Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master is an audio-visual tour-de-force. When the game starts with the Shinobi theme, you know that you're in for a treat.
The graphics and sound are fantastic and really feels big budget compared to its predecessor, the great Revenge of Shinobi. Even though master composer Yuzo Koshiro didn’t score this game, it still sounds incredible (look out for Shinobi, Whirlwind, Hassou, Japonesque, Mandara tracks).
Where the game has really improved is in the quality of Joe Musashi's moveset - every action feels great, from the Shinobi walk to the running slash. The dive kick adds an extra dimension to the gameplay and not a frame of animation is wasted. The game also feels a lot more forgiving compared to its predecessors with less of a memorization need as the enemies are more leniently placed among the environments.
The stages feels varied with the classic opening forest level, where you’re just gliding and mowing down baddies (though here I prefer Revenge of Shinobi’s opening). There is also horse-back riding and even Ninja surfing. You’re also fending off enemies in a running elevator to a falling rocks section where you've to pull off a succession of double jumps. Speaking of the double jumps this is more of a "me" issue but just like in Revenge, I didn't always pull it off properly when most needed, which caused me no end of strife. Also, I didn't really enjoy the factory levels and the returning maze section (glad it was short this time), which kept the game from being perfect to me.
All in all, Shinobi III is a fantastic game well worth your time if you like side-scrolling action games with an incredible soundtrack, great looking sprites and backgrounds and well-designed levels and gameplay.
The graphics and sound are fantastic and really feels big budget compared to its predecessor, the great Revenge of Shinobi. Even though master composer Yuzo Koshiro didn’t score this game, it still sounds incredible (look out for Shinobi, Whirlwind, Hassou, Japonesque, Mandara tracks).
Where the game has really improved is in the quality of Joe Musashi's moveset - every action feels great, from the Shinobi walk to the running slash. The dive kick adds an extra dimension to the gameplay and not a frame of animation is wasted. The game also feels a lot more forgiving compared to its predecessors with less of a memorization need as the enemies are more leniently placed among the environments.
The stages feels varied with the classic opening forest level, where you’re just gliding and mowing down baddies (though here I prefer Revenge of Shinobi’s opening). There is also horse-back riding and even Ninja surfing. You’re also fending off enemies in a running elevator to a falling rocks section where you've to pull off a succession of double jumps. Speaking of the double jumps this is more of a "me" issue but just like in Revenge, I didn't always pull it off properly when most needed, which caused me no end of strife. Also, I didn't really enjoy the factory levels and the returning maze section (glad it was short this time), which kept the game from being perfect to me.
All in all, Shinobi III is a fantastic game well worth your time if you like side-scrolling action games with an incredible soundtrack, great looking sprites and backgrounds and well-designed levels and gameplay.