User Reviews

After 'Revenge' the Shinobi games went downhill quite bit with the rather tepid Shadow Dancer. I know I'm not the only person in the world who was disappointed with the Genesis port because the arcade version (and even the Commodore 64 version) was so much better (and almost completely different).

Shinobi III goes back to the gameplay of 'Revenge' and gives us more of the same only with improved graphics (great stuff for a simple 16-bit Genesis) and different locations. A rather cool horseback and surfboard level is included too. We also get a new climbing ability, which is quite cool. And the bad guys still explode when you kill them, for some reason.

It starts out quite easy but gets rather hard towards the end. You'll be screaming with anger in the rockfall and aircraft levels. However, the bad guys still do nothing but wait for you to kill them and the worst thing for you is simply falling down bottomless pits.

Anyone who enjoyed 'Revenge' will no doubt get a kick out of Shinobi III.

Graphics A Sound B Gameplay B Lasting Appeal B-

Revenge of Shinobi was one of the greatest games on the Genesis/Mega Drive, Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master is just as good as that one. Shinobi III has a similar style to the previous game but it's been improved, the game is a lot faster since now Shinobi can run meaning quicker combat. Shinobi also has a few new abilities now, he can climb and hang on ceilings and jump off walls. Shinobi III also has levels where you ride on a horse and on a surfboard which gives the game a change of pace. There's also some familiar things like the power ups and special abilities.

Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master is a great Genesis/Mega Drive game and sequel to Revenge of Shinobi, fans of platform games/ retro games or Shinobi games should definitely check this out. 10/10

Maybe I'm a tad bit partial to this game, but in short...I grew up on it. I have been playing this game since I was about 7...But I did not own it, I was only able to play it when I was at my cousin's house (frequently). After Genesis stopped being such a big thing, Shinobi was lost to me forever...or so I thought. I missed my NES and Genesis experiences, so over the course of a few months I re-purchased as many of my old systems and games as I could find. I actually was able to get the original copy of Shinobi that my cousin owned, he had had it in storage. When I went back to this game, after playing Xbox, PS2, Gamecube, and all others imaginable, I was amazed at the graphics. For the game's age, the sound and graphics are top notch. The Shinobi story line remains much the same, with greater gameplay than previous releases. The action is smooth, and there is a very small learning curve. I have played this game so much I can pretty much beat the entire thing in 30 minutes, without dying or using a ninjitsu...And the amazing part is, I still like playing it! 5 starts and hats off to sega for an amazing game!

This is one of my favorite video games of all time and for the Genesis console. This is the third and final game in the "Shinobi" franchise; ok, not quite as there were plenty of other games afterward, but they were really reboots or spin off games, so they don't count as sequels. This third entry came at the right time as the twilight years of the Genesis console were beginning and this game, I felt was a fitting send off for both the console and franchise.

The theme in the game is radically different which is a good thing as you don't want a video game franchise to repeat itself. The game sort of gets more into sci-fi territory, which I thought was cool as sci-fi is my favorite genre which just makes this entry even more sweater and further justifies why this is my favorite entry in the franchise. Not to say that the past games weren't sci-fi themselves, but those games were mainly focused on the action genre while mixing in sci-fi and fantasy elements. This game still does the same thing too as it focuses on the sci-fi genre while intermixes with action, fantasy, and horror elements. It's also not new as the sci-fi genre and ninja have intermixed many times in past games and even in the games were getting right now, but sci-fi and ninjas have always been a beautiful combination and if the combination still works you can bet there well be plenty more ninja sci-fi video games to come.

The difficulty in the game is on the medium level which is the same with the whole franchise. But what I like is that it feels a little more balanced and manageable and has very few to little frustrations and zero cheap shots. I really like the designs of each of the stages and levels as each of them are all different which means a different kind of challenge each time, which keeps the game fresh and keeps the levels from blending together. Like with a lot of platform action games, the game starts out a little easily, but the difficulty does start to ramp up the further you get.

There are stages and levels that are memorable like the moving stages which the franchise never really had at the time; well, ok there is the elevator stage in the spin off game "Shadow Dancer" which will be a story for another time. However, the two in this game are different as in one you ride horseback and my favorite one is riding the surfboard. Yeah, I know that one seems a little silly, but it was really cool at the time as the "Ninja Turtles" franchise will still be a little strong in the early to mid-90's.

One stage that I found the most memorable was the Body Weapon level. From the first stage which looks like something from the DC comic series "Swamp Thing" or even manga/anime series "The Guyver" as you in this evil science lab where you're fighting funky looking living mutant brain creatures and Swamp Thing wanabes. The other stage after that looks like the king that movie director David Cronenberg would have designed, though also reminds me of the second level in the video game "R-Type", as we see everything is all organic and messed up.

The gameplay is spot on, I really like how the responsiveness in the control is better than before. You have some of your old tricks which I'm fine with as long as they still work. But a new trick or two which makes the game even more interesting than before. From being able to dash, jump and bounce up the walls, but also being able to grab on and climb the ceiling to help get from point A to B. The game still has that linear gameplay however some levels there are some hidden secrets in a few of the levels, that are worth uncovering if you feel up to the challenge but also help in furthering the depth of the stages and levels.

You have a good variety of enemies to take on, each of them is different depending on what level you're on. But also, you have plenty of bosses which are kind of easy to beat (I said kind of) once you get the attack pattern down, you could knock them down easily. The bosses are memorable, two that are interesting are the one in the Body Weapon level which is ugly and scary looking reminds me of Tetsuo in "Akira" as the character was going though that major and nasty transformation. But also, in another level there is one boss that looks and is obviously an homage to Mecha Godzilla which is cool as he's my favorite Kaiju in the "Godzilla" franchise.

And of course, there is the music, which is great, like with the second game this game has plenty of memorable tracks, it's almost hard to decide but you can't go wrong with either of the tracks you listen too.

This third entry and vintage classic makes the cut.

Rating: 4 stars.