Shinobi: Art of Vengeance Review - A Sublime Return
Being a PC guy for most of my life, I have no real history with Shinobi. I knew it was a well-regarded franchise on the Mega Drive, but apart from that, I couldn’t really tell you anything about it. But, it can’t be said that I don’t like Ninjas, so when I got the chance to preview Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, it wasn’t a real surprise that I had a blast. Well, now that I have taken on the full game, beaten the final boss, faced its many challenges, I can safely say, I really, really like this Ninja.
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is a pure 2D action sidescroller, the likes of which aren’t seen much anymore. Most of these sorts of games delve into Metroidvania territory, but not Shinobi. You are a Ninja, you kick ass, so go forth and kick ass. That said, there is the option to revisit earlier levels with new abilities to locate some secrets you may have missed, but otherwise this plays out like a classic Ninja platformer of old, and I found that wonderfully refreshing. I didn’t have to worry about maps (except to find the aforementioned secrets), I didn’t have to worry about unlocking new abilities to reach a certain point, and I could simply blast forward and focus on the supremely tight platforming and excellent combat.
Speaking of, this game is all about the gameplay. The movement and platforming are perfect and satisfying in a way that few other games are. Dashing, gliding, sliding, dodging, jumping and climbing all combine into a movement system that is easy to pick up and grasp, but will test even the most agile gamer’s abilities. There are some truly fiendish platforming sections, many of which are optional, that will push your thumbs to their limits. It brought out the rage in me at times, but it was fist-pumpingly awesome when I managed to make my way through some of these sections. The frustration is handled pretty well thanks to a wonderfully fair checkpointing system that encourages people to keep on trying and not just get the shits and walk away.
Combat is also handled wonderfully, with a range of combos, special moves and ultimate moves on offer. Stringing together combos while dodging attacks is a dance that becomes second nature, encouraging players to improve their skills during every encounter. Much like the secret platforming sections, there are three special combat encounters in each level, and these are designed to test your skills fully, while never outpacing your understanding of the game. There has been a lot of thought put into all of these elements, where they appear in the game and how they challenge the player, and it shows. This goes for the boss encounters as well, each of which has been beautifully put together to push players without ever feeling unfair. It is an exciting and engaging system that will keep players hooked from beginning to end.
It would be remiss of me not to mention just how good this game looks. Sporting a hand-drawn art style, Shinobi feels like a world-class animated film come to life. Stunning backgrounds, beautifully animated enemies and glorious effects abound, making this one of the best-looking platformers I have ever seen. The devs ‘ previous game, Streets of Rage 4, was a stunner as well, but this takes it to the next level. Their art team are truly talented, and to achieve this beauty without ever needing anything more than the most modest of systems to run it is wonderful. In fact, I played this on a work laptop, my ROG Ally X and my gaming rig, and there were no problems on anything, with the gaming looking stunning on all three.
There are some issues worth talking about, however. The first is the difficulty. For the first 3/4 of the game, it scales beautifully, letting players learn and improve. That changes with three levels to go when the game slams down a massive difficulty spike, turning the game from a challenging platformer into an extremely difficult one in the blink of an eye. It almost feels like some levels are missing that would have allowed a gentler curve, not the steep mountain that is in the final product. This culminates in the last level with two platforming sections in particular, forcing me to swear more than a healthy man should. It requires perfect precision with no room for error, causing me, for the first time in my gaming history, to move to a wired controller to reduce the minuscule input lag that comes with a wireless one. This was on normal difficulty, god forbid tackling it on hard.
The other problem I have is the length. It is rather on the short side, with the game easily beatable in 6 hours, with another couple thrown in if you want to find every secret. I wanted way more than that, and while I am generally all for short experiences, this is one that could have really thrived with just a few more levels. Is it greedy to want more? Well, possibly, but it is hard to feel anything other than that this game is on the short side. There is a score-chasing mode as well as a boss rush that can be accessed when the game ends, but that is just repeating things I had already done, so it wasn’t that exciting for me.
Those negatives aside, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is a beautiful, challenging and engaging action platformer, the likes of which are rarer than CEO’s who hate AI. It has been put together with talent and love that shines through in the final product. While I have no history with the IP, I am positive that fans will adore this take and shouldn’t hesitate to jump in. As the SEGA revival continues, I hope all of their old properties are treated with such reverence and touch, because if they are, gamers everywhere are in for a treat.
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance was reviewed on PC with code kindly supplied by the publisher.
