Shinobi Art of Vengeance review: Sega’s superb reboot looks, sounds and plays like a dream

Back in December 2023, Sega announced that it was working on reboots for five of its classic series. New games in the Jet Set Radio, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, Crazy Taxi and Shinobi series were in development, promising to breathe new life into all five dormant franchises.

Fast forward 20 months and the first of these revamps is ready. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is the first new outing for Sega’s ninja series since the 3DS entry (simply titled Shinobi) was released 14 years ago, and before that you have to go back to the PS2 era. This is, frankly, an IP that has generally been overlooked since the mid ‘90s.

Now, though French studio Lizardcube – which has already masterfully resurrected two other Sega series with Streets of Rage 4 (which it co-developed) and Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap – has been given the task of introducing the heroic ninja Joe Musashi to a new generation of players, and the results are superb.

First things first – if you’re a long-time Shinobi fan and you expect this to play just like the older games in the series, that’s not quite the case. The closest thing Shinobi: Art of Vengeance comes to is Mega Drive / Genesis game Shinobi III, because that introduced the ability to run, instead of Joe’s normal (very slow) walking speed.

The difference here is that whereas Shinobi III required a double-tap of the D-Pad to run, in Art of Vengeance it’s your default speed, resulting in a much faster game than any of the 8-bit or 16-bit entries that made the series so popular at the time. That doesn’t mean it’s worse – on the contrary, it’s probably the best Shinobi game ever – but it does mean it’s different.

The combat is also very different to that of the older games, with enemies now taking multiple hits to kill and Joe able to string together combo attacks. Lizardcube already showed its combat chops when it came to Streets of Rage 4, and Art of Vengeance actually feels closer to that than previous Shinobi games.

There’s also more customisation here than in most other Shinobi titles. Joe can collect coins from enemies which can be used to buy new combat moves and other perks, plus he can earn new Ninpo (special attacks) and Ninjutsu (devastating screen-filling moves) on his travels.

Each enemy has an execution bar, and if you can fill this before their energy runs out (by using more powerful attacks and throwing kunai daggers at them) you can perform an execution move, which earns you extra coins and health. Your situation means it’s not always possible to pull this off, but if you do it’s worth it.

Combine this with the combo system, which builds up as you hit enemies without taking damage and gives you extra bonuses once you hit a certain number (like earning extra coins or doing extra damage), and the game doesn’t just require you to kill all the bad guys on sight, but rewards you for varying your attacks.

All these mechanics combine to make a fantastic fighting system which is a treat to play. When you reach challenge sections – where waves of difficult enemies appear and you have to defeat them all – and the feeling isn’t “oh no, this is going to be a nightmare” but “oh yes, I can’t wait for this” because you know it’s about to turn into all-out action, that’s the true sign of a game that’s nailed its combat.

“When you reach challenge sections – where waves of difficult enemies appear and you have to defeat them all – and the feeling isn’t ‘oh no, this is going to be a nightmare’ but ‘oh yes, I can’t wait for this’ because you know it’s about to turn into all-out action, that’s the true sign of a game that’s nailed its combat.”

Rather than a series of linear stages, each of the levels in Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is a mini Metroidvania, with its own map and various paths. In true Metroidvania fashion, a number of these paths can’t be reached at first, and you have to return later once you’ve earned all your new Ningi skills (clinging to walls, powerful punches that break walls, a grapple hook and so on).

Unlike your typical Metroidvania the game can be completed in a relatively linear fashion without much backtracking, but if you’re looking for 100% completion this is when you have to head back to older levels and use your new tricks to break those walls and cross those gaps that were previously inaccessible.

In terms of presentation, Art of Vengeance is immaculate. Lizardcube already nailed the handdrawn look with its previous Sega reboots but it’s really gone above and beyond with this one. Sprites are brilliantly detailed and the environments are superb, the Lantern Festival being a notable highlight.

The visual detail is accentuated with a brilliant dynamic camera, which zooms in really close for tighter environments (allowing you to get a better look at the character designs and animations), then pulling out far for the more epic location shots – the sensational Neo City stage, replete with hammering rain and numerous retro Sega references, is a treat to behold in these long shots.

This is accompanied with an outstanding soundtrack by the legendary Yuzo Koshiro (best known for the Shinobi and Streets of Rage series), and Tee Lopes (who’s found success in recent years with his work on games like Sonic Mania). The soundtrack is just bangers as far as the ear can hear, and should it ever end up on Spotify it’ll become part of the daily rotation for sure.

It’s always gameplay where it counts, however, and in that respect Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is an absolute winner. Some newer players may find the default difficulty to be a little high for their liking, but the game has a variety of assist options to make things a little easier, such as reducing enemy health, taking less damage from enemy attacks, making environmental attacks less effective and making respawn locations closer.

Once the credits hit the game shows its biggest flaw – getting through to the end is an absolute joy (and the extra modes which are unlocked add to the longevity) but the clean-up process of trying to get 100% completion can be a little frustrating.

The map is fiddly to navigate in general, but it’s particularly annoying when you’re trying to find the remaining battle trials, amulets, rift portals and the like needed for full completion. The map turns some rooms purple to highlight where secrets can be found, but this purple colour doesn’t immediately disappear once you get them, meaning it can be hard to track what’s left.

This quibble aside, however, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is a tremendous action platformer, which looks and sounds superb and – most importantly – feels like an absolute treat to play. If this is the standard that Sega’s other reboots are trying to hit, bring it.