Shinobi on PS2 any good?

[jayboy]

Am thinking of getting this, simply cos Revenge Of Shinobi on the the Mega Drive is one of my all time favs.

Most reviews tend to be a bit 'meh' about the game, but what do you guys think of it?

[SuperBrother]

Love it - exasperatingly difficult at times but never unfair and once the control scheme 'clicks' it's great fun.
You can pick this up for a pittance nowadays if you keep an eye out on Ebay etc. so it's worth a shot.

Ooh, I've got the US version so I can't say if the Pal release is any good or not whether that affects you?

[Chadruharazzeb]

I myself was rather "meh" about it.

It bored me.

[charlesr]

Trevor liked it: review
But he's in vietnam at the moment so can't comment personally.

[Sieg]

I picked up the 'Playstation2 the Best' version of this recently - and I'm loving it. Frustratingly hard sometimes, but that only drives you on to get better with the tate-ing ...

Incidentally, I don't recall it being mentioned here before - but this PSB release comes with a DVD containing a 'Kunoichi' trailer and a load of appreciate videos (i.e guys getting S-rank on various levels) ... a nice bonus.

S.

[Molloy]

Shinobi is kind of a bit rough around the edges but there's some pretty sophisticated 3d platforming in there if you persevere. And like the past games in the series perseverance is something you'll need in spades.

I've played the old games to death. By the time I sold my Mega Drive in 1994 I could play through the entirity of RoS without getting hit once. With that in mind you can understand why I would want something different. The fantastic thing about the new Shinobi is it plays nothing like the old ones. It feels like a fresh game. And in that sense I think it's one of the best franchise updates I could have hoped for.

[yashiro]

Shinobi on PS2 is indeed a bit sloppy but has some nice ideas. Maybe the pseudo sequel will be better. For me it's definitely not as good as Super Shinobi (RoS) Ah, man... remember hearing those tunes on the old MegaDrive? Amazing. Koshiro did some good **** on that machine.

In my humble opinion PS2 Shinobi is an average quality game with a steep difficulty curve.
Worth a budget look,yes, but for me it definitely wasnt worth the full asking price.

[newmiyamoto]

Shinobi is kind of a bit rough around the edges but there's some pretty sophisticated 3d platforming in there if you persevere. And like the past games in the series perseverance is something you'll need in spades.

I've played the old games to death. By the time I sold my Mega Drive in 1994 I could play through the entirity of RoS without getting hit once. With that in mind you can understand why I would want something different. The fantastic thing about the new Shinobi is it plays nothing like the old ones. It feels like a fresh game. And in that sense I think it's one of the best franchise updates I could have hoped for.

perfect summation of my opinion.

[D-SG]

I think it's one of the best action games on the PS2, and probably one of the best platform games on any format this generation - not in a SUNSHINE SUCKS kind of way, but in its purity of presenting progressively more difficult jumping/movement challenges that require you to always stay one step ahead of your previous performance. I've sunk 80+ hours into the game, for my sins.

It does suffer from being obviously rushed: some levels have been cut entirely, others repeat, and the graphics have taken a hit in detail compared to what was originally shown, probably in order to maintain the unrelenting gamespeed. Personally I'd call it a fair tradeoff, since almost every other 3D actioner feels geriatrically slow in comparison, but more graphical oomph would have definitely won it more friends.

The PAL version has arguably the best cover art of the lot, and apparently the requirements for unlocking bonus features have been drastically reduced compared to the NTSC versions (although all four difficulty levels are still intact in the game itself).

[Max M]

I can't say I'm a big fan. It didn't really feel like a Shinobi game to me... just a generic ninja title with OTT blood and violence. The controls could've been far better and it was all too repetitive. I couldn't help but think Sega were aiming it not at those who loved the original games, but at the stereotype PS2 owner.

Sorry, but it just left me cold.

[bcass]

jayboy, I have the US version which I'm selling for ?11. PM me if you want it.