Shinobi

aka: SEGA AGES: Shinobi
Moby ID: 1884
Arcade Specs
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Description official descriptions

You control a shinobi, Joe Musashi, who must battle his way through each level in search of hostages which must be rescued. You have shurikens, kicks and punches to defend yourself with, as well as powerful ninja magic which can clear the screen of enemies in one go.

Each level is broken down into smaller scenes, and hostages are guarded by big blokes who throw swords. Watch out for gun-toting enemy henchmen and ninjas.

Reaching the end of each level will find you battling it out with a boss. These range from 8ft tall giants to helicopter gunships.

Spellings

  • 忍 - Japanese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (Arcade version)

12 People (10 developers, 2 thanks)

Staff
  • Sugachan 26
  • Wagamama Kenchi
  • Topi
  • Gyofunori
  • Hanachan
  • Super Haggar
  • Fanta JiJii
  • Yamiagari
  • Shinjuku Otoko
Special Thanks
  • Pachinker Uke
  • Ponchan 25
Music Composer

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 74% (based on 55 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 133 ratings with 7 reviews)

One of the classic platformers, classic arcade game

The Good
So Namco's Rolling Thunder was released in late '86 and introduced the "leap up/drop down" platforming idea, used in Shinobi a year later. You played a spy in Rolling Thunder and play an unmasked ninja in Shinobi and can slip behind enemies and their defenses and beat them. I think Shinobi is an improvement, better background graphics, enemies and bosses and you have short range attacks as well as long, but like Rolling Thunder, the game plays quite fairly, your ninja is quite fast and maneuverable. The game has good, Japanese-rock, background music.

The Bad
I can't think of anything specific, but the game certainly isn't perfect. I can't complain too much about how hard the game becomes later, when so many other games are tough right from the start.

The Bottom Line
A classic arcade platformer, with interesting gameplay, introducing or at least building on some ideas.

Arcade · by Andrew Fisher (697) · 2018

P-E-R-F-E-C-T-I-O-N-!

The Good
Better than the original arcade version because of the PC Engine's controller. Graphically equal, more so than any other home version of this game. Very smooth, like the arcade, sounds great, music's great, and is on a HuCard, so can be played on the go in the TurboExpress.

The Bad
A tad harder than it should be, and some cheap hits happen. Kind of clunky, though that could be the voltage difference between Japan and the US for AC adapters.

The Bottom Line
Take this HuCard, build some adapters to use the NES Advantage joysticks, go get some arcade cabinet instructions and build an arcade machine around this game. It's that perfect.

TurboGrafx-16 · by Fake Spam (85) · 2008

A colorful and challenging title featuring abundant ninjas

The Good
Shinobi is old-school. No one in their right mind would play it today for more than five minutes, but back in the late-80s this was solid gold. I remember spending damn-near $100 on the cartridge when I was around ten, which was about all the money I would get for an entire year!

It's got evocative music (though constrained by the Master System's primitive audio system), well-designed levels, very interesting bosses, a variety of different challenges, as well as some very cool weapons.

The Bad
It's a rather difficult game and I'm quite sure than I never beat it without using the level select cheat.

Apart from that its only real flaw is that it was made in the 80s, so it's quite primitive by today's standards.

The Bottom Line
A fun little game, quite addictive (at least it was), intriguing ambiance, and quite challenging.

SEGA Master System · by Chris Wright (85) · 2013

[ View all 7 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Arcade to SMS port has a couple of 'RPG' or let's say home gaming, long-term play touches that make it a bit more than a weaker port of the original. Andrew Fisher (697) Jan 31, 2024

Trivia

1001 Video Games

The Arcade version of Shinobi appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Arcade Version

In comparison to the original arcade version, there are a few missing features in the TurboGrafx-16 version (the status of the other home conversions is unknown): the machine gun, the bonus round and a few enemies (including the boss of the second mission).

Hidden messages

The Amiga version contains this message to crackers, hidden within the game code:

Fuck me! I never thought you would do it!! Bet it took a long time though!

By the way, the only way to crack this game is if you have at least 4mb of fast ram... theres a hint! Are you enjoying this, by the way? Me (Richard Aplin) and Tim (the programmer) thought we might give you a little challange... I reckon I'll hold you off for about a week. Oh, by the way Quartex, you told me at the SAE party this would be EASY.. Well is it? I'm sure POPULOUS was easy too! (hehe)

Well, obviously you weren't fooled earlier!! I'm impressed! Not a bad bit of hacking.. but the best is yet to come!! Hehehehehe.. Just wait, cos now it gets REALLY good..

If you are reading this message on a pirated version of Shinobi, may all your days in prison be computerless!

Title

Shinobi in Japanese means: stealing (into); spy; sneak thief; surreptitious visit to house of ill repute. The Chinese character displayed on the title screen and throughout the game is the character for Shinobi in Japanese.

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Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 1884
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Macintrash.

Wii added by sgtcook. NES, SEGA Master System added by PCGamer77. Nintendo Switch added by Kam1Kaz3NL77. Atari ST, ZX Spectrum added by Martin Smith. Arcade added by Pseudo_Intellectual. MSX added by Игги Друге. Xbox 360 added by Ben K. Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Amiga, TurboGrafx-16 added by Katakis | カタキス.

Additional contributors: Katakis | カタキス, chirinea, Игги Друге, Cantillon, Patrick Bregger, Thomas Thompson, Jo ST, FatherJack.

Game added July 4, 2000. Last modified March 27, 2024.