AUTHOR: Vic Tokai / Sega AM7 RELEASE: 1995 TYP: Action SPIELER: 1 LEVEL: 9 SPRACHE: Eng WERT: 30€

Hier ist die authentische Neufassung des legendären SEGA-Klassikers Shinobi. Zahlreiche neue Features wie die umwerfenden 3D-Landschaften, Spezialangriffe und Shinobi-Musik im Remix machen die neun anspruchsvollen Levels zum Spielerlebnis schlechthin.

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A ninjitsu master trains three children: two brothers, Kazuma and Sho, and his own daughter Aya. As they grow up, the oldest boy, Kazuma, becomes obsessed with power and demands to learn the sacred techniques of absolute power. The master refuses, and Kazuma leaves, vowing revenge. Many years later, long after the master's death, Kazuma returns with an army. He plots his revenge by kidnapping Aya and thus luring Sho into his hideout. As Sho, you must defeat Kazuma and rescue Aya. Shinobi Legions is a side-scrolling action game, similar to Shinobi III. Sho's primary weapons are a sword and a finite number of shurikens, both of which are activated with separate buttons. Sho can learn nearly a dozen sword abilities (spinning slash, downward slash, sword shielding, etc.) by collecting powerups scattered throughout levels. There are also „Fire Dragon“ powerups that act as single use ninja magic attacks that damage all enemies onscreen, which is the only ninja magic available to Sho. The 9 levels range from fighting in the jungle to climbing Mount Fuji, where Sho will encounter mostly enemy ninjas and a few animal enemies (eagles, snakes, etc.). Shinobi Legions is the only Shinobi game for the Saturn and is notable for its use of live-action cutscenes and its use of blood (the first in the series). www.Mobygames.com

Während in den ersten sieben 8- und 16Bit Abenteuern des kämpferischen Ninjas die Familie von Joe Musashi im Vordergrund stand, verdeutlichte SEGA den Wechsel der Generationen auch in dieser Hinsicht. In Shinobi X für den SEGA Saturn lehrt ein alter Ninjitsu-Meister seiner Tochter Aya die Kunst des Friedens sowie den zwei adoptierten Brüdern Kazuma und Sho die Techniken und Grundlagen der Ninjitsu-Kampfkunst, um den Shinobi-Stammbaum fortzuführen. Während Sho und Aya gehörig den Lehren des Meisters folgen, möchte Kazuma mehr, um zum ultimativen Kämpfer zu reifen. Der Meister jedoch verweigert dies und Kazuma verschwindet hocherzürnt. Jahre später kehrt er zurück und entführt die Tochter des bereits verstorbenen Meisters, um sie zur Herausgabe der Ninjitsu-Geheimnisse zu zwingen. Nun seid ihr als der jüngere Bruder Sho aufgerufen, eurem dem Bösen zugewandten Bruder Einhalt zu gebieten. […] Shinobi X kommt zuerst langsam in Fahrt, in späteren Levels kommt richtig Spaß auf. Die Grafik, Animationen und zahlreichen Moves können überzeugen, die Musik erreicht zwar nicht die Höhen eines Koshiro, aber hat trotzdem einige Ohrwürmer parat. Spielerisch macht es kurzum Spaß, aber man wird das Gefühl nicht los, dass es noch besser gewesen wäre, hätte man Joe Musashi ein weiteres Mal auf die Gegner losgelassen, zumal es auch das letzte 2D-Shinobi ist. Schlussendlich gehört Shinobi auf Saturn zu den besseren Spielen und kann jedem Fan von Sidescroll-Action empfohlen werden. Jörg @ www.sega-universe.de

The first time I played Shinobi X (known as Shinobi Legions in the U.S.) the game got stuck on the option menu. After a while I found out that the game doesn't work when you have the second joypad plugged in to your Sega Saturn. I find it rather silly; hopefully this won't be a precursor of things to come. The story of the game isn't very inspired: Kazuma has returned … blah blah blah … as Sho, the younger brother, you must stop Kazuma's quest for absolute power and so on. The story is also told by some little movie bits that turn up before and after every level. The acting on these sequences is so unbelievably bad that I think it was done by the programmers themselves. It's also so lousy that it's laughable. The sequences are in Japanese (with English subtitles) and I liked to watch them one time just to see what kind of crappy Japanese stuff those guys would be shooting out („don't worry, I'll save you!“ and the usual crap). But enough about those side issues, let's see what the actual game is like. Well, it's much like Shinobi on the Genesis, but it's a hell of a lot faster. Oh yeah, and your ninja got a lot more cool moves as well (which are listed in the manual). The music and sound effects are decent enough, too. But I can't make up my mind about the graphics. Your ninja is a beautiful rendered character and all his moves look excellent. The enemies aren't as nicely developed. They are kind of pixely fellows that perform about two or three moves and usually stick to one spot from which they try to hit you (oh, and on one level there is a dinosaur that pops his head out of nothing). The backgrounds are acceptable for first generation Saturn title; though the characters sometimes seem a bit out of place on the digitalized backdrops (I found that this had a charm of its own). I can't talk in superlatives about the looks of the end bosses either, but at least they move fast. Though Shinobi isn't the most beautiful Saturn game you can buy, it is a fun game worth playing through. The game is really fast, the levels have been well measured out, so they're neither too long nor too short and the bosses are a nice challenge. The control is excellent, the jumps are accurate … what more could you ask for from a 2D platformer? You even get the classic irritating jumping bits (especially on level 5 - Mine ride, in which you ride in little mine cars), but the game is addictive enough to get you to keep retrying until you find yourself yelling like a little baby. If you like 2D action/platform games, you really should check Shinobi X out. The game is a lot more mature than Rayman and a lot more fun than Bug! I really like Shinobi and I find it a pity it was one of the last true 2D platform to be released on the Sega Saturn. Tom Lenting @ www.defunctgames.com