Start your Shinobi path with Joe Musashi's arsenal and his quest for revenge.
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A few weeks ago, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound arrived, confirming that 2025 has been proclaimed the year of the ninja. However, there’s a comeback that stands out in a special way, that of a beloved SEGA saga by veteran players.
We’re talking about Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, which hadn’t seen a release since the beginning of 2011 and, fortunately for everyone, has returned with a new installment maintaining its 2D essence and presenting a spectacular visual section that reaffirms the great work done.
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance excels with brilliant gameplay
This comeback is absolutely wonderful in every sense. At the time, I praised what was achieved with Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, and now it’s Joe Musashi’s turn to show us the quality of this new installment, which is simply impressive.
A path with multiple options (spoiler alert)
From here on, there will be spoilers, so it’s best to be warned. That said, when starting the adventure, we’re allowed to choose between several difficulty levels, adapting them to our skill. Additionally, we have the option to customize the experience to make it more accessible.
Shinobi is the default difficulty, equivalent to a medium or standard mode. If the challenge proves too demanding, you can activate the custom mode and adjust the parameters to your liking. For example:
- Reduce damage to zero and become invincible
- Adjust enemy health and decrease it
- Reduce environmental damage
- Decrease enemy spawn frequency
These options allow the experience to be more satisfying and prevent frustration from abandoning the game.
Joe Musashi, the great master
One of the most notable points is related to the protagonist, Joe Musashi, who has a wide range of movements. The basics include jumping, double jumping, dashing, and light and heavy attacks. All this combines with a combo system that unlocks and makes the gameplay fluid and organic.
Weapons and upgrades
The title doesn’t stand out for a wide variety of weapons, but for its equipment system, special attacks, combos, and upgrades. In short, this translates to:
Ninpos: special attacks that are executed with button combinations and consume a bar located under the character’s life. They are managed from the configuration.
- Activated with a key combination
- Only 4 can be equipped on screen
- There’s a wide variety of Ninpos that are progressively unlocked
Amulets (passive and combo): obtained by unlocking them in levels or buying them in the store.
- Allow you to obtain passive abilities, such as increasing life more efficiently.
- Combo amulets enhance their effects, accumulating hits and increasing damage.
Ninjutsus: attacks, healings, or abilities that are very powerful and affect the character or massively damage enemies.
- Special attacks that wipe out everything on screen
- Healings through invocations
- Effects that accelerate the charge of the execution bar
- Abilities that drain your life to inflict massive damage on enemies
Ningi: abilities obtained through chests that grant advantages to overcome obstacles and discover hidden areas.
Movements (combat and combos): basic combos are performed through key combinations, but the variety and execution expand with progress, making the gameplay the greatest attraction of the title.
Modes, Boss Rush, replayability, and more
After completing the main story of Joe Musashi, the game offers much more content to discover.
On the one hand, there are the collectibles in each level, necessary to complete 100%. We also have the arcade mode, where we go through scenarios seeking to get the highest score and the best rank.
If you’re into boss fights, the Boss Rush is the ideal option: a time-attack race to face all the game’s bosses sequentially and without rest, reserved for true shinobis.
In short, we’re delighted with the return of Shinobi: Art of Vengeance. SEGA and Lizardcube have created a magnificent proposal, with few negative aspects and gameplay that invites you to return again and again.
Video game, Xbox, PC and Nintendo Switch enthusiast. Frank is one of the most active video game news writers on the web. He covers absolutely every topic. In terms of games reviewed, as of 2024 he has already passed the 60 mark and his average score, according to Open Critic is 80.
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