#super shinobi

[redsamuraiii]

SEGA Shinobi to get a Movie Adaptation

Universal Pictures is turning the SEGA video game “Shinobi” into a feature film. The studio has enlisted “Extraction” filmmaker Sam Hargrave and producer Marc Platt to adapt the hack-and-slash series for the big screen. Plot details haven’t been confirmed but “Shinobi” follows protagonist Joe Musashi as a modern-day ninja who confronts evil. It debuted in 1987 as an arcade game and has evolved into a franchise that spans 14 sequels with over five million copies sold to date.

Source : Variety

Happy to see Ninja genre returning as they once dominate Hollywood in the 80s.🥷🏻

[smbhax]

The Super Shinobi (MD)

(ROM from Steam version of The Revenge of Shinobi)

[jayextee]

Shinobi III

The late '80s and early '90s fucking loved ninjas, so of course they were in a lot of media of the time. Videogames no exception, and to me the Shinobi series were always indicative of this trend; plus iconic in their own way.

The first game, an arcade title, was occasionally unfair and brutal but completely memorable. The second ('Revenge of' or 'The Super' Shinobi, depending on region) was an improvement in pretty much every way, offering both a meticulously-balanced action platformer that helped give the SEGA Megadrive a strong launch lineup; and an artistic commentary on East-versus-West attitudes and stereotypes.

Number three eschews the high art in favour of schlocky ninja action, and absolutely excels with it. This being the nineteen-nineties, the stoic and considered pace of the first two games is replaced with a dash-in-and-katana-them-in-half attitude, bolstered by surfing robots and a drop-kicking horse mount. I'm not kidding, such things made my teenage self exclaim "awesome!" thirty years ago, and my adult self hasn't changed their mind one iota since. That's why I play through every now and then, and why I played through it another time today.

Even today, the game's pace and fluidity makes it an absolute joy to blast through; seven levels, split into two discernible halves with a boss at the end; and just enjoy the hour-long ride whilst I'm there. Protagonist Joe Musashi (yeah, really) dashes, blocks, somersaults, divekicks and walljumps the environments with aplomb; although maybe not as stop-on-a-dime responsive as modern (circa 2023) platform action games, there's a nonetheless a feeling of weight to the proceedings that makes it satisfying to chain the moves together -- you aren't just playing as a ninja, you are the ninja.

To top this off, it looks and sounds amazing. It's a great experience all around, offering a perfectly-pitched challenge that may sap a few lives but never overly-frustrates; unless the difficulty is turned up. And even then, it's totally learnable and designed for it.

I feel like it's customary to say something negative about the game to 'balance' the positives? I didn't like waiting for some platform cycles on 7-2. There you go. Motherfucking game is almost perfect. 5/5

[redsamuraiii]

Before there was Ghost of Tsushima and Assassins Creed, there was Revenge of Shinobi. 🥷🏻

Cover Art ‘The Revenge of Shinobi’ SEGA Mega Drive Support us on Patreon

[raamitsu]

WSJ AUTHORS' COMMENT IN REGARDS OF THE END OF JUJUTSU KAISEN'S SERIALIZATION ⭐

#Thank you, Gege Akutami. Most importantly, thank you again for creating Gojo Satoru.

[demifiendrsa]

Official English translated author comments featured in Weekly Shonen Jump 2024 issue #44

Blue Box chapter 166 - Kouji Miura

Jujutsu Kaisen chapter 271 [END] - Gege Akutami

Hakutaku chapter 2 - Kouki Ishikawa

Nue’s Exorcist chapter 68 - Kota Kawae

The Elusive Samurai chapter 174 - Yusei Matsui

Sakamoto Days chapter 184 - Yuto Suzuki

Akane-banashi chapter 128 - Takamasa Moue

Kagurabachi chapter 51 - Takeru Hokazono

Mission: Yozakura Family chapter 244 - Hitsuji Gondaira

Shinobu Undercover chapter 3 - Santa Mitarashi

Astro Royale chapter 23 - Ken Wakui

Hima-Ten! chapter 12 - Genki Ono

Ichi the Witch chapter 4 - Osamu Nishi

Super Psychic Policeman Chojo chapter 32 - Shun Numa

Undead Unluck chapter 224 - Yoshifumi Tozuka

Me & Roboco chapter 203 - Shuhei Miyazaki

Kill Blue chapter 71 - Tadatoshi Fujimaki

Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi chapter 14 - Shoichi Usui

Witch Watch chapter 173 - Kenta Shinohara

Yokai Buster Murakami chapter 15 - Daiki Ihara

[number-one-toku-robot-lover]

Hey people who remember Jiraiya better than I do, would Metalder be considered a ninja by that shows standards? They let Baron Owl and Rocketguy in there.

[tokiro07]

Toki Reads Shonen Jump 2024, Issue #51

HxH: A Kakin soldier, Borksen, is captured by the Heil-Ly; Morena tries to recruit Borksen through a complicated and clearly rigged card game. Welcome back, Cipher Academy.

Yozakura: Tsubomi tells the twins how they can save Kyoichiro from sacrificing himself; the key is Rei's heart, which is only present because Hifumi previously spared Nii; Momo and Taiyo are freed of Asa's control. Hifumi's kindness is retroactively proven to be objectively correct, trumping any strategy or logic from the rest of the cast

Undead Unluck: Fuuko activates Remember, successfully upgrading the entire cast and allowing Julia to steamroll all of the Master Rules. Seems rushed at first, until you realize that Soul still hasn't been dealt with, and Julia just taught him a new facet to his Rule...

Roboco: Roboco writes her own relationship chart and can't help but ship herself with JJK's Gojo and Blue Box's Taiki. Watching Roboco fall into her delusions in real time is certainly a ride, and I'm really hoping that this chapter spawns a new meme template

Sakamoto: Tenkyu pulls off some sick tricks with his bow; Atari saves Shin with one of the most romantic displays of fate I've seen in Jump outside of UU. After all of that, it's going to be so funny when it turns out that Heisuke is her soulmate

EluSam: Kojiro's cousin, Kojiro, arrives to aid the team, but Uesugi sends Nagao to aid Sadamune. It looks like we're going to wrap up Kojiro's character arc soon, since his family and nemesis are converging

Witch Watch: The flashback continues and we see the rivalry between Moi and Kanshi's dads forming. All of the comments are suspicious of the kappa guy, Taiga, but I don't remember enough of the story so far to understand why

Blue Box: Chinatsu comes clean to her dad about her relationship with Taiki, and he tries to take her way; to compromise and make things easier on Chinatsu, Taiki volunteers to live with her dad in her stead. Chad move, honestly, props to you kid

Akane-Banashi: Issho and Shiguma approach Kiroku Kashiwaya to become his apprentices, but are initially turned away until they make amends with the soba shop owner; they learn of Kiroku's past in the army. I don't fully understand what made Kiroku accept them, but I was certainly touched by their apology scene

Kill Blue: The Butler/Maid Cafe uses underhanded tactics, selling idol merch, wearing cat-ears and sending scummy dudes to harass Noren; Noren awakens a femdom fetish in said dudes. We have yet to establish any real stakes aside from pride in this battle, but at least it's funny

Nue: Gakuro is revealed to have done some extra training off-screen with Hakutaku and manages to beat Rido with his new move, Massacre Gear. Not only is that a bad name for a move inspired by Gakuro's friendships, I truly don't understand what it does or how he acquired it; the presentation of events is sloppy, and the exposition of the power system is coming at an odd time

Kagurabachi: Billy Samura explains his motives to Uruha, claiming that he's going to use the Hishaku to eliminate the Swordbearers and then personally wipe out the less experienced Hishaku once they have the Enchanted Blades; Uruha understands his reasoning, but opposes his methods; as Uruha is killed, Hakuri manages to summon Chihiro. Compelling, but Samura seems kind of shortsighted here, since his plan is to ALLOW THE HISHAKU TO HAVE THE BLADES! They will definitely hurt more innocents before he gets to them!

Chojo: Kirara challenges Lily at the arcade and loses at everything, but they form a friendly rivalry. Every comment I saw agreed they should kiss.

Astro Royale: Kinpa takes a page out of MHA and realizes her invisibility can be used to refract light into a laser. I like that she was able to find an alternate use for her Astro, but it felt really sporadic; at least it suggests that other Astros can be upgraded too

Kiyoshi: On the brink of despair, Kiyoshi remembers Yamada's advice to breathe through his fears and gains the upper hand against Asuta. This definitely looks like an axe, but Asuta could escape OR it could turn out he's not the strongest enemy available afterall

Hima-Ten: On the bus to the school trip, Tenichi and Honoka lose at bingo and are forced to sing bad karaoke, but get to go to a coveted date spot as a consolation prize; Himari gives out lip balm that brings good luck in love, but ends up with one left over for herself. I appreciate that we're not dancing around Honoka's feelings, but if Himari is going to be competition, I wish someone would tell her that

Ichi: Shirabedonna suggests revealing Ichi to the world, but the Silver Snow Witch, Togeice, counters that Ichi needs to be taught proper manners first; Shirabedonna proposes that Togeice and Ichi compete to see who can capture a mushroom Magik first. Most of the comments seem to expect Ichi to lose to force a school arc, but I'm expecting this to show off Ichi's style a bit more

Shinobi Undercover: Hachikuma is revealed to fight with strings; Aoi is weirdly calm and keeps talking about fun upcoming events until she gets knocked out; Yodaka manages to take her back, and the fight intensifies. I assume that Aoi's positivity is her coping mechanism for losing her family, and she's not actually as calm as she appears to be

Hakutaku: Hikuma and Noto convince Zenji to help them make their next game; two months later, Noto very creepily convinces a bunch of kids to download what turns out to be an AR game. Wasn't this...supposed to be about dodgeball...?

Syd Craft: A master detective turns out to just be a savant at observation who just wants to know love; despite constantly finding out his love interests are murderers, Syd never realizes that his plucky assistant, Elio, is actually a girl in disguise or that his rival inspector, Souffle, is actually his childhood friend, both of whom are in love with him. Love the premise on its face, but right away it's another harem manga with no clear leading heroine, so time will tell if it's me or Tsutsui who truly Never Learns

Of everything this week, I'd say that Sakamoto Days was actually my favorite; Tenkyu's bow stunts were very cool, and Atari invoking impossible probability to make a gun out of scrap metal is a fun image that will stick with me for a while

UU would have been my favorite if not for the character moments it unfortunately skims over, most notably Tatiana and Billy's reunion. I still have faith that Tozuka is building up to something great, but that moment at least has been lost

Syd Craft's introduction is a lot of fun, I just hope that Tsutsui actually goes the poly route this time, or at least includes one if he does the multi-ending trick again

Supposedly next week or the week after we're going to be seeing a manga by ONE, Bug Ego, moving in from Young Jump; I don't know if it's going to start over or just pick up where it left off, or even if this is only a temporary move, but I'm worried about whether it will necessitate that something else gets the boot. At the moment it's looking like Kiyoshi, but I really hope not

[lamazmorradelandroide]

'The Revenge of Shinobi' Mega Drive (1989)

[redsamuraiii]

The Revenge of Shinobi (1989)

House of Ninjas makes me want to play this childhood game again!

[cinematicbookworm]

When you get booped by me you also get booped by these two dummies

[easternmind]

Last year in classic games

For motives I cannot expand on with much glee, I found a little more time than usual this year to reduce my seemingly endless backlog of classics. Despite all the fine new releases 2023 has greeted us with, I was able to finally dive into this eclectic handful of games I gathered over time. It is perhaps no coincidence that I reached out for more direct game experiences than story-driven ones. I find myself increasingly drawn to games designs that are mindful of the player's time as a commodity not to be carelessly squandered.

One note, if I may: I would like to inspire my readers to progressively discard the use of the word retro this year. We are all of advancing years and wisdom, I trust. The introduction of the term retro to the videogame vernacular was a gross mistake furthering the abhorrent notion that games were as ephemeral in their nature as fashion. It is a purely commercial designation by which to profitably repackage old software as a category of its own, originating from the same minds that considered games as mere novelty trinkets of limited marketable lifespan.

It is up to the player to individually decide on an older game's appeal, whether they may be discovering it for the first time or revisiting it for the umpteenth one. This is not only an appeal for those of you who write about games in any capacity, rather to anyone who takes videogames as a serious interest and communicates with others about this the object of their predilection. Thank you.

This loose cart came with a Famicom bundle auction I won in 2009, if memory serves. I turned on the Famicom and tested it merely to verify if it was still in working condition and found myself engrossed in that trademark Pajitnov/Pokhilko elegant approach to game design. As per the cassette's label, Hatris was originally a concept developed in collaboration with ParaGraph, a Russian studio that went on to develop specialized professional software, a year before the Bullet-Proof Software licensing deal. They produced a few games in the turn of the decade that were rather unusual and, some would say, even visionary. I recommend that you look up their story, if you're curious.

The only entry from the group that isn't of Japanese provenance - though it is a Japanese edition - I played it for purely nostalgic motives, perhaps a yearning for a certain pixel, palette and parallax that resoundingly evoke a time I was fortunate enough to experience, first-hand. If I may be honest, I purchased the game for the visual value of its unique cover art, which I deem superior to the US edition's. In saying that, I must highlight that the original Amiga game box art was quite accomplished.

In the Summer of 93 while on holiday at the beach, there was a French Nintendo magazine for sale whose purchase I could not resist. It was very common to find Spanish, English and French publications at the time in Portugal. This edition had a striking four page preview of this Jaleco gem, Ikari no Yōsai, or Operation Logic Bomb as it was named in the West. For years I searched the PAL version in vain, then ultimately decided to import it on account of - you'd never guess! - the superior box art. Playing it this year at long last, I was instantly reminded of an old Game Boy favourite, Fortified Zone, which I now know to be its prequel. Most top-down shooters are best played in co-op. Ikari no Yōsai is strictly and single-player affair and not once did I miss the absence of a friendly companion.

Keio Flying Squadron 2 first came to my attention via an infamous Saturn demo disc, which came into my hands through circumstances I have since forgotten about. I use the word infamous because the entire game code was available in the disc and the level select cheat code enabled me to unscrupulously play the entirety of the game for no additional expense - at only the cost of missing out on the colourful Studio Pierrot anime FMV interludes.

Having played the sequel first, I was somewhat disenchanted to learn the original game did not feature any platforming segments, it being a pure scrolling shooter in the same whimsical vein as Parodius or, say, an AirZonk. Still, a jolly good time with the old three buttons.

For reasons that will not be immediately apparent to younger reading audiences, I pride myself in having completed most Shinobi games, The Revenge Of and GG being my preferred ones. Shin Shinobi Den, or Shinobi X in Europe, was a game not readily available from my usual game dealers. I eventually borrowed the PAL version once, though not nearly long enough to master it. I finally saw it through this year, mere days before SEGA announced a new episode. While the live action clips looked a tad maladroit in the 1990s, they came to acquire that nice patina I now look for in classic games.

Omega Force was known to take the sporadic breather from producing some of KOEI's most cherished and profitable series. I distinctly remember enjoying Destrega quite a bit in its day, a game quite unlike any other. What their 1998 Enigma lacks in consistency and originality, it more than amply makes up for with its own bizarre concepts, extravagant characters and unexpected genre fusions. Of all the titles in this post, this was the one whose pace felt the most sluggish, and needlessly so.

Microsoft Game Studio Japan release schedule plans were not at all kind on this, their first production, Magatama. Earlier this year I praised this era for its highly inspired H&S action adventure titles and even spent a few days delighting myself with the likes of Blood Will Tell, Nightshade, Bujingai, or Chaos Legion. This most unusual creation, developed by the aptly-named Team Breakout - a group composed of many talented ex-Square employees - is one among the finest of the era. Sadly, it did not do enough to persuade players at the time that it was a better purchase than Otogi or its sequel. Playing it with my mind and heart set back in time to 2003, I can say that this misguided consideration may not have withstood a second thought.

I've long wanted to write an extensive article on Japanese firefighting games. In fact, I have the structure laid out for a Japanofiles entry gathering moss in my Tumblr drafts for over a decade now. For a brief period this year I convinced myself I could finally fulfil this aspiration and resumed Sakurazaka Shouboutai as research. Developed by Racdym - later Racjin - for Irem, it is every bit as good as Firefighter F.D.18 or Hard Luck, and in many ways more inventive from a conceptual standpoint. While Konami and Spike found a way to have their games released in the west, Sakurazaka's poor regional sales performance clearly accounts for Irem's reluctance to bear the cost of an overseas ticket.

[crownedinmarigolds]

I don't really care much for Assassin's Creed games any more and don't have much of a substantial opinion (gameplay is fun but I can't really get into the overarching story beyond the history based parts)... but I'm a bit confused at the use of a real historical figure in their most recent game as a main protagonist. I don't think they've ever used a real historical person as a player character before, and - I don't know - just feels a little odd that they're choosing Yasuke to be the first. I expect it to be cool and as a well-researched as it could be I'm sure, but it does leave a weird feeling. Like they wanted to have the clout of a black male protagonist but didn't want to touch Africa and "hey! Japan will sell to the weebs!" But obviously you can't just make a black samurai and not expect people to go ahead and make the Yasuke comparison so you may as well just use Yasuke but... hm.

[retrogamelovers]

Which game would you play first from the Sega Genesis 6-Pak?

[demifiendrsa]

Official English translated author comments featured in Weekly Shonen Jump 2024 issue #49

The Elusive Samurai chapter 179 - Yusei Matsui

Kagurabachi chapter 56 - Takeru Hokazono

Shinobu Undercover chapter 8 - Ippon Takegushi

Akane-banashi chapter 133 - Yuki Suenaga

Sakamoto Days chapter 188 - Yuto Suzuki

Ichi the Witch chapter 9 - Osamu Nishi

Undead Unluck chapter 229 - Yoshifumi Tozuka

Blue Box chapter 171 - Kouji Miura

Hima-Ten! chapter 17 - Genki Ono

Astro Royale chapter 28 - Ken Wakui

Hakutaku chapter 7 - Kouki Ishikawa

Me & Roboco chapter 208 - Shuhei Miyazaki

Hunter x Hunter chapter 405 - Yoshihiro Togashi

Mission: Yozakura Family chapter 249 - Hitsuji Gondaira

Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi chapter 19 - Shoichi Usui

Nue’s Exorcist chapter 73 - Kota Kawae

Super Psychic Policeman Chojo chapter 37 - Shun Numa

Kill Blue chapter 77 - Tadatoshi Fujimaki

Yokai Buster Murakami chapter 20 - Daiki Ihara

[mo-ok]

Hayate Ninjas 20 Years After 200 Years Before