3D Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master

Genre: Action-Platformer

Players: 1

.

Review:

Shinobi III is an Action-Platformer originally released on Sega Genesis in 1993 and later ported to numerous other platforms over the years (including two ports to Nintendo Switch), with the 2013 Nintendo 3DS release of the game adding stereoscopic 3D. Despite the III in this game’s title, Shinobi III is actually the eighth game in the series, and a direct sequel to the series’ third game, The Revenge of Shinobi. As with other games in the Shinobi series, Shinobi III has players fighting enemies as a ninja.

The presentation in this game uses 2D pixel art visuals with a pretty good amount of personality to them. Overall, I think this was a pretty good looking Sega Genesis game, and those visuals have aged well. This is backed by a decent but forgettable chiptune soundtrack.

For the gameplay itself, this game ditches the unforgiving gameplay of earlier games in the series where taking a single hit will kill you. Instead, players have a life bar that continues from one level to the next, and must make measured use of their projectile weapons and “ninja magic” to fight their way through enemies. Overall, this makes for a decent action-packed experience, though I will note that the hit detection does feel a bit off at times.

The Nintendo 3DS release of the game adds a few extra features, such as the ability to play the game with different emulation modes or different international versions, screen settings, button reassignments, save states, and a much-appreciated “Expert Ninja” mode that doesn’t change the game’s difficulty, but instead changes the game’s controls to allow the use of more than just three buttons (as the original game was designed to do).

Overall, Shinobi III is one of the better Action-Platformers on the Sega Genesis, and this port does just enough to brush it up and make it a solid pick up for Nintendo 3DS owners craving that classic ninja action. If you’re looking to bolster your Nintendo 3DS’s Action-Platformer games, this is a good choice.

tl;dr – Shinobi III (actually the eighth game in the series, apparently) drops one hit kills from earlier games in the series in favor of gameplay that’s a bit more forgiving, though it’s still tough, and a bit on the simplistic side. However, there’s a good variety of enemies and stages. Not bad.

Grade: B-

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}

^{This month’s sponsors are Ben, Andy Miller, Exlene, Homer Simpin, Johannes, Talissa, Eli Goodman, Gabriel Coronado-Medina, Ilya Zverev, Kristoffer Wulff, and Seth Christenfeld. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}