Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master

"Legendary"

Shinobi III is totally awesome. You want to hear how I know this? I still remember the day I got my hands on a copy of Shinobi for PS2. It was a great game in its own right, but I couldn't help but feel disappointed. Even if Hotsuma's adventures in a futuristic Tokyo provided lots of challenge, platforming, and demons to just slice the hell out of, it just didn't deliver the goods as well as the third game. I kept remembering all the fun I had taking control of the all-powerful Joe Musashi, using devastating ninja magic, and running through some of the sickest stages I've ever seen. Shinobi III is simply one of the most badass action games you're going to find on the Genesis. Look no further, boy. This is the experience you've been searching for.

Joe Musashi is a one man killing machine. Armed only with his katana and a few hundred shurikens, he can go through each level of peons with little effort. From afar, keep tossing those shurikens to take down heavily armed guards, enemy ninjas, or gigantic armored samurai. But if you close in for the kill, Joe will automatically unsheathe his blade for a quick slice to the neck. There are other more complicated combat abilities too. He can jump into the air and come screaming down with a kick to the head or instead spray the field with a downpour of shurikens. With a fierce battle cry, you can also cast powerful (yet severely rare) ninja magic that's perfect for those pesky boss fights. Your foes will be cowering in fear when they see you protected by an armor of lightning or when you summon a band of flame dragons to do your bidding.

But none of these compare to Joe's flaming shurikens of JUSTICE! Throughout each level you'll find crates that are just sitting their minding their own business. Smash them open you'll usually find helpful items such as refills on shurikens, health, or the mysterious POW. After becoming instilled with this ancient Japanese power, you can begin hurling shurikens enveloped by flame and ash to bring down the strongest foes in a mere hit. But be careful, young ninja. Should you be hit, your power will be drained and forever gone until you once again stumble upon the needed item.

Luckily killing isn't Joe's only talent. Thanks to years of hardcore ninja training (unfortunately not with a steroid chugging, nunchuck wielding old guy or a busty kunoichi with lavender hair), Joe is able to execute tons of different platforming techniques ranging from the essential double-jump (no ninja is complete without one!) to jump-kicking off of walls. He can even grab onto pipelines and make his way across or cling to the ceiling while fending off flying monstrosities. And thankfully controlling Joe is just as easy as it sounds.

But our boy Joe isn't the reason why thousands of SEGA fans are proud to have Shinobi III in their collection along side such classics as Arcus Odyssey or Contra: Hard Corps. We adore this simple black cartridge for the fast-paced and mind-blowing levels - those beautiful, beautiful stages involving so much action, platforming, and kick ass atmosphere. Right from the beginning you know this title is going to leave you on the floor gagging from machismo-overdose. The game throws you right into a forest filled with enemy ninjas, katana wielding babes, and men with buckets on their heads (!?). After leaving these baddies in a pool of blood, Joe moves on to a vast cavern to face some mean looking samurai with a present for you - the tip of their blades right under your nose! He'll move farther into the cavern until he finds a chamber filled with immense waterfalls hiding shuriken throwing ninjas and pits of spikes. Finally he meets up with the boss Zeed, who just so happens to be holding quite a few pieces of cutlery with your name on them. The whole time you're killing to an upbeat Japanese tune filled with great percussion and just right amount of “twang.”

And that's just the first level. Every other stage is distinct yet just as cool thanks to some of the most colorful graphics seen on the Genesis. You'll ride on horseback taking on ninjas on kites only to end up in a high-tech facility equipped with an electronic brain that shoots lightning. Soon after Joe will be knee deep in biological terror while he avoids goop-throwing slime beasts and winged parasitic brains. My favorite stage puts Joe on a NINJA SURFBOARD among a drowned city before he takes on a massive robot equipped with machineguns, lasers, and an armory of explosives. Oh man, there's even a stage where the entire time you're falling down a deep chasm! You'll have to use every ounce of your strength just to dart from crumbling rock to crumbling rock to prevent our hero from becoming a ninja pancake. And it all ends with an enjoyably lengthy gauntlet of platforming in The Final Confrontation.

Wait, hold on a second! Zeed isn't the only member of The We Hate Joe Musashi Club, and his buddies are waiting for you in every level. You'll face such evil as a gigantic head of fecal matter (or . . . something) that claws at you with its repulsive hand before vomiting a solid white beam of energy, a robotic dragon that covers the screen with his fiery breath, or one ugly geisha that just loves Joe . . . . TO DEATH!

While some may think the stages and boss are enough, to say the music doesn't help this experience a great deal would be a disservice to the honorable gents that made it. Shinobi III is a true testament to the fact that the Genesis soundchip was NOT crap as Nintendo Power liked to kid themselves. The soundtrack just tells you this is an awesome game. The music's fast-tempo, constant percussion, and classic Japanese-sounding instruments work wonderfully together to pump you up for the action and let this be one smooth ride of fun.

Shinobi III is simply awesome. The amazing atmosphere, the rocking soundtrack, and the absolute power of Joe Musashi make it one incredible Genesis title worth hunting down. Despite it being a little on the easy side, I can't stop myself from wanting to hook up my old Genesis and give this classic a whirl once again. I just can't get enough of it - that feeling you get when you've just made waste to entire room of ninjas with style.

Man, I love this game.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 02/10/05