Platform: Arcade
Region: NTSC-U
Country: United States of America
Developer(s): Sega
Publishers(s): Sega of America, Inc.
ReleaseDate: 1988-02-16
Players: 2
Co-op: No
Shinobi
Shinobi is a 1988 arcade video game developed by Sega R&D1 and released by Sega Enterprises Inc. in the USA on February 16, 1988. The controls of Shinobi consist of an eight-way joystick and three action buttons for attacking, jumping, and using ninjutsu techniques called ninja magic. The player can walk forward, or perform a crouching walk by pressing the joystick diagonally downward. The player can jump to higher or lower floors by pressing the jump button while holding the joystick up or down. The protagonist Joe Musashi's standard weapons are an unlimited supply of shurikens, and punches and kicks. Rescuing certain hostages in each stage will grant him an attack upgrade replacing throwing stars with a gun, and his close-range attack becomes a katana slash. Musashi's ninjutsu techniques can only be used once per stage and will clear the screen of all enemies, or cause significant damage to a boss. Depending on the stage, the three ninjutsu techniques are a thunderstorm, a tornado, and a doppelganger attack. Enemies include punks, mercenaries, ninjas, and the Mongolian swordsmen guarding each hostage. Musashi can bump into most enemies without harm and can only be killed if he is struck by an attack, gets hit by a projectile, or falls into a bottomless hole. The stage will then restart, but any saved hostages will be retained. When the player runs out of lives, additional coins will continue the game except the final mission. The time limit is three minutes per stage and bonus points are awarded for time, with additional bonuses for refraining from ninjutsu technique (except on the fifth level) or using only melee attacks. Extra lives are awarded for achieving certain scores, completing the bonus round, or rescuing a special hostage. A bonus round has a first-person perspective of throwing shurikens at incoming enemy ninjas, for an extra life.
Trailer: YouTube
ESRB Rating: E - Everyone
Genre(s): Action | Platform
