Shinobi was my second favourite game of 2025, only pipped by the incredible Clair Obscur. Lizardcube’s reimagining of the iconic Sega hero was perfectly pitched in every respect; combat flowed wonderfully, it looked incredible, and the levels were a fantastic mix of linearity and Metroidvania-like elements to come back to once we’d unlocked new upgrades.
And now, we have a set of new levels to play through that remove some of the exploration in favour of basing them heavily on other, iconic Sega titles and their villains; Goro Majima from Yakuza/Like a Dragon; Golden Axe and its boss Death Adder; and the glorious Dr. Eggman from Sonic.
If like me you’ve not played Shinobi in a while, I’d suggest getting reacquainted with the combat in slightly easier levels. We have five stages in total here (two for Yakuza and Golden Axe, and one longer one for Sonic), and choosing to start by chasing down Goro Majima saw me immediately pummeled repeatedly. The stages here are hard, with excellently designed encounters that will put our skills and Musashi’s build to the test.
Once I found my flow again though? I was reminded of just how much I adored the combat of the base game, and while I still got my ass handed to me a fair few times on my way to Majima alone, I had a blast at every turn.
Lizardcube take no prisoners when it comes to enemy placement, and often lock us in tight, single screen battles with multiple waves and not much floor space to use. One sees us battling tough foes while avoiding jets of fire shooting out of various locations on the ceiling, while another gives us just a few platforms to stand on over a pit of spikes. Checkpoints are fairly generous mind you, and like the main game we can duck out and return to any unlocked ones at any time if we need a break.
It’s the boss fights here that steal the show though. Majima, Death Adder and Eggman all present unique challenges and are a real force to reckon with. Majima’s quick movements paired with his ability to send out clones of himself make him a tricky contender, while Death Adder’s sheer size – he’s about five times bigger than Musashi – is combined with power that sees our health bar evaporate quickly if we’re not careful. And Eggman? Well, I won’t ruin the surprises but know that all may not be what it seems when it comes to fighting him.
I knew I’d like this add-on set of levels, but I’m utterly wowed that Lizardcube have done it yet again. They’ve taken not just one iconic Sega IP but four, meshed them together and made a challenge that is distinctly Shinobi but with extra pizazz on top. What they lack in exploration is more than made up for in style, design, and sheer challenge, and I can only hope we get more of this sooner rather than later. Stages set around NiGHTS, House of the Dead, or Virtua Fighter would be amazing, but there’s a full cavalcade of IP to choose from that would also work. Not that I’m trying to give you more work Lizardcube, but, ya know, please?
Conclusion
Fantastic level design and brutally hard challenges remind us of what made the base Art of Vengeance title so good. Add in plenty of love for iconic Sega series and we have an absolute winner on our hands.
This game was reviewed based on Xbox S|X review code, using an Xbox S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.
