Lizardcube know a thing or two about reviving classic Sega game franchises. Streets of Rage 4 is right up there as one of the very best beat ’em up sequels, capturing so much of what made the originals great, making for a masterful modernised tribute to the genre. And now it’s time for Shinobi to take the spotlight once more.
Developed in collaboration with Sega themselves, this time around, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is a game that unapologetically makes you feel awesome. Where the gaming world now feels like it’s dominated by dark fantasy Soulslikes and tough melee combat where you have to earn every break and opening, where you’re punished and staggered for missing any block or dodge window, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance turns the tables and has you stagger and interrupt you enemies with impunity.
Of course, you’d expect nothing less from a master ninja like Joe Musashi. He’s now quite literally the last man standing from the Oboro Clan, with his home town having been burned to the ground by a whole army, and with almost all his compatriots having been turned to stone, somehow. Outside of Joe’s protege, he’s apparently now the only thing in the way of world domination by Lord Ruse and ENE Corp. It’s a good thing that he’s the best of the bunch, isn’t it?
Right from the off, Joe feels powerful. It’s almost funny how the first ninja you meet – a base level goon that slings shuriken your way – is so confident of claiming victory, when Joe can deftly double jump over the slow-moving projectile and dispatch him in a single attack. There’s a pleasing weight to Joe’s attacks, the halts in animation as his strikes land adding to that heft.
And again, as tougher enemies emerge, such as the beefier yellow clad enemies, your ability to interrupt their sign-posted attacks shines through. There’s no blocking needed here, you just get your strikes in first. Of course, that does become trickier as we progress through the stage and encounter more mystical foes. Archers that fire lightning arrows up and down on your position, strange toad-like enemies, enemies that have the form of Olympic axe throwers.
As enemies are weakened by your attacks, you can build up the power with certain attack types to pull off an Execution Move, zipping across the screen to land deadly finishing blows of anyone that has the symbol above their head. And of course, there’s then screen-clearing Ninjutsu, coming with flamboyant animated cutscenes and feeding off your building Rage gauge.
Platforming is also light and fluid. Of course Joe can wall-jump and even dash up them a few feet, but once he’s retrieved them, use claws to cling on and climb walls, while there’s an air-dash to bridge larger gaps, a rapid twirl to hurdle over boxes, and more. A part of the progression will be uncovering new Ningi tools to overcome obstacles, and applying magical amulets to give even more enhanced abilities.
It’s all brought together by a fantastic hand-crafted art style that simultaneously feels like it draws upon classic 90s cartoons and has modern touches like dynamic edge lighting from the surroundings that you’re running through. After the opening mission, we skipped ahead to a later level, trying to halt an attack on a city in the middle of a fireworks display – with so much action on rooftops and small hanging ledges, it was just as satisfying to juggle enemies and kick them off the stage, as it was to fully defeat them.
It built up to a fun boss battle against a spider mech, using a charged attack to crash through its energy shield and then unleashing a string of damage, before backing off to avoid bullets and fire grenades.
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is shaping up to be another absolutely brilliant retro revival from Lizardcube, bringing another Sega classic back in glorious fidelity and style.