Shinobi

About

Shinobi is a PS2 beat 'em up where you control Hotsuma, a lone ninja haunted by his clan's cursed legacy. The game follows a linear structure with eight levels split into two acts each, pitting Hotsuma against hordes of enemies and bosses in Tokyo. Combat revolves around fast melee attacks, shuriken throws, and a lock-on system. Players can chain kills for multipliers, charge attacks during lock-on, and perform aerial combos. The cursed blade Akujiki evolves visually as you rack up damage, shifting colors to reflect power boosts. Breaking stone pillars and defeating targets efficiently advance the story. The game emphasizes fluid action over puzzle elements, with optional ninjutsu scrolls and tate kill sequences that reward aggressive play. Hidden techniques like double jumps and shuriken bursts add depth to the control scheme. While not a commercial hit, its tight mechanics and punishing difficulty have earned a cult following among brawler fans. The blend of traditional ninja lore and gory over-the-top finishes keeps the action engaging, even as the plot remains secondary to the combat loop.

Storyline

The game has eight levels, each of them broken into two sections, and with bosses along the way. The control scheme allows you to dash, attack, jump and throw shurikens. A lock-on feature is also provided. It should be noted that the game also has a few hidden features such as holding attack during lock-on to do a charge attack, double jumping and throwing shuriken to do a shuriken burst, and a stun kick by press down and attack while locking on. The main objectives of the levels is to kill. No item fetching is required, however the ninjutsu scrolls come in handy, and some levels require Hotsuma to break stone pillars to continue. Shinobi also contains combo features. One of these features is called a "tate" kill, whereby if enemies are killed in a chain, a cutscene will play killing all enemies at once and dropping more Yin for your blade. The other feature is that as Hotsuma kills with his cursed blade "Akujiki", the sword will change different colors indicating different damage multipliers.