Shinobi
86K plays #Others
Shinobi (忍) is a 1987 hack and slash video game developed and published by Sega for arcades on the Sega System 16 board. The player controls ninja Joe Musashi, who must stop the Zeed terrorist organization from kidnapping students of his clan.
Shinobi was a commercial success in arcades. It topped the monthly Japanese table arcade charts in December 1987, and became a blockbuster hit in the United States, where it was the highest-grossing conversion kit of 1988 and one of the top five conversion kits of 1989. It was adapted by Sega to its Master System game console, followed by conversions to the Nintendo Entertainment System, PC Engine, and home computers. It was re-released as downloadable emulated versions of the original arcade game for the Wii and Xbox 360. The arcade game was released for the Nintendo Switch in January 2020 through the Sega Ages series. Shinobi's success inspired various sequels and spin-offs of the Shinobi series.
From Wikipedia's article Shinobi (1987 video game), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Keyboard controls
| NES | Player 1 | Player 2 |
|---|---|---|
| D-pad | ↑↓←→ | IKJL |
| B | Z | N |
| A | X | M |
| Select | Shift | B |
| Start | Enter | Space |
Hotkeys
- 1 Quick save state
- 2 Quick load state
- 3 Change save slot
Gamepads are detected when you press a button. Remap any key from the emulator’s Controls menu (gear icon).
Online, both players use the Player 1 keys (or a gamepad) on their own computer. Saving, loading and pausing are off while you play online.
Live chat
Connecting…
Keyboard controls
| NES | Player 1 | Player 2 |
|---|---|---|
| D-pad | ↑↓←→ | IKJL |
| B | Z | N |
| A | X | M |
| Select | Shift | B |
| Start | Enter | Space |
Hotkeys
- 1 Quick save state
- 2 Quick load state
- 3 Change save slot
Gamepads are detected when you press a button. Remap any key from the emulator’s Controls menu (gear icon).
Online, both players use the Player 1 keys (or a gamepad) on their own computer. Saving, loading and pausing are off while you play online.
3.0 Good job
Players 69 · 257 votes
No critic scores found for this game: this is the players' rating.
Review scorecard
- Graphics 3.0 out of 5 Overall fallback
- Sound 3.0 out of 5 Overall fallback
- Control 3.0 out of 5 Overall fallback
- Fun Factor 3.0 out of 5 Overall fallback
Overall fallback: Players 69 · 257 votes. The same 69/100 overall rating fills missing categories using the face scale; these are not separate category scores. Player rating; no critic scores available.
What the reviews talk about
Key wordschallengingfast-pacedboringcolourfulexcellent
What the critics said
She praised the "clean colourful graphics" with large "well defined" sprites, and the action gameplay for being fast-paced and challenging, concluding that the game is "well worth playing".
— Computer and Video Games, 1988
Nick Kelly of Commodore User rated it 8 out of 10, also noting similarities to Rolling Thunder, but said Shinobi looks good, "plays brilliantly", and "combines several kinds of shoot'em and beat'em up action in one well-thought-out, well-executed game."
— Commodore User, 1988 (Nick Kelly)
Sinclair User also compared it to Rolling Thunder and other martial arts games, but considers Shinobi "sufficiently different to be familiar without being boring."
— Sinclair User, 1988
Computer and Video Games praised the "well defined" graphics, good sound, and "excellent" gameplay.
— Computer and Video Games, 1988
Computer Entertainer scored it a full 8 out of 8 stars, calling it "the best game with a martial arts theme that we've seen on a video game system."
— Computer Entertainer, 1989
From the Reception section of Wikipedia's Shinobi (1987 video game) article, under CC BY-SA 4.0. The words are the critics'; their full reviews are on the publishers' pages.
Scores
- Computer and Video Games 1988 Positive; 8/10 ; 87% (other versions)
- Dragon 1993 4/5 (other versions)
- Electronic Gaming Monthly 5/10, 5/10, 4/10, 4/10
- Mean Machines Sega 1992 87% (other versions)
- Sinclair User 1988 8/10 (other versions)
From the review table of Wikipedia's article. The face takes, first that applies: the Metascore for this platform, GameRankings' average, our average of the critics (one number per publication, a panel averaged), one review alone, the players' rating. Critics and players are never mixed.
Full reviews
Play online
Play with a friend on another computer. Host a room and send them the link, or list it in Open rooms for anyone to join; they play as Player 2 and you both see the same game.
Press Start Game first.
Go live
Let anyone watch you play, live in their browser. They see your game as you play it, and your online game when you host a room.
Press Start Game first.
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