As a ‘90’s gamer who chose the Genesis over the Super Nintendo in my childhood because black is cooler than gray and Sonic was cooler than Mario, you can bet I was over the moon when Shinobi: Art of Vengeance was first announced.
It was easily the appointment I was most excited for during our Summer Game Fest planning, and now that I’ve gotten my hands on it, I might be a little more ready than Sega is.
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is going to draw a lot of comparisons to Streets of Rage 4, because Lizardcube had a hand at designing its animation and visuals. Make no mistake about it though, this is a Sega game through and through, so it’s definitely interesting seeing some of the decisions that made in its gameplay.
That’s our Joe! Blowing fireballs!
Seeing as how this is only an impressions piece, I won’t spend too much time talking about what the game is about. The bottom line is Joe Musashi is back and he’s mad at an evil corporation taking over the world. Yep, ninja vs. corporation. That’s classic a Sega beat-em-up for you.
But back to why the game could end up being divisive. If you’ve played any of the classic Shinobi games on the Genesis, which this game will probably try hardest to appeal to, this will hardly feel like them. The classics placed a heavy emphasis on projectile attacks and precise platforming. It was closer to a Mega Man than it was to a Metroidvania, but now this modern take on Shinobi leans toward the latter. To me, that’s not a bad thing. Unfortunately, I don’t represent the internet.
In fact, the game plays great. Beat-em-up fans should be excited about how visceral and sharp each attack feels, while platformer fans should be pleased with how jumping, double jumping, and wall jumping all work in tune with each other. This said, if you’re not a Metroidvania fan, this probably won’t change your mind because it very much is one. From maps, to save and heal stations, to locked paths that turn each room into a mini-killing spree, those aspects are very much there. We also came across walls and floor doors that could only be messed with using moves we didn’t have access to yet, so it looks like backtracking will be something to expect.
Another thing Shinobi is known for is difficulty. The levels I played weren’t overbearing, but the boss fights did take a few tries. If you’re that kind of person, you can challenge yourself by only using basic abilities, but Musashi has a lot of moves at his disposal you’ll want to use, and it really shows how dynamic the combat in the game can be.
If there’s one thing to have concern for, it might be when too much stuff is happening at once. I was playing with a PS5 build, and when we got to points where the amount of enemies on the screen got a little overwhelming, there was noticeable slowdown with the frame rate. That said, finishing moves in the game also force a slower frame rate to make things more cinematic, but with the amount of time we had to play, it was tough to judge whether it was a feature or an issue. None of this was anything I’d call gamebreaking, but it’ll be worth noting to people who expect their games to be pixel perfect.
Sometimes, you have to be pixel perfect too. During the second level we played in, when we died, we ended up being thrown to the very beginning of the stage, and that’s really not a lot of fun to anyone. I get it though, as that’s something I had to live with as a kid.
Despite the possibility of the game not really catering to every fan, I enjoyed every minute I played of Shinobi: Art of Vengeance and look forward to diving back into it. Players should expect to toss their shuriken when the game comes out on August 29, 2025 for the PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. We’ll definitely have more coverage of the game around then.
As a ‘90’s gamer who chose the Genesis over the Super Nintendo in my childhood because black is cooler than gray and Sonic was cooler than Mario, you can bet I was over the moon when Shinobi: Art of Vengeance…
As a ‘90’s gamer who chose the Genesis over the Super Nintendo in my childhood because black is cooler than gray and Sonic was cooler than Mario, you can bet I was over the moon when Shinobi: Art of Vengeance was first announced.
It was easily the appointment I was most excited for during our Summer Game Fest planning, and now that I’ve gotten my hands on it, I might be a little more ready than Sega is.
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is going to draw a lot of comparisons to Streets of Rage 4, because Lizardcube had a hand at designing its animation and visuals. Make no mistake about it though, this is a Sega game through and through, so it’s definitely interesting seeing some of the decisions that made in its gameplay.
That’s our Joe! Blowing fireballs!
Seeing as how this is only an impressions piece, I won’t spend too much time talking about what the game is about. The bottom line is Joe Musashi is back and he’s mad at an evil corporation taking over the world. Yep, ninja vs. corporation. That’s classic a Sega beat-em-up for you.
But back to why the game could end up being divisive. If you’ve played any of the classic Shinobi games on the Genesis, which this game will probably try hardest to appeal to, this will hardly feel like them. The classics placed a heavy emphasis on projectile attacks and precise platforming. It was closer to a Mega Man than it was to a Metroidvania, but now this modern take on Shinobi leans toward the latter. To me, that’s not a bad thing. Unfortunately, I don’t represent the internet.
In fact, the game plays great. Beat-em-up fans should be excited about how visceral and sharp each attack feels, while platformer fans should be pleased with how jumping, double jumping, and wall jumping all work in tune with each other. This said, if you’re not a Metroidvania fan, this probably won’t change your mind because it very much is one. From maps, to save and heal stations, to locked paths that turn each room into a mini-killing spree, those aspects are very much there. We also came across walls and floor doors that could only be messed with using moves we didn’t have access to yet, so it looks like backtracking will be something to expect.
Another thing Shinobi is known for is difficulty. The levels I played weren’t overbearing, but the boss fights did take a few tries. If you’re that kind of person, you can challenge yourself by only using basic abilities, but Musashi has a lot of moves at his disposal you’ll want to use, and it really shows how dynamic the combat in the game can be.
If there’s one thing to have concern for, it might be when too much stuff is happening at once. I was playing with a PS5 build, and when we got to points where the amount of enemies on the screen got a little overwhelming, there was noticeable slowdown with the frame rate. That said, finishing moves in the game also force a slower frame rate to make things more cinematic, but with the amount of time we had to play, it was tough to judge whether it was a feature or an issue. None of this was anything I’d call gamebreaking, but it’ll be worth noting to people who expect their games to be pixel perfect.
Sometimes, you have to be pixel perfect too. During the second level we played in, when we died, we ended up being thrown to the very beginning of the stage, and that’s really not a lot of fun to anyone. I get it though, as that’s something I had to live with as a kid.
Despite the possibility of the game not really catering to every fan, I enjoyed every minute I played of Shinobi: Art of Vengeance and look forward to diving back into it. Players should expect to toss their shuriken when the game comes out on August 29, 2025 for the PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. We’ll definitely have more coverage of the game around then.
by Danreb Victorio
