There was a point in time in the U.S. when Revenge of Shinobi's soundtrack was arguably the best video game soundtrack ever created for any home console ever. The SNES hadn't been released yet, and there were not too many games available on the Genesis yet. My friend and I ditched afternoon classes to go buy the game and play it at my house, and we never got past the first level. We just sat there, dumbstruck, listening to the stage one music over and over and over.
@@tommylakindasorta3068 Yeah, video game soundtracks were magical back then. Now it all sounds like generic action movie music. The soundtrack that blew me away back then was Super Castlevania IV.
This is one of my favorite Genesis games. Fighting Batman disguised as Spiderman is one of the greatest memories from my childhood. While I have to agree on a technical level that Shinobi 3 is a better game, it will never top the sheer nostalgia and pure zany madness of Revenge of Shinobi. Awesome stuff.
I had this game soon after it was released. I LOVED it. I spent countless hours playing this amazing game. One of my all time favorites. I had the version that included Spiderman, Godzilla, and Rambo. But, Batman was replaced by the bat creature guy.
Definitely one the golden jewels of the pre-Sonic Genesis library. It, along with Strider, Ghouls 'n' Ghosts, Castle of Illusion, Thunder Force 3 and MUSHA made the Genesis a must-own for any arcade gaming fan back then and represented the closest we've been to arcade at home up to that point. Going from NES to this level of graphics and sound at home was simply incredible. I was in love with the Genesis from the minute I saw it a friends' house and they booted up Altered Beast for me. The system hardware itself looked so so incredibly cool for the time too... and the ergonomic 3 button pad! I was obsessed with Sega and getting one of my own after that. I didn't have enough money to buy it until shortly after Sonic came out though. Sonic is another game that made a huge impression and cemented my love for Sega. Sonic was a pack-in, but Revenge of Shinobi was the first Genesis game that I bought. Streets of Rage was the second and was another mind blower. Those were some awesome times! Thanks for brining back those memories for me with your vid!
Revenge of Shinobi heck yeah! Easily, the best early Genesis game, and should have been the pack-in title instead of Altered Beast. Deserves to be in the same league of recognition alongside MMX, Alien Soldier, Hagane etc, fantastic game. It's challenging as hell but very rewarding to master, I recommend learning where all the secret items are and playing the game trying to keep your power-up using the shield if you have to because they tear up the bosses. This series is sadly ignored by the masses because of course, it's not Castlevania or Mega Man, but honestly go figure is anyone surprised? Love both franchises but Shinobi all day for me.
The only thing about this game is no sprint ability, but they fixed that in Shinobi 3. ROV is an 1989 game, so I can understand why there would be limitations back then.
Just had a Shinobi session a few hours ago... The soundtrack is fabulous and Stereo Audio was a big deal back then that my childhood TV couldn't handle. 😎
I had just gotten a NES (late to the party) a few months before this game came out and I knew I didn't have the money to get one so I lived vicariously through my more affluent friends...I actually never played RoS until I got the Sega Genesis collection on the Switch.
I imported my Megadrive, I think in 89, from Japan and it came with Shinobi. Loved the graphics and the music. It was like lightyears ahead of everything I had seen before.
this game is perfection to me. i don't see anything wrong with it at all. And that's simply because it's just so freakin fun! there's an intellectual skill that's involved with it in the sense that you actually have to think about how it is you must proceed in order to advance through each level unscathed, as opposed to just being a fast paced run and slash like its third installment. for this reason i truly think it's the best one in the series. don't get me wrong, shinobi 3 is a fantastic game, but it's simply not as engaging as its predecessor in my opinion. And i couldn't have said it better myself when you said it captures the quintessence of the system during the late 80's. it just carries that beautiful... raw arcade pizza shop feeling and sprite work that makes you want to hang it up on your wall and just stare at it in appreciation.
The 1987 first installment is one of my favorite games of all time. I live near the coast and a travelling 'carnival' would roll into town during school holidays with various arcade games. When there was a strong wind off the sea i could hear the games from a good distance away and couldn't wait to get there to play Shinobi.
I got a Mega SG earlier this year as I missed out on a lot of Mega Drive games growing up (mostly a Nintendo kid until the Saturn came out). This was my first purchase, and after playing it through I have to as it is in my top 5 Genesis games. It's just stellar. Thanks for the great overview!
Spot on. This was a GAME CHANGER for 10 year old me and all my friends when the Genesis was first acquired by a mutual friend. It really felt like an arcade game at home. And Shinobi was so fucking unforgiving, so having this version be so OP was really nice in the NES "hard for no reason" era
This is an absolutely YES. Fantastic game. Great video as always. A couple of notes: You don’t collect spells. Any of the four ninja magics is selectable from the start with limited usage, usually once per life/stage. Also, the Labyrinth stage is actually pretty bad unless you’ve brushed up on Japanese numbers, which will give you a clue if you’re heading in the right direction (unsure if this was modified in later versions but it hasn’t been in my cartridge).
This is like the 4th or 5th Genesis game I played I think, at the time I didn't own a Genesis I actually would rent the system and games. This one almost convinced me not to wait for the SNES. Just a fantastic game in my opinion.
I was a Nintendo kid growing up, but the one time I rented a Genesis from Blockbuster I got this and it absolutely blew me away. I almost converted, then SNES came out and well...
Have fun it's a phenomenal game, challenging as hell but keep pushing forward, it's rewarding to get better at it. Master the double jump and the 90 degree knife throw.
@@retrosoul8770 Thanks. It's kicking my butt so far. Tough game but never felt cheated by cheap game mechanics. It's one of those games where I just need to get better. Will keep at it!
I forgot to mention that in case you haven't noticed yet, there are these hidden power up boxes all throughout the game. But sadly they're not in the most intuitive locations so I'd just google a video showing where all of them are haha, they're super useful! Extra ninjutsu and such. Also you may want to use a guide to get through the maze at the end haha, it's pretty insane, probably the only real flaw of the game.
even though the first streets of rage was released in 1991, it still feels like 80s Sega and a companion to this game. playing one of them always makes me want to play the other right after.
The Skeleton Dinosaur in place of Godzilla was actually on a cartridge. My first introduction to Revenge of Shinobi was through 6-Pak which as the name suggests has 6 Sega Genesis games in one cart. I'm surprised that was the rom they ended up using for the Wii Virtual Console.
That 6 Pak ACTUALLY had the 4th revision of the game (revision 2 was the most common back when it launched outside Japan... Batman and Rambo got axed on that revision, it was a miracle to find a revision 1 were you could find Batman and Rambo in the game, revision 3 only added the Spider-Man Copyright, revision 4 replaced Godzilla with the skeleton dinosaur and revision 5... which is the Wii re-release onwards, recolored Spider-Man... of all pop-culture characters that appeared in the game, The Terminator was the sole survivor of this funny not respecting copyright stuff).
@@PikangsFutaba I got a good chuckle to see Terminator in the game. I haven't booted up my genesis in years, but I think there was even a Spider-Man copyright mentioned in the game which made me wonder when I'll see the character.
Sega sort out a SHINOBI COLLECTION. It could have the original versions of the games plus new remakes of some, it not all of the games. The remakes could have new aesthetics and enhanced music and sound plus tweaks to gameplay and controls. Classic/Retro Game Collection's with Remakes isn't a bad idea, we probably need to see more of them...A Shinobi collection would be great, I would buy it without thinking.
Yep, this and the arcade original are (in my mind) THE two definitive titles of the franchise. III(1993) is good, but in my neighbourhood everyone had already sold their Genesis to buy an SNES, and I never played III until a year ago on Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection (thus, it just doesn't have anywhere near the same appeal to me as II does).
SNESdrunk is an amazing RU-vid channel, the content is relevant and fun for me and oddly enough every day I watch I end up having a great rest of my day... Unfortunately SNESdrunk doesn't seem to beg for subs or likes like most channels out there so you're gonna have to subscribe to this one any way you can. 💗
AHHHHH glorious Revenge of Shinobi, Sega 1989. And you've forgot the most important complaint to be made about the game, the Godzilla stage part 1. That jump... let it haunt all of our collective childhood's and retro gaming adulthood's as well, that and the final boss fight if lacking on lives can be also a pain. And you're definitely right, Yuzo Koshiro was The Man, right before the works of Rare, Koji Kondo on Mario games and Nobuo Uematsu in Final Fantasy, than him was the evolution of music in old 68000 sound chips and I'd argue equally as important for SFC sound formats off Snes.
The Spider-Man turning into Batman thing is actually a reference to Kamen Rider. The first two enemies that the original Kamen Rider fought were Kumo Otoko and Komori Otoko, whose names literally translate to "Spider Man" and "Bat Man" respectively (and yes, Toei did eventually get the rights to the actual Spider-Man). Since then, several more seasons would reference them by having the first enemy be spider themed and the second be bat themed.
It was my first genesis game and the first one I finished, the labyrinth in the end is a nightmare and there are good and bad ending, which for the time was amazing.
I just bought this a week ago on the PS3 store, only because it was on sale. This was also my very first time playing it. Well, I scroll down my RU-vid home list, and here this video pops up.
This one and Shinobi 3 are my favorite Genesis Games, played them back when I was a little boy and beat the hell out of them, really difficult, that last labyrinth level is hell.
Either Sega Lord X got Sega-drunk or SNES Drunk got so drunk under the influence became Sega Lord X...Either way Both channels are awesome... Long Live Sega Long Live Gaming..🎮🔥👍
Happy to see that you like this game. It's one of my favorites on the Genesis and one of the first games I got for it back in 1990. It can be brutally difficult and the final maze stage SUCKS, but it's a great game overall.
Yup, at my country there was a point were ONE gaming magazine of that time had to make a very detailed map of the maze that an old woman asked as she was used to play the game with her grandson, it was a blessing for said old woman and everyone who used to buy those gaming magazines back then were RU-vid wasn't a thing.
Despite you owned a SNES as a kid I think it's great you can point out how the other consoles of that era had great games. Sadly many other big RU-vidrs have remained ignorant fanboys. Keep up the good work!
Man, so many of the games in this series are so cool aesthetically and gameplay wise. The ps2 and 3ds entries are also awesome. I hope we get a retro throwback version of it sometime soon, maybe made by wayfoward or inti creates
I love this game. I still own a copy of the 1.0 version. I always used to pretend the first boss was Shedder from TMNT. The you had the Bruce Lee dudes, the Rambos, The Hulkinator, Spider-Man, Batman, Godzilla.... so awesome.
@SNES drunk - helpful tip - it IS on the Genesis Mini, each and every one of them made, but you have to change the language to Japanese or Trad. Chinese to switch to the JP menu + lineup.
Wait? Are you kidding me? Every Gen mini has every regions games???? If so that changes everything! That means we can play Alien Soldier, Shining Force 2, and Musha then? Though SF2 will be in another language...
As long as there’s fans of great GAMEPLAY over all else(even though this game has great visuals,soundtrack,difficulty curve)this game will FOREVER be worth many playthroughs throughout the years of your life!
Yeah, I was very disappointed when this wasn't announced as one of the titles for the upcoming Sega Genesis mini. I knew it wasn't going to be included when they announced "Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master" early on. Same thing with the first "Streets of Rage."
The graphics look great! Being a G-Fan I like the Godzilla cameo. It looks exactly like the Mosugogi suit, minus the dorsal plates of course. Even though the sprite didn't have Godzilla's signature dorsal plates I guess it looked so much like the '64 suit that TOHO probably threatened to sue the hell outta the game company.
This game is known as The Super Shinobi in Japan, and the boss fights is the one that I remember in this game though. The title screen features Sonny Chiba from the Japanese TV series Kage no Gundan (in the Virtual Console version, the title screen was altered to look less like Chiba) The inclusion of Spider-Man was a cross-promotion for the arcade game Spider-Man: The Videogame.
