It’s been 14 years since the last entry in the 2D action platformer series, Shinobi. Now, the game is back in a big way with Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, and Streets of Rage 4 developer LizardCube is leading the charge. TechRaptor had the opportunity to play for two hours, and we came away impressed. Our take: fluid controls and flexible combat makes Shinobi: Art of Vengeance one of the most anticipated 2D action platformers of this year.
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance follows Joe Musashi, the master ninja of the Oboro Clan. When he returns home, he finds it burned in flames while its inhabitants are turned to stone by the evil ENE Corporation. Joe sets out on a revenge quest against the corporation.
The demo starts off right after these events in a dense forest, and the art style is immediately eye-catching. The clean lines and sharp lines making up Joe and his enemies create an immediate contrast between the foreground and background, an important distinction in a 2D game. It’s a similar approach that LizardCube took with Streets of Rage 4, but with a historical Japanese twist.
The gameplay is the true star in Shinobi: Art of Vengeance. Despite being a 2D platformer, I felt like I had a lot of freedom in deciding the direction of Joe’s attacks. For example, if there was an enemy above or below him, I could slash in that direction instead of only being able to attack right in front of me. This gives Art of Vengeance a much more modern feel. The visual effects also add to the visceral impact of each strike, confirming that my attacks struck the enemy. This doubles as a helpful visual guide to make sure that every enemy was dead before I moved on throughout the level.
As you attack, you’ll also build up your ninja stack meter, which lets you unleash mystical attacks. The first one you receive has Joe spit out a fireball to burn his enemies. It’s a great way to switch up the gameplay and reward players with more attacking options.
Joe also has two incredibly powerful ultimate attacks. The first one is Shinobi Execution, which is an auto-kill attack on all enemies on the screen who have a Japanese kanji above them. To make the symbol appear, players will have to wear down enemies, usually close to emptying their HP bar. The screen turns red, and Joe slashes through all of them. Shinobi Execution doesn’t cost anything to utilize, so it makes for a stylish finisher during fights.
The second has Joe summoning his inner ninjutsu powers to conjure up draconic flames and leave enemies constantly burning. There aren’t any special conditions like the Shinobi Execution, but Ninjutsu requires three ninja stacks to activate. So there’s a strategic trade-off of using your regular mystical attacks and the ultimate Ninjutsu attack.
In this demo, I was also given a taste of the game’s Arcade mode, which lets you replay levels but without any of the cutscenes and story exposition. Once you clear these levels, you’re able to see a plethora of different stats that you’re graded on, including the number of deaths, the number of relics found, and whether you’ve taken no damage and avoided using Ninjutsu. It’ll also provide you with a final letter grade. While I seemingly didn’t receive any rewards for completing levels on Arcade mode, I’m hoping that changes as it could further incentivize players to try the mode out.
I’ve only played a small portion of Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, but I definitely enjoyed what I’ve experienced so far. I love how Joe Musashi feels to control, with plenty of movement options and weapon variety to prevent gameplay from feeling stiff and stale. Nailing that down is important as you get further into the game, and I’m excited to see what the rest of the game has in store. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance launches on PC, PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox on August 29.
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance was played at an in-person event at SEGA.
