Ninjas seem to be coming back in full force when it comes to gaming. Ninja Gaiden saw an excellent game released with Ragebound and people are highly anticipating Ninja Gaiden 4. Not to be outdone, Shinobi is also mounting a comeback with Shinobi: Art of Vengeance and it comes out swinging (or in this case slicing).

Developed by Lizardcube, the studio who also handled Streets of Rage 4 and the Wonderboy remake, Sega’s retro revival arc is off to a strong start with Shinobi. Featuring some of the most satisfying gameplay in a 2d action game, beautiful visuals and a package with a great deal of replay value this is another can’t miss in what’s been a very strong year for gaming so far.

Story

The story sees the return of series protagonist, Joe Musashi. After talking with his wife about their unborn child, he goes off to begin training students in his clan, only to find it under attack from the ENE corporation. His entire clan is wiped out before he can even retaliate and without a word, Joe sets off to destroy the ENE corporation and their leader, Lord Ruse. Eventually, others join in his quest such as Chiyo, a cybernetic ninja leading a resistance and Ankou, the grim reaper who had his powers stolen by Ruse.

Art of Vengeance isn’t trying to win storytelling awards. Joe himself doesn’t even speak so I won’t speak as much on the plot.

Pros

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance does something that isn’t seen very often in games these days, in that it’s visuals are completely hand drawn. The game’s art style reminds me a bit of Afro Samurai and Samurai Champloo. All in all it’s just a treat to look at throughout the game’s duration from the designs of the characters to the various levels you go through.

Accompanying the levels is a great soundtrack throughout them, something the Shinobi franchise as a whole has been long noted for.

While the sound and visuals are great, Shinobi’s gameplay is easily its strongest point. Joe as a character almost feels overpowered with how strong his arsenal is and the way he cuts through the various demons and soldiers of the ENE corporation it’s almost like he’s doomslayer in Ninja form.

As opposed to Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound which focused on cutting enemies down in one strike, Shinobi features a combo system that feels closer to 3d character action games. Joe has various combos to pull off, many of which are unlockable as you play. One of the most fun parts of the game is the execution system. Most enemies have an execution gauge that fills up as you attack them and when it fills it allows Joe to finish them off with one strike. You can do this to multiple enemies at once and the game encourages you to pull these off as doing them will grant you rewards such as extra gold and health pick ups as well as kunai, which are an important tool for Joe throughout the game.

Joe also has access to various ninpo, magic attacks that have a variety of applications in combat. Some simply do huge damage across a large radius, crack enemies armor easier or may fill up the enemies execution gauge more quickly allowing you to wipe a number of them out quickly. Some of the more powerful ones you find later can even do both but also have trade offs such as having longer start up, which keeps you from spamming one or the other too often and encourages you to mix it up.

Joe’s most powerful moves however are his ninjutsu. When he takes damage or gathers red orbs he gains access to one of his ninjutsu. These moves allow him to do things such as summon a dragon which virtually clears every enemy on the screen or even heal him completely which can be very useful during some of the games bosses.

All of these moves make Joe feel like an absolute powerhouse of a character and one of the most satisfying characters to play as this year.

On top of the combat, the games platforming and overall level design are also handled very well. The platforming is often the most challenging part of the game due to obstacles such as spikes and pits sending Joe back to a checkpoint. It rarely feels unfair however and it’s not the kind of overly frustrating platforming that can have you stuck on a certain section for an hour or more on end. Joe by default can wall run, double jump and air dash along with other traversal options he gets later such as grappling hooks and a parachute. Each item gets used in an enjoyable way throughout various levels, often in tandem with each other. Thrown in occasionally are a few auto scrolling platforming sections which usually feature Joe getting pursued by something. These are sometimes done to teach a player how to use a new power up and also feature some of the games best set pieces.

Perhaps the thing that surprised me the most about Shinobi: Art of Vengeance was it’s overall replay value. The main story is about 9 hours or so but, although the game isnt a Metroidvania it sort of plays like one. Each of the levels has plenty of secrets to unlock, many of which you won’t be able to reach during your first play of a level as they require a different traversal option to access. These secrets range from elite enemy challenges which unlock buffs to some of your ninpo if you beat each one in a level; Ankou rifts which feature the games hardest platforming challenges and, relics to unlock extra abilities within the shop. Trying to get all of these adds a good amount of playtime and that’s not even including the boss rush and an arcade mode to see how quickly you can run through each level. There’s even a couple post game secrets to unlock.

Cons

The only real con I can give Shinobi is in regards to it’s difficulty. The game never feels overly hard but rather it can feel a bit uneven at times. Some later levels felt easy compared to some earlier ones and many of the games bosses don’t feel as hard as they could be either. Particularly one of the late game bosses felt like a bit of a pushover. I’m not saying I breezed through the game as I definitely saw plenty of deaths but It just felt a bit strange with how little I was dying in some of the later sections.

Also while generally well designed, the hit detection on some of the traps in the platforming sections can occasionally feel strange as it looked like they never hit me on a couple sections only to find myself getting sent back to the beginning of the section.

Final Thoughts

The difficulty being occasionally uneven is a very small detraction from an otherwise fantastic game. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is otherwise an excellent 2D action game and is a great way to kick off the influx of retro revivals Sega announced in 2023. Art of Vengeance is another must play in the year 2025.

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance was reviewed on Nintendo Switch. The game launched on 29 August 2025 and is available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.