I was really hoping it'd be more different than the original with more levels, but it's undeniably an improvement nonetheless!

The levels are even more open ended and genuinely really fun to explore, and the different ninjas are as fun as ever to use.

I really wish Sega had made a new entry to this series on one of its home consoles but, I'm happy with how it turned out either way!

For anyone that is familiar with this series, you could probably take a good educated guess as to how the original Shinobi title for the Game Gear turned out in comparison to all of the other games in the series so far. It was basically yet another average Shinobi game, except now it was portable, and it pretty much gave exactly what you would expect from one of these games. I will give it credit, it did introduce some new elements to shake things up, like multiple playable ninjas with different abilities, as well as being able to play the main levels in any order you want, but for the most part, you knew exactly what you were going to get, giving you little reason as to want to try the game out over others. That didn’t stop the game from being successful enough to where, just one year later, Sega would do what they do best and pump out another unnecessary game in this series, this time being a direct sequel to that Game Gear title known as The G.G. Shinobi II: The Silent Fury.

Once again, going into this, I already had a pretty good idea about what to expect from this game. It was probably just gonna be yet ANOTHER typical Shinobi game, probably continuing what was introduced in the previous game, and maybe adding one or two more things to spruce it up, and whaddya know, I was exactly right. Although, to the game’s credit, I actually did end up liking this one somewhat more then the original G.G. Shinobi, and I would consider this to be the superior game of the two. It may not be too much different, and it certainly doesn’t reach the same quality as past console titles of the series, but for a Game Gear Shinobi game, it does manage to hold up quite a bit, and it was a good amount of fun.

The story is almost identical to the original game, with a new gang known as the Techno-Warriors taking over Neo City, taking the elemental crystals located there, and kidnapping your fellow ninja brethren and master, so it is up to you to rescue them and stop the gang, which is incredibly generic for a plot, but at this point, I really don’t care about the plots in this series, the graphics are pretty much exactly the same as the original G.G. Shinobi, so there is nothing more to talk about there, the music is also pretty much what you would expect from a title like this, and it is fine, but nothing you are gonna remember after playing through it, the control is the exact same as the previous game, so again, nothing to comment on there, and the gameplay is, for the most part, another typical Shinobi romp, but to its credit, there are some innovations here that do make this better than the original.

The game is a 2D action platformer, where you take control of Joe Musashi, as well as your four fellow ninja brethren, take on a set of five different stages through several locations that I swear have been used for every single Shinobi game to date, defeat plenty of enemies using whatever weapons you have, along with using your special attacks to help you out when necessary, gather plenty of health items, special attack uses, and extra lives to help you out on your journey, and defeat several tricky, yet manageable bosses along the way. When it comes to new features in this game, there really isn’t anything here to make it stand out, which may make the game undesirable compared to others, but the one thing it does have over the original is how progression is handled, as well as having much better design.

Unlike the original game, which was just a straightforward “beat the stages and then ya win” kind of game, this game actually implements elements of exploration into its design. Not only do you have to beat each stage to rescue your fellow ninjas, but you also have to locate the crystals located in each stage in order to gain access to the final stage, and this is something I really liked. It may not be that complicated, but it was a nice change of pace, actually taking the time to explore most of these levels and figuring them out in order to properly maneuver through them and get what you need. What also helps this out is the extended use of the ninjas’ unique abilities. Of course, each one of them has their own weapon and special attack that they use, which is cool enough, but they also have abilities that allow them to access parts of the level you couldn’t earlier, such as with the Pink Ninja being able to crawl on ceilings and the Yellow Ninja being able to walk on water. The game is designed to where you need to take full advantage of these abilities in order to not just beat it, but also find additional items that can increase your max life, which is something that I am always grateful to see.

However, if that doesn’t really win you over, then nothing else about this game generally will. The game may be less difficult then the original, making it more palatable, but it is still another generic Shinobi title, and seeing as this is the seventh game in the series so far, you can really feel the lack of innovation drag the entire thing down. Not to mention, it does carry several issues that I had with the original Game Gear title in this one as well, such as with the final level being a crappy maze level, and with how you have to refight the bosses again to reach the end. Thankfully, both of these elements are improved upon in this title, but honestly, I would just rather they wouldn’t be there at all, as it makes going through the last area of the game a complete slog.

Overall, despite a severe lack of change and those issues from the last title still being present, this is still a good improvement over the original game, one that changes up the formula somewhat to make for a more entertaining journey, but it is still familiar enough for those who are familiar with the series. I would recommend it for those who are big fans of the Shinobi series, as well as those who really liked the original Game Gear title, because this is essentially just more of what you liked before, and that may be all that you are looking for. But seriously, if the next Shinobi game doesn’t introduce something drastically different to the formula, then I may actually go crazy. I may be tolerant to repetition most of the time, but the repetition in this series is actually ridiculous, and I don’t think I can handle it much longer.

Game #421

Same solid gameplay as the last game only the yellow Shinobi now throws a giant shuriken, green's power is to break blocks, and Red has a teleport ability. Stage select lets you rescue the other captured Shinobi, you all then go to the last stage together. This time you will have to replay at least two levels as certain Shinobi abilities are needed to get an orb and the life increasing item, these abilities will take you to new areas though and the Red shinobi's teleport ability gets you to the stages end.