Topic: Shinobi 3Ds

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Hello Nlifers,

i searched abit the forums and was shocked that shinobi got no thread yet here it seems. IF i oversaw it feel free to put a link. I looked at posts from the time of the realease of shinobi and couldnt find. Forum seems not to have a search function.

Anyhow lets get to topic, since i completed A link between worlds i got bored. In 2012 i just bought 2 games since they seemed obligatory. Kid icarus and RE:Revelations. And now in 2013 it seemed to be a stale year for myself again, just got monster hunter and the "new" zelda now.
So my 3ds has risen from nearly 2 year winter sleep and gets more time now. So i looked around if i missed a game and found shinobi at second hand sale.

I know i know its old it got released in the birth year of 3ds. So its first generation game with cel shading graphics. Yes id like it to have more of graphics like the new castlevania 3ds, but you can overlook of that style after some time. I wonder why the new shinobi 3ds got not more love and mention?!
Im not a die hard shinobi fan since i only know the first shinobi for the sega master system. But i thought why not give it a try, since i always like to find hardcore games. Since there still is no contra 3ds and the new castlevania for 3ds seem kinda easy ( only tested the demo), i went with shinobi.
And i have to say im really suprised how good it feels. I read the nlife review and it sounded like its a not so good game or just for fans. But since dtroid gave it a somehow high score i had to try it out.

So lets get to the game.
As mentioned i dont like the art style that much, but well i had problems with zeldas phantom hourglass art style as well. But the gameplay in both games is still cool. And we all know gameplay beats graphics. So once you surpass that downer this game gets really exciting.
But i got a tip for anyone out there trying it out first time. Go with lowest difficulty even if you are hardcore.
YOU say wait what ? Coming from a hardcore gamer and say go with easy mode ? Well i consider myself hardcore since i beat contra4 on max difficulty and many old school games with permadeath etc.
Shinobi got a very steep learning curve and going very hard from the start is not good. Normally i am for max difficulty ( i always wish you could go hero mode from start in zelda) , but here in shinobi its different. Since higher difficulties reduce your continues only to 5 or 3, you wont even reach the second level the first time. You have to study the levels and learn em very good to get to higher difficulties.
The problem is you dont have a save system of sorts( on high difficulty). If for example you choose hard or very hard mode you have to beat the whole game which got many levels ( i think its 7 levels in a whole) in one sitting with very few pauses. When u want to do it in short bursts u can do a save and quit, but that breaks the flow somehow ... ( on higher difficulty you cant save comfortably in the middle of a level)

I have to agree with Nlife reviews that later level design is not soo good. I for myself hate the last level. I beat now the game on easy difficulty with endless continues. Normally any level you can beat in about 15 - 25 minutes. So yes not optimal for an handheld game since u cant slice levels in small portions they cant rather long ....

But insanely enough i needed 1:30 hours for the last level lol. And even three days with save and ragequitting. I mostly tried the level for 30 minutes and gave up. The last level remembered me of the last level of shinobi I for master system / game gear. It got several challenge rooms and its very confusing since you will do many backtracking. But the system here is not good, since there are teleporter doors with strange different markings and one doors leads to different level section. But the problem is at start you enter a room with 6 different doors and you will go in many circles and backtracking and playing same parts over and over again. I normally dont mind mazes and confusion, but here it seems its all trial and error and you get NO clue what u have to do or where u have to go. Yes there are many symbols, but for first timer you dont have any clue which symbols you should follow and which are bad ( unless somewhere are clues i missed , then enlighten me please).

But the last game and the cell shading art style are my only complains with shinobi and i can see me coming back many times as to try ramp up the difficulty and playing perfect levels for max highscore and see if i can beat my best times. Yes highscores is old game design but still work in this day and age for some folks

And the package of Shinobi remembered me much about contra4. It got a free play mode for higher scores. It got achievements. It got special challenge missions for streetpass. Normal challenge modes.It got even replays of yourself. It got a training dojo and a history section for all former shinobi games. The only fan service its missing compared to contra4 would been a retro shinobi which you could unlock. I would be interested how older shinobis looked like ....
Now people gonna hate me maybe, but i think the content of shinobi is much better than the content of the new link between two worlds. You breeze through zelda in 15 hours and then you will never touch it again (too easy etc etc , boring bosses).
But even though i only needed to finish about 10 hours to complete shinobi on easy mode, i can see me get back many times now since i want to beat it on normal mode next and there are the challenge missions as well. So it got much better replay value in my opinion.

And i have to say the boss fights are very enjoyable. Different mechanics and need spot on precision. When u beat kyborg boss without taking any damage you will feel like the master himself

So what u guys think about that game ? Upper or downer ? Hidden gem or not ? And why doesnt it get more love or any mention altogether?! Since this community here seemed to completely ignore it till i wrote something after 2 years release of it ....

ps: when u read all this wall of text i bravo you reader

ps2: i still need tips how to beat last level "shadow temple" quicker. Since i got feeling i found exit and last boss just randomly. SO which is right symbol order to get to exit quicker ?!

cheers folks