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Shinobi
Jul 20, 2009 15:40:30 GMT -5
Post by Fletch02 on Jul 20, 2009 15:40:30 GMT -5
I know for the article that there are a couple different version of Revenge of Shinobi, but I was wondering if there was a way to tell them apart just from the cartridge?
I ask because I saw a copy at my local used game store and wasn't certain whether I should pick it up.
For the record, I already a version of the game with the copyright changes, so I only really want to buy another copy if it's the original.
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Shinobi
Jul 20, 2009 23:01:05 GMT -5
Post by Discoalucard on Jul 20, 2009 23:01:05 GMT -5
Well, Revenge of Shinobi got a "classic" re-release (I forget the actual term) that came in different boxes, and I THINK the cartridges were slightly different too. (Don't quote me on that.) The classic version would definitely be one of the later ones, although I think the ABSOLUTE latest is the one on the Sega CD.
Uh, that's just a long way of saying I don't really know.
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Shinobi
Aug 12, 2011 14:14:31 GMT -5
Post by Ryu the Grappler on Aug 12, 2011 14:14:31 GMT -5
Didn't see a proper talkback thread for the article, so here's a few things that bother me about it. hg101.kontek.net/shinobi/shinobi2.htmI can't speak for the other home computer ports, but I've played the Amiga versions of Shinobi and Shadow Dancer, and they're not so bad. The Amiga Shinobi is only so-so to be honest, but Shadow Dancer is actually pretty decent (especially considering it's a U.S. Gold port). It's not arcade perfect, but it's actually better than the Master System port Sega themselves developed (more like phoned in to me) since it has all the levels (at least for the two missions) and your canine companion actually follows you like in the arcade game. The only flaw is that it suffers from the same one-button controls as every European computer port of an arcade game made in the 80s, so there's no way to achieve a no-shuriken run like in the arcade and jumping between floors is now done by holding the fire button and pushing the joystick up or down, which can be confusing when you just want to crouch and shoot. The player's outfit in Shadow Dancer is not the same one as the one in Revenge of Shinobi and they don't even look alike outside of the fact they're both white. Also, I get the impression both games were made at the same time, given their close release dates. Revenge came out on December 1989, while Shadow Dancer has a 1989 copyright and probably began mass distribution in early 1990 since gaming magazines published their reviews around that time (Gamest covered the game in the January 1990 issue, which was published a month before the cover date). There's no way to tell which game inspired which in this instance. He wasn't called "Hayate" in the arcade version. That name (along with the backstory of him being Musashi's son) only came in the Mega Drive version (and it's only mentioned in the Japan manual). He was just a nameless ninja in the arcade game (he is called Fuma in the SMS version though).
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Shinobi
Aug 12, 2011 14:45:58 GMT -5
Post by Discoalucard on Aug 12, 2011 14:45:58 GMT -5
This one was written at a time where we were like, all home computer ports are sort of useless and negligble, so they aren't really covered. Obviously that's changed, but this one hasn't been updated just yet. I have vague plans to redo this one a bit in the nearish future (along with Final Fight and Wonder Boy).
Other things that bother me:
-Shinobi Legions screenshots are blurry because they were taken with a capture card rather than an emulator since this was Back in the Day. (Not the live action scenes, though, they were ripped from the disc.)
-The Euro version of Shinobi Legions apparently has an entirely new soundtrack by Richard Jacques, who is generally trustworthy for some decent tunes. I haven't booted it up to listen to it, but I don't remember the original stuff all that clearly so it must not've been that memorable.
-Retro Gamer did a feature on this a few years back that concentrated on how awesome the bosses were, and they're totally right. I think I sorta glazed over a lot of that. Again, this was when the site was more 1-2 paragraph capsules reviews.
-A more comprehensive look at all of the different RoS versions (like that other thread, but with pictures) would be keen too. Aren't there issues with some of the releases of the arcade game recently too? Like they changed the Spider Man-ish enemies or changed those Andy Warhol pictures or something?
-There's a cellphone port of the original Shinobi that drastically overhauls the graphics and makes it look really good. I snagged some screens awhile back - it was pretty decent, at least on an emulator. Web sites seem to call it "Shinobi Tolerance" for some reason or another, and parts of it were in Chinese.
-Did I say anything negative about Shinobi 3 soundtrack? I remember not liking it all that much when I first played it back in grade school, but it's really grown on me a lot, especially since they released that CD set.
-General opinion nowdays seems to be that the Shinobi PS2 is far better than Kunoichi/Nightshade. I sort of disagree - the vehicle stages in Kunoichi were terrible, but otherwise I felt the changes to the tate mechanics made it far less frustrating, because some of those boss battles in the original game were just stupid hard. I gave up on the final battle.
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Shinobi
Aug 12, 2011 16:25:29 GMT -5
Post by jorpho on Aug 12, 2011 16:25:29 GMT -5
-There's a cellphone port of the original Shinobi that drastically overhauls the graphics and makes it look really good. I snagged some screens awhile back - it was pretty decent, at least on an emulator. Web sites seem to call it "Shinobi Tolerance" for some reason or another, and parts of it were in Chinese. Wait, what? Cellphone ports are emulatable now? Are they easy to get ahold of?
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Shinobi
Aug 12, 2011 16:28:29 GMT -5
Post by derboo on Aug 12, 2011 16:28:29 GMT -5
Java-based games are, with KEmulator. There's no all-encompassing file depository (that I know of), but you'll find most internationally released games when you look hard enough.
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Shinobi
Aug 12, 2011 16:57:06 GMT -5
Post by jorpho on Aug 12, 2011 16:57:06 GMT -5
Does that include stuff like, oh, FF7 Before Crisis?
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Shinobi
Aug 12, 2011 17:33:05 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2011 17:33:05 GMT -5
-General opinion nowdays seems to be that the Shinobi PS2 is far better than Kunoichi/Nightshade. I sort of disagree - the vehicle stages in Kunoichi were terrible, but otherwise I felt the changes to the tate mechanics made it far less frustrating, because some of those boss battles in the original game were just stupid hard. I gave up on the final battle. It must vary from person to person; I found it a lot harder to clear the levels "well" in Nightshade than in Shinobi. I also managed to beat Shinobi, but not Nightshade...I got frustrated and gave up on a certain boss near the end that required you to tate up to him.
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Shinobi
Aug 13, 2011 12:03:28 GMT -5
Post by Ryu the Grappler on Aug 13, 2011 12:03:28 GMT -5
-The Euro version of Shinobi Legions apparently has an entirely new soundtrack by Richard Jacques, who is generally trustworthy for some decent tunes. I haven't booted it up to listen to it, but I don't remember the original stuff all that clearly so it must not've been that memorable. Shinobi X has a different soundtrack from the other versions of Shin Shinobi Den. From what I understand, Sega of Europe didn't like the original Japanese soundtrack and told Jacques to compose a new soundtrack that resembled Koshiro's work on Revenge. In the Wii release of the arcade game, the Marilyn Monroe posters from Mission 1 were removed (since using them would require Sega to pay loyalties to the Monroe estate) and they changed the color scheme of the wall-crawling "Spider" ninja grunts from blue and red (Spider-Man's colors) to yellow and green. It's just a vanilla remake of the arcade version with a fresh coat of paint. Nothing special. Shinobi is not the kind of arcade game that works well with mobile controls, since good reflexes and precise timing are key to clearing each stage, which you can't really have on a mobile phone. They try to compensate for these setbacks by adding a save feature and a three point health gauge (not sure if it's still there in the harder settings), but the game becomes quite frustrating anyway (and not in a good way) during the platform jumping segments in later stages. The player characters may be cooler looking (being a pair of Hotsuma and Hibana lookalikes) and the hostages your character saves are now hot chicks instead of dorky kids, but it's really no substitute to the real deal.
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Shinobi
Aug 13, 2011 13:13:29 GMT -5
Post by derboo on Aug 13, 2011 13:13:29 GMT -5
Does that include stuff like, oh, FF7 Before Crisis? I think that would be a bit problematic because of the networking capabilities... I also don't know how the emulator's compatibility with Japanese games is. I once found a bunch of Korean mobile games, and none of them would run.
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Shinobi
Aug 13, 2011 17:12:07 GMT -5
Post by acidonia on Aug 13, 2011 17:12:07 GMT -5
Those Wii Edits are also in the XBLA port of Shinobi though they are not edited in the Megadrive Collection/Sonics Genesis Collection on Ps3 and 360 that came out before the XBLA port. Spiderman in Revenge of shinobi Wii port is now bright pink as well.
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Shinobi
Aug 14, 2011 12:43:53 GMT -5
Post by Discoalucard on Aug 14, 2011 12:43:53 GMT -5
I think that would be a bit problematic because of the networking capabilities... I also don't know how the emulator's compatibility with Japanese games is. I once found a bunch of Korean mobile games, and none of them would run. I don't know if it's that they aren't dumped or whatever, but I rarely see Japanese-made cell phones games out there. It's generally just stuff released for the Western market.
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Shinobi
Aug 14, 2011 23:56:42 GMT -5
Post by Ryu the Grappler on Aug 14, 2011 23:56:42 GMT -5
I've been playing the arcade Shinobi lately and it's been quite addicting, since it has a scoring system which rewards risk-taking. Most of you probably know that you get 5,000 points if you finish a stage without using your ninjutsu spell. But if you clear a stage without using shurikens/bullets (it doesn't matter if you use a spell or not), you'll get 200,000 points when you reach the end. Even if you're not playing for a high score, it's still useful in order to get plenty of extra lives (especially if you suck at the bonus stages), which is essential for a 1CC. Of course, you probably won't care if you're just credit-feeding your way just for the "experience" (which won't do you good anyway, since continues as forbidden during the final mission).
The arcade Shadow Dancer has the same scoring system as well (as does the Genesis one).
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Shinobi
Aug 15, 2011 0:06:41 GMT -5
Post by Discoalucard on Aug 15, 2011 0:06:41 GMT -5
Considering Shinobi uses checkpoints, you can't credit feed through the game even if you wanted to. You need some modicum of skill to get anywhere so I'm not really sure what the point was of bringing up that tired argument in this thread.
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Shinobi
Aug 15, 2011 0:23:05 GMT -5
Post by Ryu the Grappler on Aug 15, 2011 0:23:05 GMT -5
You need some modicum of skill to get anywhere so I'm not really sure what the point was of bringing up that tired argument in this thread. I'm just saying that the game has a cool scoring system (that gets often overlooked).
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