Games of the Abstract: Shinobi III - Return of the Ninja Master (1993)

 

Developer: Sega

Publisher: Sega

One Player

Sega Mega Drive / Genesis

 

Credit where it is due, with Shinobi III growing in worth over me in multiple plays, I admired it already in mind to its history. The story goes that, allowing videogame magazines to preview Shinobi III, Sega found the reviews lukewarm for their expectations, so they took back the game and made it better, trying again and with success¹. Whilst the game does have its difficult spikes, like a final level which involves negotiating around electrical currents, Shinobi III does feel like Sega flexing with the Mega Drive, more so as it feels artistically positive, in a way that seems alien to the industry as a business, to deliberately halt a realize to improve a title than merely release it.

One comparison worth suggesting in how, like Treasure, the legendary developer of Gunstar Heroes (1993) from this era alongside later cult hits, there was an emphasis on making this game “cinematic” in style, with set pieces and events like boss battles being as much events to play through. This proves a virtue in this follow up in the Shinobi series, following Joe Musashi in his quest to end a returning Neo Zeed, the evil organization defeated in the previous game, as the game is steeped in this idea of memorable set pieces which are there more for cinematic spectacle in sprite form, especially in the earlier levels. You have a ninja surfing at one point, one of two scrolling scenes alongside riding a horse, which pretty much shows how of the period of the nineteen nineties this was in feeling like a cartoon in tone, but alongside the regular game play of Musashi going through levels, jumping hazards, slashing villains or throwing shruiken at them, there is an emphasis on set pieces with this particular game which is also matched by its high production quality as a game.

Whilst the game is consistent and throwing new challenges, like a repeating maze in a traditional Japanese manor with platforming puzzles, it does feel like Sega put the best moments earlier on, but the consistency of the game helps it. Undeniably, the game looks sumptuous, the richness of the game’s graphical style knowing that, whilst released in 1988, the Mega Drive/Genesis had such help in developers learning and improving with the technology over time. Knowing the circumstances as well, that Sega pulled the game, and remade the sequel in little time to make a better game, it is a huge compliment how the quality is still there, also applying to the score by Hirofumi Murasaki, Morihiko Akiyama and Masayuki Nagao. Arguably the high point is Level Three of the seven, very early on, when you are thrown into the main villains’ bio lab of horrifying mutant creations. It is a curious logic where, in the regular game play of Musashi going through levels, jumping hazards, slashing villains or throwing shuriken at them, Level One is in the woodlands, like a traditional chambara/ninja tale, Level Two has Musashi taking the battle to the villains at a military base, against their soldiers and robots, only to get into full scale body horror for Level Three. Expect blob critters exploding from glass tubs, a subterranean flesh pit with giant termites and arguably that which should be the game’s most memorable moment, a horrifying flesh monster as a boss, looking like a skinned man and the size of a building.

Gameplay wise, Shinobi 3 is as much an obstacle course as it is hack n slash, the enemies usually one hit to kill and more a hazard to negotiate alongside the platforming, which becomes more significant later on where you are literally negotiating obstacle courses, be they elevators lined with crawl spaces and mechanized defenses, or double jumping falling rocks to stay upward in a freefall. The double jump, important to this series, is a potentially contentious mechanic as, due to the precise nature of it, only achievable on top of the normal jump, it could lose of a lot of lives due to a lot of mistiming. Of great interest too, following on from the previous games, is Joe Musashi‘s access to a variety of magical abilities. One of the more idiosyncratic is literally sacrificing a life, by hara-kiri, for all your health bar back and damage to your enemy, which may seem an extreme idea to include, but turned out to be a fantastic exploit for the final boss, a perfect robotic simulacra of Musashi, especially if you can accumulate lives, as unlike the others it can be done more than once if you wish to take the risk.

Leaving the arcades, and reaching the 16 bit systems with a series of Mega Drive games, this series would continue with Shinobi X (1995), a maligned but still good Sega Saturn follow up with digitized actors that I wish was more readily available; its aesthetic is contentious, but if you can accept it, it takes the gameplay of this game and adds far more, including a wider set of combat moves, which added so much more to an already solid production. Outside of the handheld consoles, this would be the last of the 2D games in this franchise, one which like many of this era emphasized short and challenging platforming and mowing through enemies, part of the Mega Drive flexing its prowess before the 32 bit console generation would take over. Shinobi III is absolutely a game worth viewing as, whilst history made the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog more valued intellectual properties for Sega financially, this shows the quality of Sega at their best in the home console side, including the knowledge as beginning this review they went as far as pay additional expenses to improve a game from the ground up they could have just released in their original form. In premise and style, it would have been a cheesy sci-fi action film, but the best kind that, within the context of video games, is a joy in terms of pure style. There is an inherent pleasure for those of any game skill if they can work with this game’s specific challenges in its aesthetic pleasures, be it barraging through supernatural samurai to fighting a mecha Godzilla monster as a boss, and whilst games thankfully exist recreating this in the modern day, these are the type I see the trademarks of a “Mega Drive” game in terms of stereotypes in a positive way.

 

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1) Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master/Development, from Sega Retro.