"Live by the blade, die with honor."

Shinobi III is the best ninja game I've ever played. I enjoyed playing it immensely and so will you. Basically, you are a ninja who throws knives at other ninjas and if you get close to them you slash them with your sword. Sound fun? I'll let you decide.

Graphics - 9.5/10
The graphics in Shinobi III are very good. No 3d or anything, classic 2d sidescrolling fun. Character sprites are nice and detailed, background is nice and colorful, and the effects are pretty cool. When you hit someone with your sword a blood spray comes out, and this is my only gripe with the graphics. No, I'm not protesting blood, it is just that their is not enough blood coming out of the soon-to-be corpse! Oh well, I can live with it.

Sound - 8/10
I pay very little attention to sound when I play games, unless the sound is very bad. Luckily, Shinobi III's sound is not bad. The sound effects are all in the right places and don't sound corny. That's about all I can say about the sound of this awesome game.

Gameplay - 10
This is where the game really shines. You either throw throwing knives at enemy ninjas, or slice them with your katana. Plus, if you tap forward twice, your character will run very fast and while running, if you press the attack button, you will do a forward lunging swipe attack. Sounds simple, but it is really fun. The controls are tight, so you can't blame bad controls when you kill your own dumb self. The levels are not short, but not very long either. No problems there. Bosses are pretty clever also.

Story - NONE
Sadly, this great games is one of the games that doesn't have a story. Well, it might have one in the instruction manual, but I don't have one. No cut-scenes or anything. No dialogue. No one line phrases before and after you kill a boss. That certainly is a down, but thanks to the stellar gameplay, you won't really care.

All in all, this game gets a 9.5. Loved every second I spent with it, and I know you will too. This is one of the Sega's best games, so if you haven't played it yet, you're missing out big time.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/10/04