GG Shinobi review - Sega Game Gear

Joe Musashi's back (again), this time in his fifth outing courtesy of Sega. This time though, Joe's more than a bit upset. Not surprising really when you consider that those fiendish Zeed fellows have captured four of his oldest ninja chums, and have used a magic spell to make them turn against the forces of good - and that includes Joe himself!

Old Joe's obviously more than anxious to release his pals from this evil spell - but the only way he can do this is to beat them all into submission in a bit of one-on-one combat! Each ninja is hiding at the end of an eight way scrolling landscape, and before Joe can have a shot at releasing his pal, his first job is to beat up the Zeed contingent and beat a path through to the end of the level. However, the good news is that once Joe's released one of the captured ninja, he can use their special abilities and magic powers as well as his own!

What the Mean Machines staff thought

The only decent Game Gear product I'd seen before this was Mickey Mouse - and that was a blatant tax of the Master System game. Now GG Shinobi's arrived, and it's brill, skill, and not a thinly-veiled Master System rip-off! Hurrah! The ninja action is smooth and varied, and mastering each ninja's abilities takes quite a while. For example, the valley level was really giving me grief until I discovered the yellow ninja's water-walking abilities! In fact the only thing that stopped me enjoying GG Shinobi to the full was the Game Gear's sticky, yet wobbly joypad. Still, be perfectly honest, if you're a Game Gear owner, there's no excuse not to pick up this cracking ninja game ASAP. Get the message?

To be honest, there's been nothing yet on the Game Gear that has really grabbed my interest (Mickey Mouse is good, but it's exactly the same as the Master System). Until now. GG Shinobi has at least given me an excuse to blow the dust off my machine and buy some batteries for it! Sporting excellent graphics and some genuinely addictive gameplay, this is a superlative beat 'em up. The action is exciting and challenging, and there are many neat aspects which keep you coming back for more. Although it's only available on import at the moment, GG Shinobi is a must if you can track it down. If you can't find it, it's out officially later on this summer - so you've got plenty of time to start saving your pennies.

Have your say about this review

steve - 16 Feb 2009, 00:03 GMT

the best shinobi game ever.

Kevin - 10 Mar 2009, 12:18 GMT

A Power Ranger style approach to Shinobi that surprisingly made this and its sequel the best games in the series and a childhood favorite on the Game Gear. Often overlooked compared to Revenge of and Shinobi 3 on the Megadrive, but in my opinion this game offers the most fun to be had in the entire series.

Stayrsaigh - 22 Mar 2009, 01:48 GMT

I remember getting a loan of my mates Game Gear and this was the game he had for it! From what I recall it was a damn good romp with solid graphics and addictive gameplay, but maybe I was just amazed at a colour screen on a handheld after having a Gameboy so long!

And now you can play arcade games on phones? Nonsense!!!!!!

Andrew Laggan - 16 Dec 2011, 14:21 GMT

One of the best Shinobi games of them all and superb for an early GG release (and especially impressive for an 8-bit system!). The GG's expanded colour palette allowed for some near Megadrive quality backdrops in places, the music (by Yuzo Koshiro) was superb and the gameplay rewarding (if very difficult in places). One of the G.G's best games!

mariogames - 19 Mar 2013, 08:04 GMT

I also subscribe as being one of the best ninja games ever for the classic Sega, how come there is no screenshot posted.

Leave a comment