The pinnacle of the Shinobi experience if you ask me. A good friend and I have arguments to this day because he prefers Revenge, but for me, here's where it's at. Great video.
@@akeminakajima449 I would love a new modern 3d ninja game. I had so much fun with Ninja Gaiden on XBOX. A new 3d Shinobi on PS5 could be amazing in the right hands.
The guys behing Xeno Crisis wanted to make a Shinobi game for the Genesis and modern systems like a year ago, I remember they pitched the idea on a comment at the official Sega Twitter account. Hope they talked about that.
@@jamesburchill7522 There were 2 releases in the series on PS2. Shinobi, and it's sequel Nightshade/Kunoichi. I have no issues with the camera, although they haven't aged too well.
Agreed. I didn't grow up with the genesis but playing those two games shows how games from the era can still hold up today. Those two and the shining force games are my favorite for the system along with sonic of course
@MultiTarded I know what you mean. It has a every stylised anime style art. But it was a technological marvel with lots of unique visuals and gameplay aspects. It was also pretty long yet extremely polished. Published by Treasure, the same masters that accomplished the immaculate Gradius V.
I never really knew much about the Shinobi series when I was little, so my first time playing this was on the SEGA Genesis Collection for PS2, and I still remember just how blown away I was. The sheer artistry on display with the visuals, the music, and the pinpoint precise gameplay... I knew, by the second level, I was playing a masterpiece
One of the greatest games of all time. It should be the example to follow for the action platform genre. The freedom to do what you want in the game is incredible, and the level design necessary to make it work is here and is a masterpiece. And what about the music. And what about the gorgeous parallax effect, or the sober yet rich color palette. Ugh, I could go on all day about this Shinobi. One of the greatest games of all time and one that doesn't get the cult status it deserves.
@@kekeke8988 freedom to attack in multiple different ways... Not just walk shoot or walk stab. There are multiple ways to approach and take down enemies. I assume that's what he means. As a huge RPG and metroidvania fan I wouldn't say there's much freedom in this game but that doesn't matter its still amazing
Great timing -- I just finished Shinobi III for the first time last month, on 3DS. Great game! Keep up the amazing work with these videos, SLX - I don't know how you do it, consistently turning such high quality stuff every day of the week.
@@VideInfra Yep, it's been re-released with some 3D added. There's other great Genesis and arcade games (such as the most famous super scalers) available. Either on the Sega 3D Classics cartridge or on the eShop. It's too bad we didn't get the 1st and 3rd collection on cartridge like Japan did, the latter is the only way to get Thunder Force III legitimately. :( www.nintendo.com/games/detail/3d-shiobi-3-return-of-the-ninja-master-3ds/
@@VideInfra Yes made by M2. If you don't already know M2 are a company that has remade lots of Sega games for modern consoles. The quality of their output is unbelievable.
One of the best games ever made. The graphics, music, gameplay. A total package. The music is one of the best vg music ever made, easily there with SoR2, Sonic CD (Euro/Jap edition that is, not the weak USA soundtrack), OutRun, Final Fight CD, easily. It is that good afaic. It was really special to get this game in the 90's when it was released after experiencing the previous shinobi games.
This was one of those games that I saw in magazine ads that i wanted to play so so badly but it was never available to rent. Eventually, I moved on an forgot about it. I finally played it years later and it was well worth the hype! Bring Shinobi back, Sega!!
This game is truly a masterpiece. Remember playing the crap out of this in my younger days. Definitely in my top 5 greatest games of all time. The music, controls, gameplay, graphics are all topnotch for it's time and still holds up really well today .
What a game SLX. When S3 was first released when I was young I had to hunt my a** off for a copy of the game (I live in South Africa). Needless to say, when I finally found a copy and got to take it home and play it for the first, second and hundredth time, I fell in love and still own it to this day. Thanks for the review SLX, very much appreciated.
playing it on hardest difficulty with 0 kunai start no death run is the ultimate fun. You need to be a bad ass fucking ninja to beat the game that way.
I think it's the movement. This game makes you _feel_ like a ninja. It makes you feel empowered by your own ability to move, while at the same time managing to be pretty challenging. It's a balance very few platformers ever achieve. And it's something very 90ish. By the way, I never got past that monster boss. 😅😂
The first stage of Shinobi 3 was instantly iconic to me Every time I think of ninjas, I think of those giant trees with that incredible music But this game's pretty hard so that might be all I remember
Wow, S3 harder than Revenge? I actually though S3 (even on expert) was a walk in the park in contrast to Revenge. I don' even wanna go there with Shadow Dancer (HELLA hard...). Great times...
@@gummislayer1969 I think the "limited_ movements in revenge made the game harder , shinobis 3 has so many new moves that you have more liberty to avoid and face the stages that makes it look easier. It's like Richter Belmont in sotn and in rondo of blood.
@@gummislayer1969 That's funny. I can usually finish Shadow Dancer without dying ONCE, but I have a hard time with Shinobi 3! 😂 Probably because I played it the least. I'm also one of those people that can get through Ghouls 'n Ghosts pretty easily (same with Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts) but I find Ghosts 'n Goblins really frustrating!
@@ScottWozniak DAAAAY-YUUUUM!!! Mad respect, Brah!!! I got busy on the arcade Shinobi & Ghouls & Ghosts...but, if I didn't use a game genie for Shadow Dancer & Super Ghouls & Ghosts I wouldn't have got anywhere!!! I just stopped playing genesis Ghouls 'n Ghosts, along with The Adventures of Batman & Robin AND James Bond 007: The Duel. Just. Say....OH HELL NAW!!! Buuuhahahaaa!!! 🤣🤣🤣💙💙💙🎮🎮🎮
Streets of Rage 2 is a no brainer. The third might be Sonic 2, Golden Axe or maybe a third party game like Desert Strike. Best shooter is Thunder Force III. Best fighter would be Eternal Champions or Mortal Kombat 2, Street Fighter is garbage on the Megadrive. I never played Shining Force or Heroes of Might and Magic. I know people like those. I rented Phantasy Star once and wasn't impressed. FIFA and some of the NHL are good sports games.
My fav is Target Earth....it was never that popular in America (it's REALLY hard, until you get the hang of it), but was a hit in Japan (and it's on the Japanese Megedrive Mini)
The music is fantastic; Whirlwind and Sakura have been on my faves playlist since forever. I once completed it on the hardest setting by accident. I confess I used the infinite shuriken cheat, but having finished it so many times on normal, I went through it on hard, enjoyed the familiar yet new gameplay and decided to do it again right away, forgetting that it automatically ratchets up the difficulty every time you complete it. When I finally (barely) defeated the last boss, I suddenly realised that I had finished the game on expert. I actually had a mini-existential crisis. "How can I prove this to my friends?" "Is this important?" "I don't want to turn off my Mega Drive!" =D
You can play this game very aggressively if you know what you are doing, for example, the dash attack is completely invulnerable during its active attack frames and you can use that to do cool stuff as crossing over enemies charging at you (like the first boss or the first miniboss of the refinery to name a few) unharmed while doing big damage, or slash enemies going straight trough their projectiles with adequate timing. I also loved to just dive kick all of the missile barrages of the surfboard stage boss without touching the water instead of dodging them. The dive kick was awesome to attack while avoiding stuff at the same time, I used it all the time too, I used shurikens very sparsely and hardly ever blocked anything. Man... this game kicked all kinds of ass, one of Genesis' greatest without any doubt ❤️
That beta footage looked kind of mediocre. I'm wondering if the game would've been as well received if they didn't delay it and work on it more. I'm guessing not.
@Jack Burton there are dozen and dozen of mega drive and even SNES games that I'd take over super metroid. in fact, the "super metroid argument" has always seemed just as cliché as it is questionable. sure good exploration game with highly polished presentation (must have taken ages to develop it) but the core challenge is very low, the replay value (if it can even be considered as "value") is only based on finding hidden stuff and, as with every SNES games, it's stuck in that limited and flawed resolution of 256x224 pixels which is not even 4:3-shaped...
Sega Lord X, you are a cut above! Everyone else on youtube (just about) would gloss over this game simply mentioning how much it would cost to "pick up" a loose cartridge. You bust out a deep dive with boss tips and everything. You rock the house!
This game is an absolute masterpiece. I love the final stage so much just because of the crazy amount of platforming you can do and all the crazy tricks you gotta make sure you understand. The music and stage design is so awesome, and the controls are excellent too. Being able to play this game slower paced and then advancing into a awesome sprinting ninja is so freaking fun. I hope more people get to play this game because hot damn is it near perfect. Definitely one of the best Sega Genesis games.
Masterpiece of a game. I've got the entire trilogy since they were new and they get played a lot. Since I've modded my Genesis mini now I can take my collection with me when I travel. Thanks for showcasing this for a new generation who just doesn't realize how many good games are in the 16bit generation.
I still remember like it was yesterday. In 1994 my mom took me to a local Pawn Shop and as she was browsing I found their video game section which had lots of Genesis games. They were mostly sports titles and copies of games like Sonic 1, Phantasy Star 3, Last Battle, etc. But then to my shock and surprise there was Shinobi 3 just chillin. I didn't even know Sega had made a sequel at the time and the price was within my allowance. I played that sucker non-stop, over and over again every chance I got for weeks until I was able to finally beat it. In hindsight I was one of the lucky ones 😎
Mom and Dad got me this for Christmas the year it came out. I knew next to nothing about Shinobi, Return of the Ninja Master was my first foray into the series. Needless to say, that blind purchase turned out to be right on the money as I played the game relentlessly and had an absolute blast for years with it.
Thank you for posting this video. I love this game soooooo much that I own it on multiple platforms. Sega genesis, genesis mini, and my 3ds. One of my favorites of all time.
One of my favorite games on the Genesis. Love the soundtrack and the awesome gameplay. One of my favorite stages is the one you riding the horse over the mountainous region.
......what? no running-double-jump?? or the running katana slash?? WHAT???? the most powerful, and dangerous moves in Joe's ninja master bag-o-tricks!!!! now you make me wanna run through!! Thank you for the awesome retrospective dear Sir. PEACE dear brother.
Great review! One of my favorite games on the Sega Genesis. IMO. If Yuzo Koshiro composed the music, and Sega included the 2 new ninja magics that was in the Beta version. Shinobi lll would of been perfect.
I still have my original copy of this game, it remains one of my absolute favorite games ever. I beat every month or so just to keep myself fresh with it, and the MUSIC, my god in heaven the music.
I was like in second grade and my dad brought us this game just because of the cover..... This game is awesome I am glad they brought into the Genesis mini so that people can know how good this game is
A real jewel. The first time I played it I was not aware that the blocking move also worked with bullets and energy attacks and ended developing a playing style based on jump kicks and dodging.
Shinobi and the streets of rage series had legendary music. Having only a little TV when I was a kid, only recently since picking up the Sega collection did I realise how awesome the sound/music was on the genesis.
Yup. This is probably my top favorite for the Genesis. Since the day I picked up the controller as a kid, the animation, game play, end card art, music, everything just won me immediately. Here I am at 44 and still to this day cannot put it down until I beat it lol. The Shinobi series was phenomenal.
I don’t care what anyone says, this is the best Shinobi game, hands down. Easily one of my favorite games from childhood. The coolest platformer I’d ever seen as a young lad; So over the top and action packed like nothing else I’d seen back then...maybe still...
I had no idea the game got delayed to tighten things up. The wait, I'd say, was definitely worth it. What an excellent display of what the Genesis could do. Just look at that horse stage at 4:25 - 7 layers of parallax, no slowdown, no stuttering, and all of the that with all of the enemies running about. Easily in my top 5 on the Genesis.
You know a game is good when it's just as much fun to watch someone play it as it is to actually play it yourself. This was fun to watch. 👍 This genuinely is a highly entertaining game and I gotta say that it has some of the best visuals of any 16-bit title I've ever come across. Great stuff indeed. 👍🙂
The reason I bought a Mega Drive. By far the coolest Ninja game ever made. The enemies you face (four armed samurais, anime style robots, the giant freak monster) are just so cool! And the variety of the stages... It's some crazy manga shit having a stage that is a canyon with falling rocks and you jump from one to another to finally face a Tengu. Easily in the top 10 best Mega Drive games. Hell! Easily in the top 5!
I remember learning the run and slash move is such a big game changer for this and it controls so well when you get the hang of it. Don't remember any other 2d game where the dash attack is so satisfying to do and feels so powerful as well.
Great timing, i just played through Shinobi 3 this weekend. Amazing game from start to finish. For me it really epitomizes the 93-94 era Sega: long challenging gameplay with excellent graphics and sound. I dont think any other Shinobi game since has come close to what was presented here. Awesome job SLX
Oh man thank you. Finally someone covered this overlooked game. It’s is the best shinobi of the series in many ways. Graphics, moves, sound and gameplay. The wait was worth it. I wish they would had followed up with a 32x and or sega CD version. Anyhow this game is a classic must own. Compared to revenge of shinobi, would had been cool if they added some urban city levels like its predecessor just to change it up. Great review man!!!!
Stumbled across your channel recently after getting the Genesis (or Mega Drive where I'm from) Collection on Switch, good stuff! I want to get into SEGA a lot more and videos like these are helping me learn more all about these classics. Keep it up, you're one of the best SEGA-themed channels going at the moment.:)
Finally, someone that likes Shinboi 3 as much as I do. I wish you would have mentioned about how to block....as I never knew you could do that! Also double tap for run mode and "ninja kick jump thing". Cool video.
Great vídeo, but I'm afraid you forgot one of his best moves, which is when you run and press B to attack with your sword. You get a very powerful attack and don't need to be powered up. Also, there is that infinite shuriken trick at the options screen 😀
Freakin awesome stuff. Love Sega, and this game, which i only recently discovered 1st on the PS3 Sega genesis classics disc. It's an awesome and pretty unique, despite all of the other compilations, and/or mini systems. Anyway. I loved this video. Ty!
This one of my favorite games on Sega Genesis reviewed for one of my favorites chanel and for some weird reason I hadn't notificatied about the video. But so glad to watching this video even a little bit late.
This game is a masterpiece. Gameplay, music, art, atkosphere. That feeling that youre killing machine. Im writting this before i watched the review i hope its positive :) When someone ask me what retro game to play, Shinobi 3 is the 1st answer.
One of my Top 10 favorite Sega Genesis games of all time. Glad I picked up The Genesis Classics on the Switch so I can relive this game. Really hoping the developers of Streets of Rage 4 will work on a Shinobi game in the future. In one of the stages of SOR4 in the background there is a picture of Joe Musashi.
I remember how long it took me to complete the falling rocks stage and the final level, rage mode was quite common during those stages. Completing the game was quite the 'OH F**K YES!* moment for me when I finally finished it back in the early or mid 90s. Quite enjoyed the game and it's soundtrack.
I agree with your closing. It's one of the best games ever. I've also beaten it a ton and I never tire of it. It seems I get the need to play it a couple of times each year. I even learned a few things here, including that secret space with crates in the bio weapon stage. I always just plowed through that segment. Not that it would be a big deal, as I'd have plenty of lives and such anyway. And even if you're not playing it normally for the video, I saw some interesting and viable alternative strategies. That's one thing the game is so good at, allowing a good bit of freedom in how you approach it, without the game feeling sloppy. One thing I do differently from the video is I do dash jumps from those sinking poles in the last level. It's amazing the game turned out so great considering the issues it had during development. Good thing someone had the good judgment to delay it so it could be so polished. For some reason, I was unaware of Shinobi 3 when it was in development and after it came out. That's odd, since I did get magazines from time to time, but I guess I just missed it. Same thing happened with Sonic 3. I bought both used off a friend of mine when he was selling old games to buy Saturn games in 1995 or 1996. It may have been 1996 because I have no memory of playing Shinobi 3 on anything but my Nomad. I was completely surprised by the existence of Shinobi 3, but I'm glad I bought it from him. I was a Shinobi fan going back to the Master System, so when I saw the game, I didn't hesitate to buy and I loved it immediately. The Nomad led to me buying more Genesis games such as the two mentioned, and also Light Crusader and Phantasy Star 4, and gave me a renewed enthusiasm for the system. It was a fun moment in time. Shinobi 3 was a big part of that.
As always your content is awesome , Lord. For those who doesn't own a mega drive/ Genesis , the best option is emulation. Ofivcial emulation has considerable input lag, so your best option is retroarch with input delay correction. There's also a rom called Shinobi III enhanced edition Wich corrects the ninjitsu with ninjutsu, allows to turn of shuriken use to play using only the katana / kunai for close range. It is very challenging and very fun to play.
Ive been playing shinobi 3 off and on for over 25 yrs now, one of the best 16 bit games ever made in my opinion. I remember very clearly how disappointed i was when i heard about sega delaying shinobi 3, but i did tell my friend that it was probably for a very good reason. And oh boy, was i right, soooo worth the wait! Great vid again x, perfect game choice for the genesis
This game is definitely on my top 10 list of Sega Genesis games, from the gameplay, to the music (my lordt the music!), to just the overall presentation. I find myself replaying it with and without the invincible code at least 2-3 times a year.
One of the best games on the system! I never beat the last stage though. Those platforms with electricity and poles always got the best of me. Lol. Your strategy makes the levels look so simple!
6:27 The funny thing is, you don't even have to worry about dodging those electrical charges because you can actually kill them. And it bleeds when you hit it. Joe Musashi is such a bad ass that he can defy the laws of physics and literally divekick electricity to death!
This game was and is still is so close to my heart because of how well put together it was. There was nothing out there with this much ingenuity and craft during the time it came out. Ninja Gaiden felt so old and outdated compare to this game. It sucks that a proper game never came out for the next few consoles. The PS2 Shinobi was 3D game that as much as I wanted to enjoy it just didn’t even give me the same feeling as playing this game. Hope Sega one day brings it back.
One of my favorite games, if not favorite, back from the childhood. I still remember how to play this game, all tactics and how to easily beat each boss without using any magic and gain some bonus lifes on score screen. Man i LOVE this game! p.s - 7:20 That's not a guy, it's Hydra The Bodyweapon.
Great video. One of the best games of the 16 bit era for sure. You would have to be playing on a really old/bad emulator to get any kind of significant lag I think. Some TVs can be pretty bad though. I played through this recently on emulation with zero issues. I didnt realize how laggy my panasonic plasma was until I switched over to an LG OLED. It can be subtle but make a big difference if you have significant input lag. I accidentally had my OLED set to movie mode one time while working on Mike Tyson's Punchout and got annihilated until I set it to Game Mode.
