+a stellar year 1 graphical showcase for the sega genesis. a lot of nice parallax scrolling, multilayered backgrounds, and detailed character sprites
+a certain amount of care has been taken with the handling, more than for a usual title of this area anyway. crouch-walking is an excellent feature, and musashi's attacks are incredibly responsive, making sudden reactions to obstacles very satisfying
+lots of environment variety, even all within the same set of stages. part of the appeal of this game for a lot of people is how silly it's willing to be for the sake of originality
+the ost is godlike ofc because it's yuzo koshiro
+when there's flow there really is flow... the shurikens are very responsive and can take many enemies out in a hit. the game falters when it forces you to play the waiting game
-the control is really stiff sometimes, especially when it comes to the jumping. doing a double jump/somersault is an essential mechanic in the game and yet the window for actually pulling it off is slim, making it reminiscent of other awkward double jumps like crash bandicoot 3.
-replete with cheap deaths of all varieties, mainly bottomless pits and severe knockback from being hit, but also some insta-death surfaces. the level on the airplane where there's doors everywhere that open up and dump you outside.... ugh
-perhaps this is another thing people like about this game, but the level design is all over the place. sometimes this yields good results but there are many misses as well. it leaves the game feeling rather uneven
-can't say I was a big fan of any of the bosses. many of them are damage sponges and have repetitive patterns, which can be a pain to avoid over and over again with how large their hitboxes are... very 80s
-fuck that labryinth at the end lol
-making melee attacks context-dependent really bites... I wish I had the option to avoiding using shurikens when I don't have to without having to get up in the enemy's grill. especially annoying considering how many unique melee weapon animations are coded into the game and yet are very circumstancial to pull off
I can definitely see why this was a shining example of early 16-bit software from the perspective of other games at the time, but thanks to the clunky 80s arcade-holdover design it's a hard one to stomach today. definitely a "you had to be there" game lol. looking forward to playing shinobi 3 in the future regardless
+a certain amount of care has been taken with the handling, more than for a usual title of this area anyway. crouch-walking is an excellent feature, and musashi's attacks are incredibly responsive, making sudden reactions to obstacles very satisfying
+lots of environment variety, even all within the same set of stages. part of the appeal of this game for a lot of people is how silly it's willing to be for the sake of originality
+the ost is godlike ofc because it's yuzo koshiro
+when there's flow there really is flow... the shurikens are very responsive and can take many enemies out in a hit. the game falters when it forces you to play the waiting game
-the control is really stiff sometimes, especially when it comes to the jumping. doing a double jump/somersault is an essential mechanic in the game and yet the window for actually pulling it off is slim, making it reminiscent of other awkward double jumps like crash bandicoot 3.
-replete with cheap deaths of all varieties, mainly bottomless pits and severe knockback from being hit, but also some insta-death surfaces. the level on the airplane where there's doors everywhere that open up and dump you outside.... ugh
-perhaps this is another thing people like about this game, but the level design is all over the place. sometimes this yields good results but there are many misses as well. it leaves the game feeling rather uneven
-can't say I was a big fan of any of the bosses. many of them are damage sponges and have repetitive patterns, which can be a pain to avoid over and over again with how large their hitboxes are... very 80s
-fuck that labryinth at the end lol
-making melee attacks context-dependent really bites... I wish I had the option to avoiding using shurikens when I don't have to without having to get up in the enemy's grill. especially annoying considering how many unique melee weapon animations are coded into the game and yet are very circumstancial to pull off
I can definitely see why this was a shining example of early 16-bit software from the perspective of other games at the time, but thanks to the clunky 80s arcade-holdover design it's a hard one to stomach today. definitely a "you had to be there" game lol. looking forward to playing shinobi 3 in the future regardless