Fans of 2D ninja platformers are finding 2025 to be an incredible year. Sega’s legendary Shinobi franchise has come out of a 14-year hibernation to launch a fistful of kunai directly into your adrenal glands, and the 16-bit blood sprites on Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound’s katana have hardly dried. With plenty of contemporary flair, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance revives the series’ slash-and-dash action. It equips the returning hero Joe Musashi with a deliciously broad range of intense ninja techniques and displays them all in a stunning hand-drawn style, creating an experience that is always visually pleasing but occasionally challenging on reflexes.
Even though the Shinobi series was exiled for a very long time, the wait was definitely worth it when it finally returned. The design of Art of Vengeance appears to have been taken directly from the circuit board of an arcade game from the 1980s. Joe Musashi, dressed in clean linen, is tasked with overthrowing the evil paramilitary group ENE Corp, which has gained global dominance by force under the direction of the insane Lord Ruse.
After the ENE brings violence to his village, Musashi, who had resigned himself to a simple life of mentoring young ninja students in obscurity like some sort of Obi-Wan Shinobi, is forced to go on a 10-hour cross-continental killing spree to exact revenge on every soldier, ghost, and samurai that stands in his way. Even though it’s straightforward, it gave me the drive to transform the ENE forces into a series of slash test dummies, and I was more than content for Musashi to let his blade speak for itself. Actually, he only ever grunts during discussion cutscenes, which provides some much-needed light relief between each lengthy battle.
From the verdant bamboo grove of the first level to the repulsively gloopy explorable insides of a Kaiju that resembles something from a Rick and Morty episode, each environment has distinct contrasts that make it engrossing to explore.
The 14 levels of Art of Vengeance are not all alike in terms of organization.
Additionally, the 14 levels of Art of Vengeance are not all alike in terms of organization. One stage takes you through a maze of dark corridors in a secret ENE base where Metroid-like mutants suddenly lunge at you through the shattered glass of their stasis tanks to keep you on your toes, another has you stalking across the Neo City skyline in all directions in an attempt to find and rescue hostages, and a third hustles the chaos across the carriage rooftops of a speeding train. Each level also offers a great deal of variation, such as the mountain stage that changes from a steelworks area bordered with lava to a breathless rockslide that plunges into a chasm.
The adventure stays as sharp as a shuriken from beginning to end because there are enough new tasks to accomplish and distinctive locales to explore, even though the switch puzzle and pursuit sequences are occasionally repeated. A wonderful homage to that fleeting time in the early 1990s when there was no cooler combo for youngsters than a ninja on a surfboard is provided by a bonus stage that recreates the surfing level from Shinobi III.
Art of the Steel
Naturally, if the fighting didn’t carry its weight, all of this would be for nothing, but happily, Art of Vengeance’s fighting is fast-paced, fluid, and constantly amazing. The majority of the enemies in Art of Vengeance have health bars that must be depleted with quick combo attacks, in contrast to Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound’s enemies, who can primarily be eliminated with single blows. This makes Art of Vengeance feel more like a platform-based brawler than Ragebound, which demands more precise, demanding striking.
As I unlocked new attack chains from the in-game merchant, I quickly found myself juggling enemy ninjas in the air with sword slashes, divebombing them with flaming jump kicks, and tearing down their defenses with spin attacks like a Catherine Wheel of katana blades. Musashi can execute an increasing number of combos throughout the campaign, which are based on light and heavy sword attacks and kunai dagger throws. My combo tally was approaching triple figures. When you execute an execution move when an adversary is near death and they vanish in a magnificent spray of blood, you will receive significant cash and health boosts that will go directly into your back pocket. It feels really natural, and there is a reward for timing your attacks well.
The fighting in Art of Vengeance is fast-paced, agile, and always amazing.
Your Ninpo gauge increases with each successful attack you land, giving you the ability to select a potent special move from four slots that you can customize. I like using the Yoga Flame-style dragon breath to swiftly eliminate the extra green life bar that more strongly armored enemies, such as tank kinds with riot shields, have. I also liked using the bomb that can be thrown in midair to stun an adversary before you begin your combination. Together with the two amulet slots that can be filled with a wide range of active and passive benefits, such as a vampire ability that gradually restores your health bar with every enemy you defeat or a booster that boosts your damage output the longer your combination lasts.
The Ninjutsu gauge, which fills as Musashi absorbs damage or gathers fury orbs from defeated enemies, greatly expands your battle options. Since this accelerated version of the original games‘ ninja magic is rather slow to replenish, I tended to save it for when I got to each boss at the end of each level. This is because it has the power to significantly alter the course of battle, either defensively, like when a flatlining Musashi is brought back from the edge with a revitalizing wave of water, or offensively, like when flaming dragon blasts deal damage that halves the health bar.
Verdict
Following the success of Wonder Boy: Dragon’s Trap in 2017 and Streets of Rage 4 in 2020, developer Lizardcube had already established itself as a reliable source for bringing back beloved Sega series, and Shinobi: Art of Vengeance has only strengthened its standing as a studio that can bring the past to life. This is a truly captivating 2D action platformer that is stunning to look at and even more enjoyable to play. It is endowed with a combat system that grows in a stimulating manner and a good number of hidden side missions that provide some really difficult extra challenges apart from the main plot line. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is visually striking, lethal, and incredibly awesome, akin to a ninja strapped onto a surfboard.
