- Tested on Nintendo Switch 2
- Code transmitted by the publisher
- Adventure completed in difficulty mode 3/3 "Shinobi"
- 11 hours total play
Ninja Gaiden 4, Ninja Gaiden Ragebound, Assassins Creed Shadows, Ghost Of Yutei : 2025 had all of a year under the sign of shinobis, if not samurai. Developed by the Sega / Lizardcube duo, Shinobi Art of Vengeance was one of the jewels of the beat Behind this renaissance of a license that has been obsolete for almost 15 years, there are developers that MaG loves and has known since their very first project, Wonder Boy: The Dragons Trap (2017). Eight years later, the studio forged a solid reputation on the arcade scene by giving a second life to cult licenses, like the Street of Rage 4 (read our critical). Shinobi Art of Vengeance Is he made of the same wood?
French Ninjamania
This is at the end of the development of the last Street Of Rage that the French developers contacted SEGA Japan. With a strong reputation gained on the arcade scene, Lizardcube did not need to make feet and hands to convince the Japanese of a collaboration on this franchise that marked 1987. After the popular success of the Kung fu films of the 1970s and the Bruce Lee phenomenon, the late 1980s paved the way for the ninjamania. For almost fifteen years, ninja was available in all the sauces in cinema as well as in anime and video games. Prestigious license of the Sega catalogue, Shinobi will certainly reach its climax with the very popular The Revenge of Shinobi. The saga will blow at the turn of the 2000s and the last episode of quality dates from 2011: a 3DS reboot soberly titled ShinobiThen nothing.
At Lizardcube, developers have always defended a rather clean graphic style with a 2D HD before any thought in terms of readability of action. Even more than for their last project, Shinobi Art of Vengeance Don't hesitate to offer decorations with great depth. The camera regularly moves away from our character with a particularly marked rear zoom effect during platform phases. Technically the game spins at 60 FPS and rare declines of framerate come punctuating the experience without harming the fun of playing. The graphics are nice, even if we would have liked more originality in the sets and universes of the game. Make pirouettes between containers of a port or inside a gray base lack of madness, especially when they repeat themselves. The devs even checked the box of the traditional level in the sewers that makes so much rage (and rightly) the attic player...
Level design in mess
Let's start with the (rare) points that are annoying: if you thought you were dealing with a metroidvania, you'd probably be a little disappointed by Art of Vengeance. Question level design, levels are in fact only pretexts to encourage cabrioles and fights against enemies. It is clear that the development of the game started in the furrow of Street Of Rage 4both titles share a common DNA. The whole heart of the gameplay is focused on combos, exploration having virtually no interest and the « puzzles » doing more filling than anything else. This is clearly the weak point of the game and it would have been appreciated if developers would have saved us such poor and redundant interactions that tend to dilute action in unnecessary sequences of platforms. Push a crate, activate a lever, jump on platforms that repeat themselves: this is what the passages between the fighting are all about. This is a pity because it would certainly have been necessary to fully assume that Shinobi or a pure arcade game rather than aiming at degree 0 of the metroidvania.
The paintings are a little too long and we recognize very quickly the fireworks of sequences which are available in loops. Same as for « scenario » He's too serious. Joe Musashi is leader of the Oboro clan, a group of ninjas who have been secretly maintaining peace for generations. As a villain, we find an ENE Corp paramilitary organization that seeks to eliminate ours. Let's say right away, history is insignificant and superfluous. If it was necessary to put a scenario at all costs, then would it have been necessary to cure writing, like titles like Katana Zero or Ruin who mastered their lore perfectly.
Gameplay in tune
While the player can be a little distracted by the poverty of writing as well as level design, he is very quickly reconciled by the quality of a gameplay of fluidity at all costs. The quality of the gameplay is inversely proportional to the mediocrity of its level design. A true success, the gameplay makes us forget all the defects mentioned above. The animations of both enemies and our shinobi are of all beauty and we chain the combos of light and heavy attacks with grace and elegance. The world map is divided into 12 major levels. As our adventure unfolds, we unlock skills called Ninjis, such as grapple, claws or a hot fist, that make us gain in agility. Attacking our opponents allows you to fill a gauge that, once filled, allows you to launch a powerful invocation. The more combos we diversify, the faster the gauge fills up. In total, the game consists of 17 combat techniques, 8 Ninpos, 4 Ninjutsus, 7 Ninjis and 24 passive powers that change the approach of rixes. We can also throw Kunese to avoid breaking his combos. The Ninpos are magical attacks of all beauty that one triggers by keeping the trigger with one of the four keys, allowing to blow between combos and take advantage of this fraction of a second to reflect on his next chain. Grizzly!
The Ninjutsus are powerful attacks that can be activated by using the ninjutsu posture and then pressing the corresponding key. Your rage gauge will fill when you suffer damage or get rabies orbs released by your enemies. Finally, Shinobi's executions help eliminate the wounded enemies at once. This balanced gameplay is really very rhythmic and the range of combos possibilities impresses. Hat down on this point! You will understand, Shinobi Art of Vengeance makes us forget the wandering of its level design by its frenetic action. The diversity of the fights offers significant replayability for any score fan. Aiming for no fault from start to finish is very rewarding and the highest mode of difficulty makes the quest for the perfect score particularly challenging.
Street of Shinobi?
If there were some doubts this summer that Ninja Gaiden Ragebound (read our critical) and Shinobi Art of Vengeance be too close to each other, the two titles actually have only one thing in common: horizontal scrolling but it stops there! The first is a pure platform action game while the second is the spiritual continuation of Street of Rage 4A beat-em all that doesn't say his name! Once again, Lizardcube demonstrates all his talent to reborn a retro license from his ashes. Now it's time to take care of the level desing for their next productions and Lizardcube might well hold the masters of the genre!
Glad to see that I'm not the only one to consider the Shinobi of the 3DS as an excellent game!
Totally. I keep a very good memory of it.