..Shinobi..

PREVIEW | ? Comments |

When I was but a wee boy, I remember my parents buying me a SEGA Genesis. One of the first games I played featured the titular Joe Musashi, star of one of SEGA Genesis's flagship series, Shinobi. While I was most definitely taken with the series, I possessed only the most rudimentary understanding of the story, and found the difficulty to be quite frankly unforgiving. It was only revisiting it years later, playing Shinobi 3: Return of the Ninja Master on Sonic's Ultimate Game Collection, that I truly understood the mastery and sheer fun factor of a series I'd only dabbled in as a child. There I stood, Joe's antagonist, The Shadow Master, dead at my feet, and the only thought in my mind was "I want more." 

Nintendo and Griptonite Games are delivering with Shinobi 3DS, set to release this November.

From the looks of things, they're staying very faithful to the core gameplay of the original. Players will hack and slash their way through multiple stages of side-scrolling, fast-paced action while flinging knives, casting spells, and (presumably) snarling profanities. Hey, if the game stays true to its roots, it's bound to be a touch frustrating at times, right?

Now, don't get me wrong. Just because Shinobi 3DS is staying true to its old roots doesn't mean it's going to be completely bound up in them. The new rendition takes a page out of the book of modern action games, placing a heavy emphasis on parrying and combos. Time a parry or dodge right, and you can void the effects of pretty near any of your foe's attacks, sending your combo multiplier and score up through the roof as you land more and more hits on your foes. 

As one might expect, Shinobi 3DS marks one of the Musashi clan's first forays out of the second dimension. The game has been described as a "2.5D platformer", which is to say, side-scrolling with a little bit of 3D tossed in for good measure. Think Megaman X7 for the PS2. With the third dimension in mind, there's still no word on how Shinobi 3DS is going to use the 3D features of the 3DS, but from the sounds of it, it'll have a minimal effect on gameplay; either way, it'll be nothing particularly noteworthy.

Now, as for the story and general feel of the game… What I've managed to gather is that players are going to take on the role of Joe Musashi's father, Jiro Musashi, as he presumably does battle with a high-tech, evil organization (likely Zeed or some variant thereof). Pretty standard stuff, but hey, these games aren't usually played for the plot, right? 

Shinobi 3DS will make its debut on the Nintendo 3DS on November 11th, 2011 in Europe and on the 15th in North America.

Nicholas Greene   FollowTech_Light A gamer at heart, Nick started writing when he was a child. He holds a BA in English, works as a freelancer, and loves every minute of it. One day, he hopes to net himself a career in game design - but that's something for the future.

[View Shinobi images / screenshots +]
[Watch Shinobi videos / trailers +]
[View more Shinobi articles (news, previews, reviews) +]
[View Shinobi cheats / guides +]