Best Shinobi Game

[SlidellMan]

I wanted to know which of the three Genesis Shinobi games is the best.

[+Cafeman]

I'd answer YES. 

[roots.genoa]

I was going to reply Shinobi X but on Genesis, I would say the 3rd one.

[Cebus Capucinis]

Shinobi 5: Shin-Know-Be, the anatomical quiz sequel exclusive to Papua New Guinea, is by far the best. Ultra rare, too.

 

Yeah, probably the third, though.

[+Ryan Witmer]

I'm going to cheat by using the Master System adapter and vote for Alex Kidd in Shinobi World.

[Zoyous]

All three are excellent, although it should be noted they are all significantly different. Shadow Dancer is a companion to the arcade game of the same name, but it has all original levels. It has the same play mechanics with Yamato the dog, one-hit kills, and bonus stage challenges. I think Shinobi III shows some major advances in mastery of the hardware, as you would expect for a game release some four years into the console's life cycle. But for a near-launch title, Revenge of Shinobi is no slouch. It's my favorite of the three.

[8th lutz]

I own all 3 since the 90s and all 3 are great Sega Genesis games. Shadow Dancer is a very good game despite me not being a fan of 1 hit deaths. Revenge of Shinobi is one the early Genesis games. 

 

Shinobi III to me is the best of the 3 Shinobi Genesis games.

[mbd39]

Arguably Shadow Dancer looks the best, and is really fun in a simple arcade sort of way. It's the closest to the arcade original if that's your preference. It does have one hit deaths, no health bar.

 

Shinobi III also looks great, has the best controls, and is the most forgiving. Probably the best all around.

 

Revenge is the hardest for those who like a challenge. Good luck beating it especially without the infinite shuriken cheat. I used a guide for the last stage and would be even tougher without that.

 

Both Revenge and Shinobi III have the jump flip that takes practice to get the timing down.

[Bonkey Kong]

Shinobi 3 is the one that I always go back to playing most often because it is the easiest to dive back into, even though they are all 3 are great games.

 

Also really like the music in the pc engine Shinobi.

[schuwalker]

Shinobi III has the best presentation over the other ones but I never really got into as much as Revenge of Shinobi. I know there's high praise for the third installments ost, but besides the surf level, I still prefer Revenge.

 

Revenge while might not be the best... I just have tons of nostalgia for it. I still have my Rev A. with the original head bosses intact. I still have a fascination to collect the other revisions out there.

 

Shadow Dancer I also put top tier on the list. It's the one that closest resembles the original Shinobi game. My biggest issue was not the health bar, but the bosses themselves were really lackluster compared to the original arcade version. Honestly, I think they might be worse for the Genesis/Megadrive port.

 

I know there's no Genesis port of the original Shinobi game (not sure Sega's line of thinking on that one) but the first one is still my favorite. What's really lacking in those sequels are cool bosses like Madera and the certain strategies to beat him. I even like Black Turtle as a stage boss. But the next coolest next to Madera was the masked ninja head boss. Not sure why they opted to never use him again over the whipping hair dude.

[SlidellMan]

@schuwalker Funnily enough, @Yakumo1975 did find a homebrewed port of the original Shinobi for the Genesis/MD in development in Battle of the Ports.

[famicommander]

As long as you avoid The Cyber Shinobi, the GBA Shinobi-in-name-only, and the home ports of arcade Shadow Dancer (different game than Genesis Shadow Dancer) you really can't go wrong.

 

All of these are great games:

Arcade: Shinobi, Shadow Dancer

SMS: Shinobi, Alex Kidd in Shinobi World

GG: The GG Shinobi, The GG Shinobi II: The Silent Fury

Genesis: Revenge of Shinobi, Shadov Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi, Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master

Saturn: Shinobi Legions

PS2: Shinobi, Nightshade

3DS: Shinobi 3D

[roots.genoa]

I liked Cyber Shinobi a lot. I admit it takes time to adjust to some of its weirdness, but the soundtrack is great for instance. And at least I could beat it as a kid.

[Bloodreign]

I have the 3 Genesis Shinobi titles, I very much like Shinobi III (I still recall the day watching a friend of mine 1 life the game), then Shadow Dancer, then Revenge. Shadow Dancer has that 1 hit and dead syndrome, which really keeps you on your toes, while the other 2 have a little more leeway with lifebars.

[TeddyKoolz]

Shinobi 3

and

Shadow Dancer

[zylon]

the Master System one, played via power base converter. I didn't care as much for the later ones, but even the GG versions were unique and good.

[+jeremiahjt]

Thanks to the Master System High Score Club, I beat my first ever Shinobi game, not including Alex Kidd in Shinobi World. I was thinking about trying to beat Revenge of Shinobi, but I did not like reading that it is an extremely hard game.

[schuwalker]

On 3/20/2023 at 10:07 AM, jeremiahjt said:

Thanks to the Master System High Score Club, I beat my first ever Shinobi game, not including Alex Kidd in Shinobi World. I was thinking about trying to beat Revenge of Shinobi, but I did not like reading that it is an extremely hard game.

I played Revenge not too long ago. It might be the hardest Shinobi game on the system; I thought gameplay difficulty overall, it wasn't bad.  The last stage did take me a few tries...

 

 

[roots.genoa]

The worst part in Revenge (and Shinobi 3) is the timing to fire five shurikens while jumping imho, very hard to get.

 

Also I'd like to point out that Shinobi's creator considers Crack Down to be Shinobi's true successor, and that's an awesome game.

[Zoyous]

9 hours ago, schuwalker said:

I played Revenge not too long ago. It might be the hardest Shinobi game on the system; I thought gameplay difficulty overall, it wasn't bad.  The last stage did take me a few tries...

I was very nervous heading into the final boss fight, since I knew there was the possibility of finishing the game with a bad ending. Maybe I got lucky but I managed to beat the boss on the first try and get the good ending. In some ways it seems characteristic of Sega that the boss fights are often easier than the levels leading up to them. Space Harrier (arcade) is the same way.

[+Black_Tiger]

The original arcade Shinobi is the best in the series.

 

Shinobi III is the best in the series for Genesis.

[Uncle_Baby_Billy]

Shinobi 3 is not only the best Shinobi game - it's one of the best games of the 16 bit era.