The Revenge of Shinobi/Comparisons

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Version comparisons

Title screen

RevengeOfShinobi title.png

Revision 00

RevengeOfShinobi title.png

Revision 01

RevengeofShinobi MD TitleScreen 02.png

Revision 02

RevengeofShinobi MD TitleScreen 03.png

Revision 03

RevengeofShinobi MD TitleScreen 04.png

Revision 04

Due to Sega's relaxed view on copyright law, there are no less than five different revisions of The Revenge of Shinobi. Aside from copyright information, the title screens happily showed a ninja with the face of Sonny Chiba until revision 04 (the version intended for the Wii's Virtual Console service in 2009), where he is now portrayed by M2 director Tsuyoshi Matsuoka.

Rambo

Revenge of Shinobi, Rambo REV00.png

Revision 00

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Revision 01

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Revision 02

Revenge of Shinobi, Rambo REV03.png

Revision 03

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Revision 04

These flamethrower enemies (called "Rocky" in the Japanese manual) resemble John Rambo in the revision 00 of the game.

Spider-Man

Revenge of Shinobi, Stage 6 Boss 1 REV00.png

Revision 00

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Revision 01

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Revision 02

Revenge of Shinobi, Stage 6 Boss 1 REV03.png

Revision 03

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Revision 04

Players fight Spider-Man as part of the boss of round 6. Unlike the others, Sega actually acquired a license to use the character starting with revision 01 (reportedly as a cross-promotion with Spider-Man: The Videogame. That license had expred by revision 04, wherein Spider-Man was recoloured pink.

The original Shinobi also included Spider-Man-like enemies without seeking permission from Marvel Comics.

Batman

Revenge of Shinobi, Stage 6 Boss 2 REV00.png

Revision 00

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Revision 01

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Revision 02

Revenge of Shinobi, Stage 6 Boss 2 REV03.png

Revision 03

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Revision 04

Upon beating Spider-Man, players have to fight Batman. Batman becomes Devilman in revision 01.

Godzilla

Revenge of Shinobi, Stage 7 Boss REV00.png

Revision 00

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Revision 01

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Revision 02

Revenge of Shinobi, Stage 7 Boss REV03.png

Revision 03

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Revision 04

Up until revision 03, players would fight (a much smaller) Godzilla as the boss of round 7. He was changed to a skeleton dinosaur with exposed organs, with his atomic breath becoming blue.

Other comparisons

KagenoGundanII TV JP PrintAdvert.jpg

Kage no Gundan II print advertisement

RoS MD JP Box.jpg

JP The Super Shinobi cover

The Japanese cover art (and indeed most title screens) of The Revenge of Shinobi lift this promotional image from the 1981 TV series, Kage no Gundan II (影の軍団II) starring Sonny Chiba. The image was originally made for the first season of Kage no Gundan, but it is believed Sega used this flipped and cropped version as a reference. Aside from not looking like Sonny Chiba, protagonist Joe Musashi wears white in-game.

References


The Revenge of Shinobi

RevengeOfShinobi title.png

Main page | Comparisons | Maps | Achievements | Downloadable content | Changelog | Credits | Hidden content | Development | Magazine articles | Video coverage | Reception | Promotional material | Region coding | Technical information | Bootlegs


Music: The Super Shinobi & Works (1989) | The Revenge of Shinobi (2016)
Sega Mega Drive
Prototypes: 1989-08-21 | 1990-02-01