A Classic ninja game for the GENESIS.
I enjoyed playing this game back in the 1990's.The game mixes 2D platforming and a style of combat that allows you to throw shurikens or use powerful melee attacks upclose.I found the game to be fun and it has some challenging level designs that make you time jumps very carefully or manuever past obsticles such as sharp bamboo traps and flame bursts(that are inside factories).I like how enemies attack you in a variety of ways such as trying to get close to you to attack you with swords or they might jump upwards and throw projectiles at you that come at you at awkward angles that forces you to be careful when you try to dodge them.
Your character has a limited number of shurikens that he can use to throw at enemies but he can find more throughout levels.He can also kill enemies with a powerful swipe of his sword or dispose of them with powerful kicks and it was satisfying disposing of enemies with a powerful swipe of your sword although it's a risker method to dispose of enemies because they'll be in range to hit your character with attacks of their own.
Some of the levels have many places you can fall to your death and this game was released during a time when many games gave you a limited number of lives to beat the game.The game has other charming things about it such as how in some sections you need to perform a flip at the end of your jump to gain extra distance during your jump so you can succesfully land where you need to.
The boss fights were enjoyable because I liked how they could range from being a giant samurai who has a very tough defense to penetrate and required delicate timing to hit him and who also loved to swipe at you with his giant katana.Another boss is a tough ninja and another boss is a giant armored tank.
Unlike in the original Shinobi game,Revenge of Shinobi allows your character to absorb a number of hits from enemies before he dies.He can also perform special attacks such as an attack that uses some sort of energy to kill or greatly damage all the enemies on the screen and there's another attack which does the same thing and you can use it as much as you want as long as you have a life to sacrifise for it because you have to sacrifise a life when you use it.
Although I found this game to be fun,it's also hard and I was never able to beat the game.
The graphics on a technical level were on par with their time,but artistically they provided some nice Japanese style buildings and blended them nicely with sunsets and the night time periods gave some nice atmosphere.There's some lite up city environments at night and I remember a cool boss battle where you fought a ninja in a lite up disco area and the boss tried to blend in with the lights so he could do sneaky attacks on you.There's military,industrial,natural environments with waterfalls and I like how you get to see the interiors when you travel through traditional Japanese buildings.
I can't remember much about the music but I liked how the music speeded up and gave a sense of danger during boss fights.
I don't know what else to say about this game except it was a fun and charming game on the GENESIS.