Genesis Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master

[Guel Jeturk]

Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master released in Japan as The Super Shinobi II

It is the direct sequel to the previous The Revenge of Shinobi. The game was intended to be released in 1992 and to be very different from the final version of the game in terms of levels and storyline. Shinobi III received critical acclaim. It's been ranked among the greatest Mega Drive/Genesis games.

Compared to its predecessor, the action is considerably smoother, with less emphasis on difficulty and more on speed. In addition to the ability to run from place to place, the player character comes equipped with a new array of moves and techniques, including a mid-air dashkick, the ability to jump-scale walls and a powerful running slash that renders him temporarily invincible to projectiles.

Hack and Slash, Platform for Sega Genesis

 

[AnonymousCookieMonster]

Love this game.

The 'difficulty' doesn't really change, only how much max health you have. There's options to have fewer or no shirkens to start with, which makes melee more necessary to start with. Though getting a powerup letting you use your sword seems a little silly, I'd rather be using the sword all the time!

When i played the game, i would save as many of the special powers/lives for the final boss of the game, as the 'bomb' will kill most normal enemies, hurt the boss but then restore your health but eating an extra life in the process; So store those lives up and charges. You may need them. :)

The moveset i remember is fairly limited. But functional.

 

[RageBurner]

One of the finest games on the Mega Drive. I had this one down to muscle memory in the past.

 

[Lazerith]

I will agree with RageBurner, it is a damn fine game. and they need to go back to making great games like this again.

All games do anymore is hold your hand. and tell you how to play them.
I do not need that.

 

[RageBurner]

I will agree with RageBurner, it is a damn fine game. and they need to go back to making great games like this again.

All games do anymore is hold your hand. and tell you how to play them.
I do not need that.

I'm not averse to being naturally tutorialized by the game (like Super Metroid does it), but nowadays design is mostly just poor with tons and tons of expository tutorials disrupting gameplay.

 

[Jeanfranc]

Amazing game yes, Revenge of Shinobi is also great, perhaps underrated even

I will agree with RageBurner, it is a damn fine game. and they need to go back to making great games like this again.

All games do anymore is hold your hand. and tell you how to play them.
I do not need that.

Well basically game manuals are not just inside the games in digital form but they force you to read them throughout the game and treat you like an idiot

 

[Prism_Red]

The first ever Genesis game I played, I never finished it 'cause I always died at the falling stone jumping thingy stage, the kid me didn't care starting again from the beginning, it's really fun.

 

[RageBurner]

The first ever Genesis game I played, I never finished it 'cause I always died at the falling stone jumping thingy stage, the kid me didn't care starting again from the beginning, it's really fun.

Those jumps can be tricky yeah, it's hard to judge height properly at times. Normally I used to Fushin jutsu (high jump) to avoid losing lives.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

AAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

My favorite game on the system (besides S3&K, because that's my favorite game of all time). This game is AWESOME!

 

[Klonoa7]

I have a bad habit of quickly going through all of my shurikens by performing the double jump/shoot move to fire off multiple shurikens in one shot. It’s a guilty pleasure of mine.

 

[RageBurner]

I have a bad habit of quickly going through all of my shurikens by performing the double jump/shoot move to fire off multiple shurikens in one shot. It’s a guilty pleasure of mine.

Yeah, that move is good, but really burns through the supply. It always bothered me the game called the projectiles shurikens, too, as they are clearly kunai.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

As cool as it is, I never found the "double jump and shoot a bunch of shurikens" move super useful at any point. I would much prefer to shoot out a single one, but aim it precisely.

 

[OrionP]

For those that love Shinobi 3 (who doesn't) I can highly recommend Shinobi on the 3DS. No one talks about this game but it's really great IMO, you can see the devs took a lot of inspiration from Shinobi 3 when they made it. Super underrated.

 

[Darklink]

I really do enjoy this game a lot. I first played it on 3DS with that 3D Classics release of it.

Shinobi 2 is still really good though, and if you've liked Shinobi 3 you should definitely go back and try it.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

One of my faourite non-Sonic, non-Streets of Rage game.

 

[Parasite_Steve]

Top 10 title for the system easily. Revenge of Shinobi has the better soundtrack but I prefer the silky smooth controls of Shinobi III. When you’re in the zone you just glide through the levels like the wind. It also feels more like you’re progressing through one interconnected world instead of several unrelated levels that could basically play in any order.
I have hopes for the new Shinobi game. I’m not 100% on board with the artstyle but this series deserves a revival.

 

[doktorwindo]

I'll take games you regret having to sell to pay bills for 100, Alex.

My favorite of the series by far...alright I'll listen to the soundtrack again...