Shinobi III is one of the best action games on the Genesis and still the best game in the very good Shinobi series. Everything clicks - the controls are tight and once mastered allow for precision movement. Which is good, because by the end of the game, precision movement is required. The move set is greatly expanded from Revenge of Shinobi. Musashi can sprint now, enabling speedy travel through levels and a way to quickly close the distance on enemies, capped with a lunging attack. Jump kicks, wall jumps, clinging to and clambering across ceilings - these actions once mastered enable us to flow through levels in style, and it feels amazing to not just overcome the challenges of the game, but doing so with style and a flourish.
The graphics are exceptional, with excellent animation for all characters and enemies, good effects work and clear, well detailed environmental and character designs. Every level is given depth through some of the most extensive parallax on the Genesis. The soundtrack is somehow up to the task of following Yuzo Koshiro's legendary work in Revenge of Shinobi, with a widely varied score spanning tracks that are slower and atmospheric when it suits the level to straight up rock (the jet ski sequences). Every track is great, and I still listen to this OST regularly all these years later.
But the true star here is the level design: every stage introduces new ideas and challenges, and they slowly make increasing use of verticality and require exploration in order to progress. Each presents several initial opportunities to make use of moves like wall climbing to get a feel for it before later requiring it to both advance and find secrets. Pure action stages on horseback or the aforementioned jet ski break up the longer levels, and the game climaxes in a pair of long and very intense platforming stages that epitomize the 'tough but fair' game design, making the game incredibly salifying to clear. Everything from the health and ammo systems to the abundance of secret stashes of supplies is tuned to walk that line.
This was my favorite Genesis action game when I was a kid, and probably my most replayed game ever. Playing it again for the first time in many years, I was struck at how well it holds up. Solid game design never ages. This game simply rocks.
Played on Genesis mini.
The graphics are exceptional, with excellent animation for all characters and enemies, good effects work and clear, well detailed environmental and character designs. Every level is given depth through some of the most extensive parallax on the Genesis. The soundtrack is somehow up to the task of following Yuzo Koshiro's legendary work in Revenge of Shinobi, with a widely varied score spanning tracks that are slower and atmospheric when it suits the level to straight up rock (the jet ski sequences). Every track is great, and I still listen to this OST regularly all these years later.
But the true star here is the level design: every stage introduces new ideas and challenges, and they slowly make increasing use of verticality and require exploration in order to progress. Each presents several initial opportunities to make use of moves like wall climbing to get a feel for it before later requiring it to both advance and find secrets. Pure action stages on horseback or the aforementioned jet ski break up the longer levels, and the game climaxes in a pair of long and very intense platforming stages that epitomize the 'tough but fair' game design, making the game incredibly salifying to clear. Everything from the health and ammo systems to the abundance of secret stashes of supplies is tuned to walk that line.
This was my favorite Genesis action game when I was a kid, and probably my most replayed game ever. Playing it again for the first time in many years, I was struck at how well it holds up. Solid game design never ages. This game simply rocks.
Played on Genesis mini.