Shinobi: Art of Vengeance Review

I’ve made no secret of being a Sega kid growing up; I was always team blue and still have my collection of (now retro) hardware and games to remind me of the simpler times. Well, Sega may no longer be in the hardware business, but the games still elicit nostalgia within me, and one of the best examples of modernising a genuine classic is in Lizardcube’s Streets of Rage 4. I adored how they handled the title, keeping it as I remember while bringing into the modern day with fantastic visuals and gameplay touches. After playing through Shinobi: Art of Vengeance this past week, we may have to rename them Wizard Cube as they’ve only gone and done it again.

The original Shinobi games on the Mega Drive were tough but rewarding action platformers, delivering a worthy challenge and giving us a great feeling arsenal to try and tackle it with. As was standard at the time, it could occasionally veer into unfair territory with super hard bosses designed with an old arcade-mindset, but on the whole they were brilliant games. Art of Vengeance takes the good of the old, shines it up with a stunning art style, and makes what is most likely the best action platformer I’ve played since SoR4. It is an utter joy to play, the difficulty is almost perfectly balanced, and there’s much more to it than simply going from A to B in a level. 

With the Orobo clan all but wiped out at the start of the game after an attack by Lord Ruse and his ENE Corp military, Joe Musashi vows vengeance and seeks to take out Ruse and all of his cohorts. The story is fairly standard affair, but is also kept short and sweet so as not to keep us away from the action for too long. 

He does this by katana-ing all manner of enemies big and small, and using his Ninpo powers to deal extra damage. The flow of the basic combat is extremely satisfying, with light and heavy attacks able to be combo’d into massive damage dealing affairs. Juggling enemies, dodge-rolling attacks, and throwing Kunai is effortless and makes for quite the spectacle. Later on, when foes have shields or unblockable attacks we have everything we need to avoid damage and break them down, though that is naturally easier said than done.

Whether big or small encounters, the combat never fails to entertain. Deal enough ‘execution’ damage to an enemy and we can trigger a massive finishing blow that hands out more currency/health/rewards – get multiple enemies ready to execute and the rewards multiply massively. Each enemy requires different attacks to build this meter up though, and sometimes it’s simply safer to just whittle their health bar down instead. Along the way we fight simple foot soldiers to arrow-firing angels, massive trolls, and fast Ninja’s who are able to counter attack, as well as many others. Even the lower-rank enemies put up a twist in the challenge, from the soldiers bullets being easily lost in the foray and damaging us, to later mutants that explode in poisonous gas when killed. Most encounters mix up the types we face, and there can be some real edge of the seat fights, especially when one last guy spawns in as we’re on the final slither of health. Exhilarating stuff, and even when I failed (which happened a lot) I couldn’t wait to get back in and try again. 

Boss fights are equally excellent – and tough. It’s never as simple as a one on one fight, and some of the most exciting ones test us with screen-filling attacks, homing projectiles, and even an enemy that can split into two halves. These are naturally best seen for yourself, but know that no matter how daunting they can seem, you’d be hard pressed not to enjoy the climb to defeating them.

I mentioned currency, and this is used at the in-game shop to buy new moves, upgrades to Musashi’s abilities, and outfits. In order to unlock more items for sale, we must find hidden Orobo Relics (six per stage) and spend them at the shop. These are often tucked away in hard to reach places or hidden behind a tough encounter, but are well worth seeking out as the rewards gained are all but essential. 

There’s more to find in each level, with Ankou Rifts that are super tough challenges that offer a powerful reward for completing them all, and three Elite Squad battles per stage. Clearing all three of these hard encounters offers new rewards also, though Lizardcube do not take it easy on us – you might be sensing a theme here, but all of the hardest challenges offer the best rewards, and all are worth tackling if you can. Stages can be replayed once completed, and we can spawn (and fast travel to at any time) any of the unlocked save points, which makes exploring and clearing the extra challenges far more approachable. The game is also saved at frequent points, so we never lose progress once we’ve cleared one of these challenges, even if we might have to re-traverse a small section of the level again. It’s a great quality of life touch, and means the challenge of the encounter is enough, without needing to get to a save point afterwards as well.

So, the gameplay is frankly sublime, but it’s also backed up with some excellent audio visual work. Tee Lopes (of Sonic Mania fame) is back and provides a stunning soundtrack yet again, and the art style is much like SoR4, all water colour-brushed with thick comic book-style lines and punchy designs. It’s a fantastic rendition of the Shinobi style for 2025, and I can only hope whatever we get next from Lizardcube retains it.

Conclusion

After Streets of Rage 4, I wasn’t sure bringing back another of the 16-bit classics would have quite the same impact, but I was wrong. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is an incredibly fun action platformer, with fantastic combat design, enemy encounters, optional challenges, and the audio visual presentation to really make it sing. I’m done with the story but am already itching to get back and play the unlocked Arcade and Boss Rush modes, and whether you have nostalgia for the old days or not, this is quite simply one of the best games of the year, so get it played.