Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi
From Sega Retro
Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Sega Mega-Tech, Virtual Console, Steam | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Publisher: Sega | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Developer: Sega R&D 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sound driver: SMPS 68000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Genre: Action | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Number of players: 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi (シャドーダンサー ザ・シークレット・オブ・シノビ) is a game created in 1990 for the Sega Mega Drive by Sega. Though it shares a similar name and premise, the Mega Drive version of the game is very different to the original Shadow Dancer for the arcade, Master System and home computers.
Contents
Story
“ |
A.D 1997, New York City Having vanquished the evil crime empire Neo Zeed, Shinobi was not heard from again. His combat ninja skills were not needed in a peaceful world. But a new threat arose. In a reptilian form that lived on vicious instinct alone. The colossal monster moved slowly and quietly, and its attack was relentless. The souls unfortunate enough to live became 'hostages' mass panic swept the streets. It remained only for Shinobi to take action. The ninja of the shadows. His weapons were stealth and quickness of attack. His only allies when facing over whelming force. Relying on ninja weapons and magic, Shinobi fought on. Assisted by his faithful dog. This is the story of their defiance.. |
„ |
The story according to the US manual adds extra detail that Joe Musashi (following the events of The Revenge of Shinobi) decided to visit his student, Kato in New York. Shortly after Joe left, Kato learned of the Union Lizard's takeover of an elementary school, in which he decided to assist in the rescuing of the hostages. However, Kato was fatally wounded by a subordinate of Union Lizard, and when Joe raced back in to the US, it was too late - Kato died from his wounds. After this, Joe swore to Kato's mother that he and Yamato (Kato's pet dog) would avenge Kato.
The Japanese version of the backstory differs from the overseas releases, in which the protagonist is not Joe Musashi, but his estranged son Hayate, who was born in 1977 and raised in the United States after being separated from his true parents. Kato (whose full name is Dick C. Kato) was Hayate's foster father in this version and the man who trained him in the ways of ninjutsu. This backstory implies that the events of The Super Shinobi took place sometime before 1977, although there's nothing in the original game to suggest this was meant to be the case.
Gameplay
Controls are virtually identical to other Shinobi games: performs a ninjutsu move,
attacks, and
jumps. Ninjutsu is NOT selected from the pause menu like with other games. Holding
charges the attack of a companion attack dog (charge meter shown at the bottom of the screen; releasing
makes dog charge forward onto enemy to temporary hold him up. Control layout can be changed in option menu.
Tips and tricks
- Changing the difficulty level has a big influence on enemy placements and their number. (unlike the other two Shinobi games on the system, where only health, lives etc. are reduced) Bosses remain unchanged aside from a boost in health.
- The game has a few secret score opportunities e.g. defeating a boss with only one second on the timer remaining (using Ninjutsu) gives a big score bonus. Not using shurikens and Ninjitsu during the pre-boss sections also gives a score bonus.
- Stage 5 is the only stage without a time limit. One can exploit the respawning Ninjas in room 4 and 5 to accumulate infinite score. Whether this is by design or an oversight isn't clear. However, the fact that this makes all other score techniques obsolete strongly hints at an oversight.
Rounds
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Burning Downtown |
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Battle on the Bridge |
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Statue of Liberty |
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In the Darkness |
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Union Lizard |
History
The game is available as part of the Wii's Virtual Console service.
The game was was banned from sale in Germany[15], and still classified to be unsuitable for younger audiences in Germany. Therefore it's missing from the Sega Mega Drive Collection in PAL regions.
Versions
There are no known differences (the Japanese release also displays English text), same ROM is used for all regions. Only music is optimized for PAL system, the gameplay is slower than intended.
Production credits
- Program: Takubon, Kazu.K
- Character Design: Hiro.K
- Graphic Design: Phenix Rie
- Assistant Graphic Design: Rew
- Game Design: Mu
- Music Composer: Tsukachan
- Supervisor: Kankan, Tantan, Hayhay
- Test Player: Judy Totoya, Kyamura, Proto‑2
- Thanks to: Arcade 'Shadow Dancer' Staff and Arcade 'Shinobi' Staff
- and ... Special Thanks to: All Players
- Japanese cover artist: Jun Satoh
Digital manuals
Magazine articles
- Main article: Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi/Magazine articles.
Promotional material
Artwork
Physical scans
Mega Drive version
76 | |
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Based on 38 reviews |
Mega Drive, US (Sega Classic) |
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Mega Drive, AU |
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Mega Drive, BR (cardboard) |
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Mega-Tech version
Technical information
ROM dump status
System | Hash | Size | Build Date | Source | Comments | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
? |
|
1990-10-02 | Page |
External links
- Sega of Japan Virtual Console pages: Mega Drive
- Nintendo catalogue pages: US
- Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi on Steam
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Electronic Gaming Monthly, "April 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 20
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, "February 1991" (US; 1991-0x-xx), page 44
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 ACE, "February 1991" (UK; 1991-01-08), page 68
- ↑ Ação Games, "Maio 1991" (BR; 1991-05-21), page 8
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 http://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/u44QhunUW7oGLY02HorOacEG6EJWz7m8 (Wayback Machine: 2010-11-22 22:47)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 http://www.nintendolife.com/games/megadrive/shadow_dancer_the_secret_of_shinobi (Wayback Machine: 2017-07-04 14:04)
- ↑ https://archive.is/qJee8
- ↑ https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/vc/software/01.html (Wayback Machine: 2017-11-23 05:03)
- ↑ http://vc.sega.jp:80/vc_shadow/ (Wayback Machine: 2007-02-09 19:34)
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 https://steamdb.info/app/34282/ (Wayback Machine: 2019-11-12 21:32)
- ↑ http://steamdb.info/app/34282/ (Wayback Machine: 2016-07-30 04:19)
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 http://steamdb.info/app/34282/ (Wayback Machine: 2013-05-22 19:29)
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 13.7 https://steamdb.info/app/34282/history/?changeid=5755303
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 14.6 14.7 http://steamdb.info/app/34282/ (Wayback Machine: 2019-11-12 21:32)
- ↑ File:MD UK Box Back SonicEASDH Alt.jpg
- ↑ Sega TV Game Genga Gallery, Graphic Sha, page 86
- ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "December 1990" (JP; 1990-11-08), page 26 (28)
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 87
- ↑ Computer & Video Games, "February 1991" (UK; 1991-01-16), page 76
- ↑ Computer + Video Giochi, "Marzo 1991" (IT; 1991-xx-xx), page 44
- ↑ GamePro, "March 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 54/55 (70)
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 The Games Machine, "Febbraio 1991" (IT; 1991-xx-xx), page 71
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Génération 4, "Février 1991" (FR; 1991-xx-xx), page 96
- ↑ Hobby Consolas, "Diciembre 1991" (ES; 1991-1x-xx), page 94 (86)
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Joystick, "Janvier 1991" (FR; 199x-xx-xx), page 122
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "September 1992" (UK; 1992-xx-xx), page 81
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 MegaTech, "Xmas 1991" (UK; 1991-12-06), page 80
- ↑ Player One, "Juin 1991" (FR; 1991-xx-xx), page 26/27 (26)
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 Power Play, "3/91" (DE; 1991-02-15), page 139
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 Raze, "July 1991" (UK; 1991-05-30), page 38
- ↑ Sega Power, "May 1991" (UK; 1991-04-04), page 32/33 (32)
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 54
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 Sega Pro, "April 1992" (UK; 1992-03-19), page 28
- ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 202
- ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "December 1990" (JP; 1990-11-08), page 28
- ↑ The Complete Guide to Sega, "" (UK; 1991-05-xx), page 108
- ↑ Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 133
- ↑ Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 184
- ↑ Computer & Video Games, "February 1991" (UK; 1991-01-16), page 44
- ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 356
- ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 10, "" (RU; 2003-10-08), page 155
- ↑ Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 86
- ↑ Famitsu, "" (JP; 1990-1x-xx), page 1
- ↑ GamePro, "March 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 70
- ↑ Hippon Super, "January 1991" (JP; 1990-12-04), page 40
- ↑ Hobby Consolas, "Diciembre 1991" (ES; 1991-1x-xx), page 86
- ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 94
- ↑ Mega Drive Fan, "February 1991" (JP; 1991-01-08), page 83
- ↑ Mega Play, "March/April 1991" (US; 1991-04-xx), page 42
- ↑ Micromanía (segunda época), "Septiembre 1991" (ES; 1991-0x-xx), page 27
- ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 140
- ↑ Player One, "Juin 1991" (FR; 1991-xx-xx), page 26
- ↑ Sega Power, "May 1991" (UK; 1991-04-04), page 32
- ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 67
- ↑ Tilt, "Février 1991" (FR; 1991-0x-xx), page 54
- ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 153
- ↑ Video Games, "1/91" (DE; 1991-03-27), page 83
- ↑ Zero, "April 1991" (UK; 1991-0x-xx), page 88
Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi | |
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Main page | Comparisons | Maps | Credits | Hidden content | Development | Magazine articles | Reception | Region coding | Technical information | Bootlegs
Prototypes: 1990-10-02
|
Games in the Shinobi series | |
---|---|
Shinobi (1987) | Shadow Dancer (1989) | |
Shinobi (1988) | The Cyber Shinobi (1990) | Shadow Dancer (1991) | |
Shinobi (1989) | |
The Revenge of Shinobi (1989) | Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi (1990) | Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (1993) | |
The GG Shinobi (1991) | The GG Shinobi II: The Silent Fury (1992) | |
Shinobi Legions (1995) | |
The Revenge of Shinobi (2002) | |
Shinobi (2002) | Nightshade (2003) | |
Shinobi 3D (2011) | 3D Shinobi III (2013) | |
Sega Ages Shinobi (2019) | |
Shinobi related media | |
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) | |
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) |
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