Weird intermediary stage game between Shinobi 1 and Shinobi 3. It's like they wanted to make the game more action-packed but were still focused on the trappings of the first game's structure. As such, Joe feels more like a badass agile ninja in this game than the first. There's a double jump now (which feels a bit off in emulators normally, though I increased the runahead and it was fine) as well as shuriken barrages. Not to mention the ninjutsu spells actually have different effects from one another with each one being useful in different circumstances, a big step up over 1.
However, the lack of a run, wall jump, dive kick, and other attacks really kinda hurts after playing Shinobi 3 first. I do appreciate that Revenge of Shinobi is harder than Shinobi 3. That said I would still rec taking advantage of this extra lives trick for up to 99(?) lives for at the very least a first playthrough since good god the sheer amount of one hit deaths in the 2nd half of the game could make Castlevania Vampire's Kiss final boss blush https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJIiguKW6sg
The field of view isn't the best in this game. There are even a few leaps of faith in the waterfall level. This gets remedied with replays a bit, but the limited continues really make this game feel more unforgiving than it ought to. There are ways to offset this by looking for locations of secret items that would never be found without a walkthrough, which helps a bit. There are certainly enough tools in this game to beat it legit on a 1st or 2nd try if you were the kind of kid who bought strategy guides. And by god, I really did not want to replay this game 1000 times to practice it since the 2nd stage has some of the worst flashing lights I've seen in a video game. I may have to create an epilepsy-friendly patch in the future, I ended up beating the boss with the final ninjutsu so I didn't have to look at his background for long.
The enemies can be pretty fun, and the visual variety of the bosses is great. Joe Musashi is the only motherfucker badass enough to beat Spider-Man, Batman, Godzilla, and a god damn Terminator in the same game. There are no shits given towards copyright in this game, which I suppose tracks for a game Yuzo Koshiro composed for. It's amazing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzh7kMcuDYY
Speaking of Yuzo Koshiro, his soundtrack for this game is really rough in the best possible way. It really adds to the gritty feel of the world. Mad respect https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UznDmk5fmlY
There's not much more to say about The Revenge of Shinobi. It's a solid enough game with very memorable boss fights and music, but a few failings that don't let it live up to the same level as Shinobi 3. It's an important game for the groundwork it laid for sure however (aside from Shinobi 3, I'm almost certain Web Spider's stage in Mega Man X4 was inspired by the waterfall stage here) and worth at least one playthrough for action platformer enthusiasts.
However, the lack of a run, wall jump, dive kick, and other attacks really kinda hurts after playing Shinobi 3 first. I do appreciate that Revenge of Shinobi is harder than Shinobi 3. That said I would still rec taking advantage of this extra lives trick for up to 99(?) lives for at the very least a first playthrough since good god the sheer amount of one hit deaths in the 2nd half of the game could make Castlevania Vampire's Kiss final boss blush https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJIiguKW6sg
The field of view isn't the best in this game. There are even a few leaps of faith in the waterfall level. This gets remedied with replays a bit, but the limited continues really make this game feel more unforgiving than it ought to. There are ways to offset this by looking for locations of secret items that would never be found without a walkthrough, which helps a bit. There are certainly enough tools in this game to beat it legit on a 1st or 2nd try if you were the kind of kid who bought strategy guides. And by god, I really did not want to replay this game 1000 times to practice it since the 2nd stage has some of the worst flashing lights I've seen in a video game. I may have to create an epilepsy-friendly patch in the future, I ended up beating the boss with the final ninjutsu so I didn't have to look at his background for long.
The enemies can be pretty fun, and the visual variety of the bosses is great. Joe Musashi is the only motherfucker badass enough to beat Spider-Man, Batman, Godzilla, and a god damn Terminator in the same game. There are no shits given towards copyright in this game, which I suppose tracks for a game Yuzo Koshiro composed for. It's amazing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzh7kMcuDYY
Speaking of Yuzo Koshiro, his soundtrack for this game is really rough in the best possible way. It really adds to the gritty feel of the world. Mad respect https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UznDmk5fmlY
There's not much more to say about The Revenge of Shinobi. It's a solid enough game with very memorable boss fights and music, but a few failings that don't let it live up to the same level as Shinobi 3. It's an important game for the groundwork it laid for sure however (aside from Shinobi 3, I'm almost certain Web Spider's stage in Mega Man X4 was inspired by the waterfall stage here) and worth at least one playthrough for action platformer enthusiasts.