Wikipedia

Shinobi(1987 video game)

(Redirected fromShinobi (arcade game))
This article is about the first Shinobi game. For the PlayStation 2 game, seeShinobi (2002 video game).For the series, seeShinobi (series).

Shinobi(Nhẫn)is aside-scrollinghack and slashvideo game produced bySega,originally released forarcadeson theSega System 16board in 1987. The player controlsninjaJoe Musashi,to stop the Zeed terrorist organization from kidnapping students of his clan.

Shinobi
Arcade flyer
Developer(s)Sega AM1
Publisher(s)Sega
Director(s)Yutaka Sugano[7]
Composer(s)Yasuhiro Kawakami
SeriesShinobi
Platform(s)Arcade,Master System,Amiga,Amstrad CPC,Atari ST,Commodore 64,IBM PC,MSX,NES,PC Engine,ZX Spectrum,PlayStation 3,Wii,Xbox 360
Release
November 16, 1987
  • Arcade
  • Master System
    NES
    • NA:December 8, 1989
    PC Engine
    • JP:December 8, 1989
    IBM PC
    Virtual Console
    • JP:July 14, 2009
    • PAL:October 23, 2009
    • NA:December 7, 2009
    Xbox Live Arcade
    • NA:June 10, 2009
Genre(s)Hack and slash,platform
Mode(s)1-2 players alternating turns
Arcade systemSega System 16

Shinobiwas a commercial success in arcades; it topped the monthly Japanese table arcade charts in December 1987, and became a blockbuster arcade hit in the United States, where it was the highest-grossing conversion kit of 1988 and one of the top five conversion kits of 1989. It was adapted by Sega to itsMaster Systemgame console, followed by conversions to theNintendo Entertainment System,PC Engine,andhome computers.It was re-released as downloadable emulated versions of the original arcade game for theWiiandXbox 360.The arcade game joined theNintendo Switchin January 2020 through theSega Agesseries.Shinobi's success inspired various sequels and spin-offs of theShinobiseries.

Gameplay

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In Stage 2–1, Musashi confronts an enemy keeping a kidnapped child hostage.

The controls ofShinobiconsist of an eight-way joystick and three action buttons for attacking, jumping, and usingninjutsutechniques called "ninja magic". The player can walk, or perform a crouching walk by pressing the joystick diagonally downward. The player can jump to higher or lower floors by pressing the jump button while holding the joystick up or down. The protagonistJoe Musashi's standard weapons are an unlimited supply ofshurikens,and punches and kicks. Rescuing certain hostages in each stage will grant him an attack upgrade replacing throwing stars with a gun, and his close-range attack becomes akatanaslash. Musashi's ninjutsu techniques can only be used once per stage and will clear the screen of all enemies, or greatly damage a Boss. Depending on the stage, the three ninjutsu techniques are a thunderstorm, a tornado, and a doppelganger attack.

Enemies include punks, mercenaries, ninjas, and the Mongolian swordsmen guarding each hostage. Musashi can bump into most enemies without harm and can only be killed if he gets struck by an enemy's attack, gets hit by a projectile, or falls into a bottomless hole. Then, the stage restarts but retains any saved hostages. When the player runs out of lives, additional coins will continue the game except the final mission. The time limit is three minutes per stage and bonus points are awarded for time, with additional bonuses for refraining from ninjutsu technique (except on the fifth level) or using only melee attacks. Extra lives are awarded for achieving certain scores, completing the bonus round, or rescuing a special hostage.

Abonus roundhas a first-person perspective of throwing shurikens at incoming enemy ninjas, for an extra life.[8]

Plot

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A ninja named Joe Musashi must stop a criminal organization called Zeed from kidnapping the children of his ninja clan. Five missions consist of three stages in the first mission and four stages each in the rest, where Musashi approaches Zeed's headquarters and frees all the hostages in the first two or three stages with a Boss at the final stage of each mission. At the start of each mission, the player is shown the objective, with a file containing a photograph of the enemy Boss and a map display pinpointing the location of the next stage.

Ports

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Master System

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Sega convertedShinobito itsMaster Systemgame console. It was released in Japan on June 19, 1988, and in North America and Europe. Some of the play mechanics were altered. Instead of one-hit kills, the player now has a health gauge before losing a life. Hostage rescue is now an optional task but provides upgrades to the close and long-range weapons, and restores or expands the health gauge. Rescuing certain hostages is a requirement to access the game's bonus stages, which now occur after the regular stages instead of each Boss fight. Bonus rounds provide the ninjutsu skills.

In October 1993,Atari Corporationfiled alawsuitagainst Sega for an alleged infringement of apatentoriginally created by Atari Corp. in the 1980s, and Atari sought apreliminary injunctionto stop manufacturing, usage, and sales of hardware and software for the Genesis andGame Gear.On September 28, 1994, both parties reached asettlementinvolving across-licensingagreement to publish up to five games each year across their systems until 2001. The Master System version is one of the first five games approved from the deal by Sega in order to be converted for theAtari Jaguar,but it was never released.[9][10]

Home computers

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In 1989, conversions ofShinobiwere released for theAmiga,Atari ST,Commodore 64,Amstrad CPC,andZX Spectrum.All five were developed byThe Sales Curveand published byVirgin Mastertronicin Europe and by Sega in North America except the Amstrad and Spectrum versions. An IBM PC version was developed by Micromosaics Inc. and released in North America by Sega.

PC Engine

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APC Engineversion was released exclusively inJapanbyAsmikon December 8, 1989. The graphics and play mechanics of the PC Engine version are similar to the arcade version's, but the close-range attacks and power-ups are missing and there are extra lives for points instead of bonus rounds. There is no life gauge, time limit, or Mission 2.

Nintendo Entertainment System

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TheNintendo Entertainment Systemversion ofShinobiwas released byTengenexclusively inNorth Americaas an unlicensed release in 1989. The play mechanics are based on the Master System's version, but without close-range weapons and grenades. All the vertical-scrolling stages (such as Mission 2-2 and Mission 3-2) were redesigned into horizontal-scrolling stages.

Wii and Xbox 360

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The arcade version was published on theWii'sVirtual ConsoleandXbox 360'sLive Arcadeservices, with slight graphical modifications due to licensing issues over one character's resemblance toSpider-Man.

Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection

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ShinobiisunlockableinSonic's Ultimate Genesis Collectionfor thePlayStation 3and Xbox 360 after the first round ofShinobi III: Return of the Ninja Masterwithout using a continue.

Reception

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In Japan,Game MachinelistedShinobiin its December 15, 1987, issue as the most successful table arcade unit of the month.[22]In the United States,Shinobibecame a blockbuster hit.[23]It became America's highest-grossing arcade conversion kit of 1988,[24]and again one of America's top five highest-grossing conversion kits of 1989.[25]

The arcade game received critical acclaim. Clare Edgeley ofComputer and Video Gamesnoted it as one of several popular "martial artssimulation "games atLondon'sAmusement Trades Exhibition International(ATEI) show in January 1988, along withTaito'sNinja WarriorsandData East'sVigilante;she said it plays similarly toNinja Warriors,but thatShinobialso has elements fromNamco'srun and gun video gameRolling Thunder(1986), introducesbonus stages,and is more challenging overall. She praised the "clean colourful graphics" with large "well defined" sprites, and the action gameplay for being fast-paced and challenging, concluding that the game is "well worth playing".[11]Nick Kelly ofCommodore Userrated it 8 out of 10, also noting similarities toRolling Thunderbut saidShinobilooks good, "plays brilliantly", and "combines several kinds ofshoot'emandbeat'em upaction in one well-thought-out, well-executed game. "[17]Sinclair Useralso compared it toRolling Thunderand other martial arts games, but considersShinobi"sufficiently different to be familiar without being boring."[16]Retrospectively,Black Beltmagazine in 2003 calledShinobi"one of the best martial arts arcade games of the 1980s".[26]

Sega's conversion for the Master System received critical acclaim.Computer and Video Gamespraised the "well defined" graphics, good sound, and "excellent" gameplay.[12]Computer Entertainerscored it a full 8 out of 8 stars, calling it "the best game with a martial arts theme that we've seen on a video game system."[18]It was awarded 4 out of 5 stars inDragon.[14]Classic Game Room's retrospective review reflected that the game is a classic, though less so than the 16-bit sequelThe Revenge of Shinobi.[27]

Zach Gass ofScreen RantincludedShinobiand its sequels in his list of ten "awesome" hack-and-slash games in 2020.[28]

Legacy

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According toDen of Geek,"Shinobiis arguably the most ‘important’ and influentialninja game,as well as kicking off the genre’s longest running franchise. "[29]

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Further information:Shinobi (series)

In 1989, Sega released a sequel calledThe Revenge of Shinobi(The Super Shinobiin Japan) as one of the first games for its newMega Drivegame console. An arcade sequel calledShadow Dancerwas also released in 1989.Shadow Dancerretains the original gameplay, adding a canine companion.

Other sequels were released for theGame Gear,Mega Drive/Genesis,Sega Saturn,thePlayStation 2,and theNintendo 3DS.Alex Kidd in Shinobi Worldis a parody ofShinobistarring former Sega mascotAlex Kidd,released for the Master System in 1990.

References

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  1. ^"Video Game Flyers: Shinobi, Sega (USA)".The Arcade Flyer Archive.RetrievedJune 7,2021.
  2. ^"Video Game Flyers: Shinobi, Sega (EU)".The Arcade Flyer Archive.RetrievedFebruary 27,2021.
  3. ^"Shinobi (Registration Number PA0000347209)".United States Copyright Office.RetrievedJune 7,2021.
  4. ^"Availability Update"(PDF).Computer Entertainer.October 1988. p. 8.
  5. ^"Software List (Released by Sega)".セガ chế phẩm tình báo サイト(in Japanese). Sega.RetrievedMay 15,2023.
  6. ^https://retrocdn.net/images/0/0a/BristolEveningPost_UK_1988-10-14_Page_81.jpg
  7. ^Legend of Joe Musashi: SHINOBI Music Collection(booklet). p. 7.
  8. ^Kalata, Kurt."Shinobi".Hardcore Gaming 101.RetrievedSeptember 10,2011.
  9. ^CRV (August 6, 2017)."Blog:Legal Brief: Atari vs. Sega".gdri.smspower.org.Archivedfrom the original on November 16, 2018.RetrievedNovember 15,2018.
  10. ^"Flashback: The Atari Jaguar Almost Got Shinobi, Streets of Rage, Wonder Boy and Other Sega Classics".April 26, 2023. Archived fromthe originalon May 24, 2024.
  11. ^ab"Arcade Action".Computer and Video Games.No. 77 (March 1988). February 1988. pp. 90–3.
  12. ^ab"Mean Machines: Shinobi".Computer and Video Games.No. 84 (October 1988). September 16, 1988. p. 119.
  13. ^"Complete Games Guide"(PDF).Computer and Video Games(Complete Guide to Consoles): 46–77. October 16, 1989.
  14. ^abLesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia & Lesser, Kirk (February 1993)."The Role of Computers".Dragon.No. 190. pp. 55–60.
  15. ^"Game Index"(PDF).Mean Machines Sega.No. 1 (October 1992). September 1992. p. 136.
  16. ^ab"Coin Ops".Sinclair User.No. 75 (June 1988). May 18, 1988. pp. 82–3.
  17. ^ab"Arcades: Shinobi".Commodore User.No. 54 (March 1988). February 26, 1988. p. 104.
  18. ^ab"SEGA Software".Computer Entertainer.Vol. 7, no. 10. January 1989. p. 12.
  19. ^"TheHard Line "(PDF).Sega Power.No. 23 (October 1991). September 5, 1991. p. 50.
  20. ^"Sega Software Showdown"(PDF).Sega Pro.No. 6 (April 1992). March 19, 1992. pp. 28–9.
  21. ^Game review, Computer & Video Games issue 93, August 1989, page 16
  22. ^"Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル hình TVゲーム cơ (Table Videos)".Game Machine(in Japanese). No. 322.Amusement Press, Inc.December 15, 1987. p. 25.
  23. ^"Đại tràng quy thắng 『ザ・スーバー nhẫn 』 ディレクター INTERVIEW"[Norikatsu Ohba – Director of "The Super Ninja" Interview].Sega(in Japanese). 2003.RetrievedDecember 21,2021.
  24. ^"Coin Machine: AMOA Jukebox, Games & Cig Vending Awards Winners".Cash Box.November 26, 1988. p. 30.
  25. ^"Coin Machine: AMOA Games Awards Nominees Announced".Cash Box.July 29, 1989. p. 25.
  26. ^"Shinobi".Black Belt.41(9). Active Interest Media, Inc.: 132 September 2003.
  27. ^"Classic Game Room HD - Shinobi for Sega Master System".Inecom Company. November 21, 2008.Archivedfrom the original on September 27, 2014.RetrievedApril 10,2013.
  28. ^Gass, Zach (May 11, 2020)."10 Awesome Hack and Slash Games That Aren't God of War".Screen Rant.RetrievedApril 11,2021.
  29. ^Lines, Craig (July 5, 2017)."The Best and Worst of '80s Ninja Video Games".Den of Geek.RetrievedMarch 11,2022.
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