Difficulty:

Hard

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"All it's cracked up to be"

I recall wanting to play Shinobi in the arcades so badly when I first got word of its existence. When I finally found an arcade machine, I went away only having played it once. A shame, really, because amidst a sea of other, more popular arcade games at the time, Shinobi held its weight as a competent action game. It's now finally available in all its arcade-perfect glory for XBLA at a respectable 400 points.

The premise is simple--rescue hostages, kill enemies with shuriken, and defeat the game's five stages. The XBLA port is a faithful rendition of its source material, so almost everything is as you remember it--with the exception of the Marilyn Monroe posters curiously absent from the first stage. (No big deal, but it is strange.) Shinobi is also a pretty difficult game--due in large part because of the "one hit kill" clause. Doesn't matter if its a sword, a slow-moving bullet, a boomerang or some dude running at you with a dagger---one hit, and you're dead. Rescuing hostages is not only the heroic thing to do, but it's also a practical one. To clear the stage, you need to make sure that no one is left behind. And of course, releasing them from their bondages will grant you point bonuses and power-ups--like a rocket launcher. Yes--a rocket launcher. As if ninjas weren't dangerous enough already.

The Bonus Stages that occur at the end of each stage are interesting exercises in reflexes and coordination--a shooting gallery where you'll flick throwing stars at fast moving ninjas. Make sure you shoot down every Ninja you see--missing even one will end in failure, and a ninja popping right in your face. (To this day, that still scares the crap out of me.)

Overall, Shinobi is a fun game that was overlooked in the arcades, yet successful enough in its own right to spawn several sequels and spinoffs. Achievements aren't too hard to pull off--one of them you can instantly earn right off the bat. And even though the game hasn't aged terribly well, it looks great in high-def. And at a meager 400 points, the experience is worth the purchase price.