



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)
Retrieved from "https://segaretro.org/index.php?title=Shadow_Dancer&oldid=397805"