Shinobi (video game)
From Free net encyclopedia
- For the PlayStation 2 game of the same name, see Shinobi. For an overview of the series, see Shinobi series
Template:Infobox Arcade Game Shinobi is an arcade game, developed and published by SEGA. It was originally released in 1987 and ported to numerous systems. The game spawned numerous sequels.
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Storyline
Shinobi is about a ninja named Joe Musashi who has to stop an evil group of men called "Zeed" who are kidnapping the children of the Oboro clan. Through five missions of increasing difficulty, Musashi must make his way to Zeed's headquarters and free all the hostages.
Gameplay
The five missions in the game are each three or four stages long. Anywhere from 2-9 hostages are being held in each stage; Joe must rescue all of them before he is allowed to finish the stage. The last stage in each mission has no hostages, but instead features a powerful boss character whom Joe must defeat. After completing each of the first four missions the player is taken to a bonus stage, where he can earn an extra life if he is able to kill all of the ninjas jumping towards him. Completing the fifth mission ends the game.
Joe's standard weapons are an unlimited supply of throwing stars, along with punches and kicks when attacking at close range. One hostage per stage gives him a power-up. When powered-up, his throwing stars are replaced by a gun that fires large, explosive bullets, and his close-range attack becomes a katana slash. Joe can also perform "ninja magic," which may be used only once per stage and kills (or damages, in the case of bosses) all enemies on the screen.
At the end of each stage, the player receives score bonuses based on performance. Completing the stage without using ninja magic earns the player a 5,000 point bonus (except during mission five), and completing the stage without using any throwing stars or bullets (just punches, kicks, sword slashes, and/or ninja magic) earns the player a 20,000 point bonus. The player has three minutes to complete each stage; remaining time at the end of the stage is also converted to bonus points and added to the player's score. Expert Shinobi players often challenged themselves to see how many stages they could pass with both the "no stars" and "no ninja magic" bonuses. It is possible to beat the game on one quarter in this way with a final score of over 700,000 points; the final score for someone who completes the game on one quarter without trying for those bonuses would be in the neighborhood of 250,000 points.
Ports
The game has been ported to other systems, including the Sega Master System and Nintendo Entertainment System game consoles, and the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amiga and Atari ST home computers.
 Atari ST port |
 NES port |
 Sega Master System port |
 Commodore 64 port |
Legacy
In 1989 Sega released a follow-up called The Revenge of Shinobi as one of the first titles for their new Sega Genesis / Sega Mega Drive game console. In Japan this game was called The Super Shinobi.
An arcade sequel called Shadow Dancer was also released in 1989. Shadow Dancer takes place 20 years after Shinobi and features Joe Musashi's son Hayate as main character.
Other Shinobi sequels also appeared for the Game Gear, Sega Megadrive/Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn, and, most recently, the PlayStation 2 in a new storyline involving a new character named Hotsuma.
Alex Kidd in Shinobi World is a parody of Shinobi with Sega mascot Alex Kidd as main character, released for the Sega Master System in 1990.
Trivia
- Marilyn Monroe's face appears on several posters in the game's second stage.
- One of the things that Shinobi games are known for is their extreme difficulty - Shinobi 3 being an exception to this rule.
- At least two other games in the series were released under the title Shinobi. The Game Gear Shinobi (also known as The GG Shinobi) in 1991 and a revamped, 3D version of Shinobi in 2002 for PlayStation 2