Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (Genesis/Mega Drive)

When it came time to make a follow-up to The Revenge of Shinobi, Sega wisely learned that they shouldn’t commit more copyright infringement. Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master doesn’t contain battles with Spider-Man or Godzilla as a result, but thankfully the obvious lesson wasn’t the only one learned. A stronger sense for enemy placement and action stage design would allow this side-scrolling platformer to better challenge the player rather than frustrate them, and while some of the whimsy that comes from cluelessly borrowing copyrighted characters is gone, Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master shows it has plenty of its own creativity when it comes to bosses and situations for its ninja in modern times to fight his way through.

 

Joe Musashi, the ninja known as Shinobi, had defeated the criminal Neo Zeed organization in his previous adventure, but not thoroughly enough it seems. Able to rebuild their ranks to something matching their former glory and lead by the Shadow Master, a clone of a ninja from Joe’s own bloodline, they don’t seem eager to directly antagonize the ninja who took them down last time. Shinobi can’t stand by and watch them rise back to power though, looking to carve his way through their ranks until he can reach their leader and crush Neo Zeed once more. Not much work was put into the story, but that also means it’s a bit easier to just accept whatever the game throws at you. A forest with enemy ninjas and a cave with samurai can coexist with armored gunmen with jetpacks and a laboratory covered with organic matter that forms into a giant human head. Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master is here to give Joe Musashi a range of enemies to face rather than being quite so personal as the previous entry where he was directly rescuing someone he loved and avenging his sensei, and considering that game was even about Neo Zeed rising from their ashes, perhaps the choice was made just to keep things moving rather than trying to justify every time why Shinobi would feel the need to take down Neo Zeed once more.

Joe Musashi is certainly as skilled as a ninja who has been through these kinds of battles before should be. Up close he can slash foes with his katana or even do a flashy running slash if set up right, but primarily you’re likely to find yourself relying on shurikens. While they technically have limited numbers, not only can you set them as high as 70 to start from the options menu, but you get refills after a death and shuriken pick ups are quite common. When you spot an enemy, throwing your shurikens isn’t too much of a decision, but there are situations that can deplete it. Some foes like those samurais will block attacks and must be hit when they’re vulnerable, and considering they send out a beam of energy when they slash, standing in front of them throwing shurikens will likely get you hurt instead of them. You can jump and throw a fan of shurikens to help hit enemies at tough angles or help bombard a group of baddies, but it is a costly technique and can be what drains your reserves if you rely on it too much. Finding out which foes can be best handled with up close attacks is key, but you also have one other very useful attack in the form of a dive kick. Launching yourself down towards an enemy with a dive kick not only deals solid damage at an angle that many enemies often can’t attack well, but it bounces you up in the air, letting you potentially pull off a few in a row. While you do encounter a fair few foes who fold quickly to a good shuriken or dive kick, learning the right way to overcome them gives the levels their substance despite how quickly specific attacks can dispense with a foe. Even once you know how to dispatch with a specific enemy type though, placement can keep them dangerous, like little hopping brain monsters that can normally be approached easily until you find yourself with no choice but to jump into their ranks and try to take them out before they ram into you.

 

Joe can take a hit fairly well and enemies are positioned so you won’t be blindsided by them, but the platforming can sometimes prove to be the most demanding part of the experience. Shinobi has a conditional double jump, the player needing to time their button press just right so he can somersault through the air to gain more height. At first, many levels are focused on forward movement on flat ground, and while new movement options like wall jumps and clinging to the ceiling or ropes to clamber across them are introduced, the double jump feels at first like a tool for reaching extras or a way to dodge specific enemy attacks. However, if you don’t master it early, the game’s final stages can be brutal. Instant death pits, hazards placed just so that if you don’t space the jump right you’ll get hurt, and long drops should you miss a small platform become rather common. You can figure out the rhythm of when to press jump again in safe areas to help prepare you for later, but if you miss a double jump over some danger, it feels less like you failed at some special demanding technique and just came up short on a vital movement option that didn’t need to be complicated. While there are certainly specific fights or foes that could be easier with smooth double jumps, the moments where it stings because it feels like you did it right but somehow failed do add some unnecessary frustration to what would still be involved and difficult platforming challenges.

 

While some movement woes near the end will color the experience a bit, thankfully most of Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master relies more on interesting combat and navigation with some wiggle room. Fighting gunmen in a burning forest where structures you walk across detonate or are covered with mines force you into quick movement where you need to notice the gaps in danger to slip in and take out your foes. A maze-like facility asks you to climb about and trigger explosives to open up new paths. If you don’t time your shuriken throws just right when riding an elevator, you’ll be attacked through the small holes that let foes fire back at you. Your skills are being tested as is your movement beyond something basic like getting double jump timing right, the player needing to find those moments to slip in and strike with bosses cranking that up even more. Godzilla may not be here, but a mechanical dragon that looks a lot like him will spew flames and cause rubble to fall on you from above, meaning you’ll need to get a sense for when to strike and when it’s time to take cover. Some later game bosses do push things a bit though, but they’re also where you might whip out the situational block to overcome what almost felt like an oppressive barrage you couldn’t avoid otherwise. Blocking is imperfect but in reasonable ways, meant more for weathering an extreme attack or covering you during a vulnerable moment rather than playing too cautiously, but it’s not the only option in your arsenal if you need a bit of extra aid in overcoming the game’s tougher moments.

At one point, Joe Musashi finds himself leaping between falling rocks, a drop below the screen’s edges spelling his doom. These rocks can move rather fast and have foes on them, and if you time a double jump improperly, that can be a life lost. However, this stage is the perfect place for making powerful use of one of your ninjutsus. Shinobi has four mystical powers he can activate as needed, and while you’ll usually only have one use per life or stage unless you find a hidden extra, these can be incredibly powerful and last a surprising amount of time. For that jumping challenge, Jutsu of Fushin will let you leap about with ease as if your every jump was a double, this a great way to patch over the somersault timing if it is truly giving you trouble at vital moments. It lasts until you beat the level or die as well, making it an easy option to justify if you feel it is needed, but the other jutsus do have their time to shine. Jutsu of Kariu sounds cool with the fiery dragon it summons to harm enemies on screen, but it’s not too strong against bosses and might be best left alone, especially since if a situation is truly desperate, you can spend 1 life and activate Jutsu of Mijin to bomb foes and actually dent the tougher bosses to reward that high cost. Jutsu of Ikazuchi is the best option besides Fushin though. Ikazuchi will give you a lightning barrier that will absorb incoming damage, it eventually disappearing after you’ve taken enough blows to deplete its power. A perfect tool for helping you learn a boss on the first encounter or a way to save yourself from near defeat, Ikazuchi joins Fushin in being a conditional but powerful aid, their use limited enough it doesn’t undermine the difficulty but you have a way to adjust to the game’s tougher moments and overcome them in a way that feels fair because of their restrictions.

 

There are some extra level formats to be found in Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master, Joe sometimes approaching his destination on horseback or, surprisingly, a jet ski. Your ride moves forward automatically although you can pull it back or push it forward a bit to move around the screen, but otherwise Joe has access to most of his tools like ninjutsu, shurikens and his katana for these sections. Foes will come at you quickly and some may throws hazards you’ll need to leap over, but get too touchy and you might leap right over health or extra lives instead of danger, Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master also having a good sense for when to dole out those pick-ups much like it does for shurikens. The horseback and jet ski sections are easier because platforming isn’t as much of a component, but the fast pace and bosses that still ask for a good bit of movement make these appreciated and entertaining breaks from the standard stages where you can take your time and move forward carefully. Since these special segments don’t resort quick cheap hits that could have made these special stages into frustrations, they help the game achieve a good sense of difficulty no matter what difficulty you choose to play on, especially since they’re mostly set apart by how much health or how many extra lives you get to start with anyway.

THE VERDICT: While the precision needed for its double jump can bring down the game’s final challenges a touch, Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master is primarily a game about quick combat, smart spacing, and levels that get you platforming in more effective and interesting ways. Your shurikens are quick and reliable but enough foes force you into situations where you’ll need to think about your approach, working in tandem with level layouts to make you take risks and learn your movement options well. Ninjutsus help cover some areas that could have been rough otherwise by being surprisingly effective but still limited properly, the player able to overcome tight platforming and tough bosses with the extra room to learn those powers provide. Toss in some surprise breaks like riding a jet ski as you battle a flying robot and Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master lets you better focus on the exciting encounters and new twists on level design over those times you swear the midair jump should have come out properly.

 

And so, I give Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master for Sega Genesis/Sega Mega Drive…

A GREAT rating. Jutsu of Fushin really saves Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master from being let down by its weakest part. The touchy double jump from The Revenge of Shinobi returning is such a shame. Much of the time, it’s not too important if you miss the jump, you just try again or suffer a little damage from the foe whose attack you were trying to leap over. The later levels like the rock falling challenge though demand the kind of quick responsive movement with heavy punishment for failure, but Jutsu of Fushin lets you pay an almost negligible price so you can get past that roadbump if the jump rhythm isn’t proving reliable enough. Sure, you won’t get the Ikazuchi shield for that section’s boss fight, but it’s a reasonable enough compromise even if it wasn’t one that feels like it needed to be made. Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master can otherwise be praised easily without caveat, even some of the game’s hardest bosses like one who randomly appears from one of six doors before attacking quickly actually a good reminder to use your block or run when they weren’t as necessary elsewhere. Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master wouldn’t be too easy even if the jumping was smooth, the difficulty often coming from spacing and attack timing as level shapes suit the enemies inhabiting them well. You can start picking up on the nature of the area and adjust to it rather well, injury not too easy to avoid but you can start to more closely match a skilled ninja who strikes swiftly and perfectly because he can identify the moments of opportunity. Shurikens being limited straddles that line of not feeling like too much pressure but also still nudging you to find moments where a sword strike or dive kick would serve you better, and tougher bosses can at least be pestered from a distance even if you’re still figuring out when it’s actually safe to go in for stronger blows.

 

Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master keeps throwing new situations at you and designs its enemies well to make use of those designs. Enemies lying in wait in mazes, speedy foes who zip by in the riding stages where you have to anticipate them properly to be the one who lands their hit, and tough foes who stand their ground and force you to move in if you want to hit them when their guard is briefly down all gives you combat excitement that is enhanced by your growing understanding of how to best use your attack options. It’s a shame you have to say you’ll gradually get used to the jumping rather than being able to just appreciate the related platforming challenges with the same smoothness you can the rest of the experience, but Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master is generally smart about not pushing the player to be too perfect and even gives them ninjutsus to help them should they need some wiggle room. The enjoyment arises from overcoming what lies ahead because it is well crafted to test your abilities and your sense for their limits, this game’s edge not coming from some rough movement but from the many exciting and varied forms its ninja action takes.