Game Profile

In this thrilling sequel to The Revenge of Shinobi, Joe Musashi finds that Neo Zeed – the crime syndicate he believed he had wiped out two years earlier – is indeed still alive and well. The return of Neo Zeed and its leader, the mysterious Shadow Master, forces Musashi to return from exile and confront the growing evil.

As the Shinobi, the master of long-forgotten Oboro Ninjitsu martial arts, Musashi must utilize all his powers to overcome his various enemies. Thanks to his considerable combat skills and special Ninjitsu moves, only the Shinobi can thwart Neo Zeed and vanquish the Shadow Master.

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Review

USA Fri, 03 Aug 2007 by Darren Calvert

In this thrilling sequel to The Revenge of Shinobi, Joe Musashi finds that Neo Zeed – the crime syndicate he believed he had wiped out two years earlier – is indeed still alive and well.

The naming conventions in the Shinobi series sort of got a little confused on the Mega Drive / Genesis. Shinobi III is actually a sequel to the Mega Drive launch title Revenge of Shinobi and shares many similarities with the legendary game. Shadow Dancer..

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User Comments

__tattooman

1. tattooman United States 30 Jun 2007, 05:27 GMT

This is one of the best games for the Mega Drive!!! So when is the USA getting this game????

RMA

2. RMA United Kingdom 30 Jun 2007, 21:56 GMT

Great game...have to agree with Dazza...best Shinobi on MD

Spore

3. Spore United States 05 Jul 2007, 20:57 GMT

This looks great. I should go find a copy.

__Dark_Jedi

4. Dark_Jedi United Kingdom 03 Aug 2007, 12:39 GMT

Revenge of Shinobi is better IMO, this is a close 2nd though.
RoS would last you longer as it's no push over, this on the other hand is quite easy.

Lets hope Revenge is out soon.

Still a recommended download.

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5. Mendez United Kingdom 03 Aug 2007, 15:07 GMT

Looks good, I'll consider a download when I have a job/training place with money coming in!

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6. Ian Daemon United States 20 Aug 2007, 16:20 GMT

This game is awesome. I can't wait to download it when I get home. Tough only in certain places. Really fun platformer! Well worth your Wii Points!

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7. GumbyX84 United States 20 Aug 2007, 16:39 GMT

This was a great game I was never able to buy for my Genesis. I am SOOO happy it is coming out today. Makes this day ever better (just got hired for a great internship). And we STILL get Super Metroid today!! :-D

The game is great. IMO, its one of the best Ninja games of the time period. Its like the current Ninja Gadiens: Its not only has the graphics, but the gameplay and control needed to be a great game. I am happy we got this so quickly.

8. 20 Aug 2007, 23:19 GMT

After watching the clip I just realised I played this a lot at the time, I rented it from a moblie game van that came outside of the house often. Im off to download this now.

__Craig H

9. Craig H Australia 23 Sep 2007, 13:18 GMT

I was a bit disappointed with this game. It seems almost identical to Revenge of the Shinobi.

I get the feeling while playing it that the PAL conversion has damaged the speed and timing of the game somewhat.

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10. deggs Canada 02 Oct 2007, 15:49 GMT

Honestly, this game is sooooo much more fun than Revenge of Shinobi (which I had as a kid). I truly enjoy playing this one so much more (better level design and great, fun bosses. you get the sense that they actually put a lot of effort into this one where as, Revenge always kinda felt like it was a rush-to-launch title with a massive hodge podge of unbeatable levels and little story explaining how you got from point A to point B). <br> <br>The controls in this one though have that fairly fragile feeling to them a lot of the time which is fine for a game like this because I always pictured ninja masters being all about the balance and subtle attacks. This is by far the best shinobi game i have ever played (though all I know is this, Revenge of, Shadow Dancer and the tengen cart for the nes which was gawdawful)... if i could give it 4.5, i would. this is still one of the genesis games that I still play over 10 years later...

alvieao

11. alvieao United States 15 Oct 2007, 18:58 GMT

The sequel to Revenge of Shinobi, which is also a classic but difficult. Shinobi III is more refined and balanced as you can run, wall jump and kick on the enemies. However, the game is still challenging even with these improvements. There is also good variety within these levels, especially the horse riding and surfing ones. The best game in the Shinobi series is a MUST download.

kalle3004

12. kalle3004 Netherlands 23 Dec 2007, 16:13 GMT

This game owns! I'm definetly gonna get this.

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13. Villain Sweden 24 Jan 2008, 10:08 GMT

My best recommendations for this game. WONDERFUL action platforming with sweet gameplay, controls, music and graphics. Perfect for wasting away a Saturday with a cuppa coffee and a bowl of udon. Get this game, alright? You'll thank me (and Daz and everybody else who has posted positive comments about this) later!

And you know what's sick? I've never played any of the sequels or prequels.

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14. Mixer152 United Kingdom 27 Jan 2008, 12:55 GMT

Just downloaded this on my Wii recently, just had a really quick playtrhough so cant really judge but it seems fun. Bearing in mind I couldnt even get past the second level in Revenge of Shinobi lol (but that was many years ago).
Speaking of Revenge, Yuzo didnt do the music for this game which doesnt please me but hey, I'll give it a chance

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15. President_Leever Sweden 30 Jan 2008, 14:54 GMT

Excellent ninja action with smooth controls. This time it really felt like you wee controlling a ninja. The dark atmosphere of RoS isn't quite there anymore though.

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16. Will Ireland 03 Feb 2008, 02:14 GMT

Remember the level where shinobi is standing on falling rocks, and hes jumping upscreen to more falling rocks? Isnt that level just fantastic?! I remember playing that level and thinking, Shinobi, how the hell did you get yourself into this situation?!!!! Fantastic game.

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17. Dazza United Kingdom 03 Feb 2008, 08:42 GMT

For some reason I find that falling rock level really tricky. I get about 90% through it and make a really silly mistake and have to do it all over again. It's still good fun though. My thoughts exactly, how does Shinobi Joe get himself into these pickles??!

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18. Nigel Canada 06 Feb 2008, 01:23 GMT

I haven't made it to the falling rocks, I've gotten as far as stage 5. This is my first ninja game -- I've never played Ninja Gaiden. I like this one alot so maybe I'll try Ninja Gaiden sometime. I'm a little afraid of it's high difficulty though.

Fun! 5 stars for sure.

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19. Pwnage United Kingdom 17 Feb 2008, 19:58 GMT

WOW looksstupendously fun:-)

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20. Tony United States 25 Feb 2008, 20:30 GMT

I enjoyed this much better than Revenge of Shinobi. Its worth the 800 points. Awesome graphics

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21. loudogsgonetothemoon187 United States 11 Mar 2008, 22:46 GMT

does this game have a save feture or do you start over at the begining every time you get a game over

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22. Villain Sweden 20 Mar 2008, 10:00 GMT

@Last poster...: It's a linear action game that does NOT allow you to save...other than the Wiis Suspend Save feature, at least.

This game is greater than Alexander. I must disagree with the review, there's lots of great action music in here. Everything else is just about right.

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23. DDR Paladin356 United States 10 Apr 2008, 15:46 GMT

I think the reviewer might have gotten the game history mixed up a bit.

This actually was the third game in the main Shinobi series. The first one was titled simply as Shinobi. It was on Arcade and SMS. Revenge of Shinobi was the second in the series. Shadow Dancer was more of a side story (it deals with a different organization called union lizard and not Zeed/Neo Zeed). So, Shinobi III is indeed Shinobi III (or it could be considered Shinobi IV)

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24. Damo United Kingdom 10 Apr 2008, 16:41 GMT

Paladin - explain why it's called Super Shinobi 2 in Japan then ;)

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25. Shadows Arise United States 03 Jun 2008, 18:43 GMT

this was one of the easiest ones ive played myself personaly but i have to downloas it

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26. Iapetus United States 06 Jun 2008, 07:39 GMT

Ugh... I liked this game as a kid. I got pressured into buying this game cuz I was being called a fool for preferring Revenge, and I have been letdown - too easy and uninspiring imo. If it had more of a challenge I'd like it more I think. On the plus side, it doesn't have the horrible 4-1 glitch the MD Collection for PS2 has.

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27. Mixer152 United Kingdom 18 Aug 2008, 05:23 GMT

I suck at shinobi games theyre too hard for me, I still downloaded this regardless as Ive heard nothing but good about it. Still yet to play through it properly but I will someday.

How comes Revenge of Shinobi still aint out yet it was one of the earliest and best games on the system, whats taking them so long.

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28. PuppetMasterKuruku United States 18 Aug 2008, 12:24 GMT

This game is great, I've got it on Sega Genesis Collection. Speaking of which, you'd be better off buying that since it's about twice as much and it's a great collection. :D

Most ninja games are so good, from Last Ninja, Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi, I-Ninja, TMNT, and Ninja Five-0, that it seems you pretty much have to go out of your way to really make a bad one. (See: Ninjabread Man.)

To answer your question, Mixer152, the original Shinobi hasn't been released on Virtual Console or any Sega collections due to certain copyright problems. See, a whole bunch of famous characters appeared in that game, the most notable of which are none other than Spiderman and Batman. Batman was replaced by a different boss in a later printing because Sega had never obtained the rights to use him got in trouble. Spiderman, on the other hand, stayed because they did get the rights to use him.

Nowadays, who knows if they'd want to go to the trouble of keeping them, and they might wind up releasing a new version with none of them in there. Either way, it's just not the same without Batman in there. :(

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29. Marvel_Maniac Canada 08 Sep 2008, 19:53 GMT

Yeah, I bought this recently as well. I was bored and had a few hour to kill before work. What a great experience. Got myself some raviolli and went to town on this bad-boy. Very entertaining and cinematic feel. For goodness sakes gentlemen: it has a surfing ninja attacking a space/hovercraft! Doesn't get better than this.

Just remember, hold down the attack button to block! He can block most attacks this way!

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30. romulo Brazil 19 Sep 2008, 00:30 GMT

@Damo: Because Revenge of Shinobi was called Super Shinobi in Japan. Shinobi -> Super Shinobi (Revenge of Shinobi) -> Super Shinobi 2 (Shinobi III)

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31. Corbie United States 23 Oct 2008, 08:38 GMT

I think I just got a headache. Why don't they just name the games the same in all regions and stop the confusion. Final Fantasy III or Final Fantasy VI? Super Shinobi or Shinobi III? Sheesh. :)

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32. Bass X0 United Kingdom 23 Oct 2008, 10:04 GMT

Regarding Final Fantasy, the SNES games were only named 2 and 3 because they were the second and third games to be released in America even though they were the fourth and sixth games in Japan. Now everyone has adjusted to the Japanese numbering except for those dedicated SNES Final Fantasy gamers perhaps.

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33. Corbie United States 24 Oct 2008, 04:51 GMT

I stick to the formula of if I'm speaking directly about the SNES games, I call them 2 or 3, all other times I call them 4 and 6. What I find amusing is how upset some people get when someone refers to the SNES games as Final Fantasy 2 or Final Fantasy 3, even though that's the correct name. :)

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34. cowboy Greece 24 Nov 2008, 19:33 GMT

i am playing the game now on the vc and must admit its very adictive!!!!

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35. Shin Kazama Canada 02 Apr 2009, 01:39 GMT

One of my favourite game on the genesis. The final boss fight is epic

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