Review
Ghost of Yōtei review: is this still open world?
by Simon Balissat
Nostalgia meets ninja skills in Shinobi: Art of Vengeance
29/8/2025
Translation: Katherine Martin
Pictures: Rainer Etzweiler
After a 14-year absence, the legendary ninja is back – and his blade isn’t even a little rusty. With Shinobi: The Art of Vengeance, developer studio Lizardcube has demonstrated how to respectfully bring a franchise back to life.
In December 2023, Sega announced reboots of old IPs such as Golden Axe, Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio. However, the enthusiasm expressed by retro gaming lovers quickly faded. Leaked information indicated that the Crazy Taxi reboot would be designed primarily as a multiplayer game – a questionable decision.
What’s more, Sega’s track record when it comes to reboots is inconsistent. Successful revivals such as Streets of Rage 4 and Sakura Wars rub shoulders with better-forgotten duds such as Altered Beast (2005) and Golden Axe: Beast Rider (2008) in the company’s gameography.
With this in mind, it was only fitting that I play Shinobi: The Art of Vengeance with a healthy dose of scepticism. While I was testing it, however, that scepticism vanished faster than a ninja in the shadows.
Who needs a story anyway?
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance allows you to put yourself in Joe Musashi’s shoes. Or should I say his «tabi»? Joe returns home to find his village torched and his clan turned to stone. The culprit? Lord Ruse of the ENE Corporation. He wants world domination – or something along those lines.
To be honest, I mentally checked out pretty quickly when it came to the plot. Having heard that sort of thing a thousand times before, I somehow found myself not caring about it all.
The first enemies you’re confronted with turn out to be little more than blade fodder, illustrating how well the combo system works. Light and heavy attacks can be combined into satisfying chains, which fill your Ninpo bar. This, in turn, adds offensive and defensive special techniques to your combat system. On top of this, you have Ninjutsu abilities – full-screen attacks that can save you from certain death.
It takes a bit of practice, but once you get the choreography down, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is like a Kurosawa film on steroids, rewarding good timing with spectacular finishers that fill up your energy and your gold.
Personalise your ninja
You can use the gold you’ve collected to unlock new moves, increase your knife-throwing capacity or extend your life bar. The amulet mechanics add another customisation element into the mix. You can choose whether you want to deal more damage, regenerate faster or use a special move that makes you temporarily invulnerable – a decision with a noticeable impact on the gameplay.
Since I’m not exactly a whizz on the joypad, I welcome the ability to pump up Joe’s armour, allowing him to take a lot of hits from opponents.
Difficulty tailored to your skills
The default setting is challenging, but fair. If you die, you tend to respawn from the location you were in just a few minutes ago, with a full energy bar. You certainly need that for the bosses. In these battles, you’ve got to study attack patterns, find weak points and master the art of timing. The fights are demanding, but never frustrating.
Another plus point is that some of the bosses are based on classic Shinobi foes. If you’ve been a fan of the series since 1987, this’ll get you feeling nostalgic.
Graphics to die for
Joe Musashi’s vengeance-fuelled journey looks as good as it feels to play. Developers Lizardcube, the 2D masterminds behind the brilliant Streets of Rage 4, have played yet another blinder when it comes to graphics. Each frame is a little work of art, with every animation smooth as butter.
Oboro Village with its traditional Japanese buildings and the atmospheric Neo City are both pretty to look at and cleverly designed. The level architecture’s intricate and complex, with many secrets only revealed after multiple playthroughs. Although Shinobi: Art of Vengeance isn’t a dedicated Metroidvania game, it makes generous use of the genre.
With all that being said, here comes my only real point of criticism. Some sections of the game focus too much on jumping and climbing. On a technical level, the platforming is flawless, but it noticeably slows down the pace. After three minutes of precise jumping over moving platforms and fire pits, I’m longing to see heads roll again.
The soundtrack, on the other hand, leaves little to be desired. It was composed by Tee Lopes, who previously demonstrated his talent on Streets of Rage 4 and various Sonic games, and chiptune legend Yūzō Koshiro. Together, the two have delivered a cool mix of motivating bangers and subtle symphonies, providing the perfect musical backdrop to Joe Musashi’s crusade.
It doesn’t end with the credits
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is relatively compact, with a playing time of around ten hours. Mind you, there’s no filler in the side-scroller. If you want the bloodbath to continue after the credits have rolled, there are a few extra challenges, including an arcade mode and a boss-rush mode. It’ll easily take you another ten hours to see everything.
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is available for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch and PC. I tested the PS5 version.
In a nutshell
A new beginning that pays homage to the old game
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is a perfectly prepared «omakase» menu. While the individual ingredients that make up the game are hardly revolutionary, the way they’ve been presented and designed really is something special. The story may be inconsequential, but with such satisfying gameplay and impressive graphics, I’m happy to forgive the game’s failed attempt at storytelling.
Lizardcube has yet again proven its genuine grasp of what retro revivals are all about. Rather than glamorising nostalgia or tastelessly cannibalising brand rights, it’s distilled the essence of the original and pepped it up with some contemporary polish.
Pro
- Precise gameplay that comes close to perfection
- Stunning 2D graphics
- Challenging, but fair
- Motivating character progression
- True to the franchise
Contra
- Inconsequential story
- Some of the skill passages drag on a little
Header image: Sega
Rainer Etzweiler
Freelance Editor
rainer@rockstar.chIn the early 90s, my older brother gave me his NES with The Legend of Zelda on it. It was the start of an obsession that continues to this day.
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