Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master

"Every Night, I Thank God for This Game"

I have been a very big Ninja fanatic for some time, and I first got The Revenge of Shinobi for GameBoy Advance. Not a bad game. Pretty good, actually. But it pales in the face of its predecessor: Shinobi 3: Return of the Ninja Master. And THAT is a very good face indeed!

Sound 10/10
I actually enjoy some of the music that is presented here. The first few songs are really good, heck, most of 'em are, but some of them, well, they get on your nerves. The FX are pretty awesome, too. The sound of your Kunai (They call them shuriken, but shuriken are stars. Your tools in the game are a type of knife that can be used in close combat or for throwing, and are called Kunai.) hitting a wall and clanging off are pretty good. It's all a lot of fun.

Graphics 9/10
As with most games I review, this is a pretty old game. Genesis, duh. They won't be winning any awards, but they are pretty good. Musashi (Or Shinobi) is very well drawn, his sword is well made, and his Kunai look awesome too. Enemy ninja look pretty awesome, too, and some of the bosses are enough to make your knees shake. Seriously. Some of those guys are FREAKY.

Gameplay 10/10
Ahh... The golden age of the 90's when a lot of ninja games were abound. Samurai Shodown, Shinobi I, II, and III, and a whole mess of others. This game is the top dog. The controls are very responsive. In fact, the only problem that I have with this is the fact that timing double jumps can be hard, because it need to be at the very peak of your first jump. Other than that, flawless control. And the game is loads of fun. There are about 7 levels, and that may not sound like much, but there's a lot of playing to be done in each level. The challenge of this game can vary a lot. The first few levels are pretty easy, but that last one, YEESH! All the electrified walls and such. They are... I think 5 Ninjitsu you can do, give or take 1 or 2. There's a lightning shield, which is REALLY handy for boss fights, and then there's like, 4 or 5 others which I haven't used. Haha... I just forget to switch between them.

Buy or Rent?
Well, it's pretty hard to find nowadays, I would just get an emulator and download it. Assuming you legally, at some time, owned it. Otherwise, if you have a genesis, this is one of the few games for it that just shine like no other. Get it. Play it. Love it.

Final Score: 10/10*

*I'd give it more if I could.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/31/06