Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master Longplay (Mega Drive/Genesis) [60 FPS]

Developed by Megasoft and published by Sega in 1993

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Released in 1993 as a direct sequel to Sega's classic, The Revenge of Shinobi, Joe Musashi returns once again to do battle with the forces of the notorious crime syndicate, Neo Zeed. Now headed by a mysterious individual known only as The Shadow Master, Musashi must rely on his years of Ninja training if he is to bring down the organisation once and for all.

Just as with other games in the series, the player must guide Musashi through a series of interconnected, side-scrolling levels with plenty of jumping and platforming action to be had. Each level is inhabited by a plethora of bad guys to defeat; from enemy ninja to gun-toting soldiers, everyone wants a piece of Joe Musashi.

Fortunately, Joe has plenty to go around, boasting a lethal arsenal with which to dispatch his foes that includes deadly Kunai blades, martial arts abilities and, most importantly, a razor-sharp sword. When traditional weapons fail, however, Musashi can invoke the powers of might Ninjitsu magic to bolster his abilities. Be it flaming dragons to smite his foes, or granting him super-human leaping abilities, the magic is there to aid you in the most difficult of situations.

Just as before, the player can perform a double-jump to reach the more hard-to-reach platforms by tapping the jump button a second time whilst in the air. Also returning is Musashi's ability to hurl out a fan of Kunai whilst somersaulting - a great way for dealing with multiple foes, especially those lurking below him.

Rounding out Joe's new abilities is the ability to run (double-tap the controller in the same direction), wall-jump and even use his sword to deflect bullets and projectiles. Joe also has the ability to use Kunai to hang from the underside of platforms and ceilings, swinging hand-over-hand to cross the level. There's no denying that the expanded roster of moves makes the game a more dynamic game than it's predecessor.

Also making an appearance in this sequel are a number of special stages that see Musashi fighting against ninja whilst on horseback horseback and from atop a rocket-powered jet-ski; a first for the series. The bad guys are not the only things to watch out for in these sections, as there are plenty of obstacles to avoid as well.

The game features some great artwork and graphics for the time and is noticeably crisper than the previous game. Many levels feature impressive parallax scrolling, plus the scrolling is ultra-smooth and rarely do you notice any kind of drop in frame-rate; Shinobi III really epitomises what you expect from a platform game on a 16-bit machine.

As for audio, it's a shame that Yuzo Koshiro didn't return to pen the music for this sequel. The music is by no means bad, but there's something unmistakable about Koshiro's work that would only have made the game sound even better (in my opinion, at least).

Some people criticise this game for being too easy, but I found it to be just the right level of challenge (believe me, the final level will certainly put your skills to the test). Enemy positions are much more straightforward to deal with and there's far fewer instances where the player gets knocked back into a pit o' doom by bullets from some opponent just off the edge of the screen.

All good things must come to an end, but it's safe to say that Shinobi III is a great way for the series to end. Not only is it more action packed and faster paced, but it looks and feels better than it's predecessors too. I'm not sure I'd call it a classic, but it's still a great title worthy of your attention.
#retrogaming