Shinobi: Art Of Vengeance - Revenge Of Revenge Of Shinobi (Review)
- James Stephanie Sterling
- Sep 10
- 6 min read
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance
Released: August 29th, 2025
Developer: Lizardcube
Publisher: Sega
Systems: PC, PS4/5, Switch (reviewed), Xbox X/S
When I was a child, I thought his name was Shinobi. I also thought he wore an outfit with very short arms and pant legs, revealing his skin to be a disconcerting shade of pink. To be fair, it wouldn’t have been the weirdest thing about The Revenge of Shinobi, my first taste of the series - nothing could top the boss fight against actual Spider-Man.
Anyway, I found out much later his name was Joe Musashi, a detail not provided on the six-in-one Mega Drive cartridge my copy of Revenge came on. To this day, however, I still struggle to see those pink things on him as arm and shin guards.
None of this information is really relevant to discussing Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, but given how few reasons Sega has given to mention the series, I like to get my anecdotes out while I can.
I appreciate the publisher’s decision to let smaller studios create loving successors to older series that haven’t been touched in years. Given how much I adored Streets of Rage 4, it’s a trend I’d like to see continue - if Art of Vengeance is anything to go by, it’ll keep paying off.
A proper action platformer that strikes a perfect balance between contemporary and authentic, it’s a real gem. It plays fast, feels smooth, offers great audiovisual feedback with every attack, and its presentation is incredibly easy to like. It’s exactly what it should be, and it nails it.
Each stage offers a mix of combat sequences and platforming that, while not as challenging as similar games in the genre, get pretty intense and earn plenty of points for sheer style. Musashi’s basic attack combo is effective throughout the whole game and feels incredibly nice to use, the perfect balance between swift and heavy. He also gets a sweet execution move on sufficiently vulnerable enemies, splashing the screen in red and showing players with extra rewards.
Joe can purchase new attacks with gold, though you need to find special tokens scattered across each level to expand the Yokai shop’s inventory. The classic kunai are back to deal damage at a distance, and up to four Ninpo attacks may be equipped and used by charging up a meter. Ninpo moves are visually cool and have various functions, from dealing straight damage to quickly charging enemy execution gauges.
Enemies are varied, from regular ninjas to jetpack guys to lab monsters. Some of them echo the baddies from the Genesis era for nostalgia points, though every character model is original looking and wonderfully animated. Bosses are really cool, especially the more humanoid ones that give their battles a real “duel” vibe. Since those bosses don’t tank every hit, the match feels more even, which is pretty neat.
While it’s not a Metroidvania, Art of Vengeance’s levels are full of areas that aren’t accessible the first time you visit them, requiring special gear unlocked later. There are walls designed for climbing claws, grapple points, unbreakable doors, and coming back to them is a must if you want important upgrades and items. Levels in general are well designed for exploration… when you can explore.
See, the first half of the game is frustrating at points due to just how many roadblocks are present in a level. Gear is dripfed but areas you need gear to reach are plentiful. It’s not fun to be told to come back later that many times - if I wanted to be edged for hours, I’ve got cheaper options. Until I unlocked the ability to smash through special floors, I began rolling my eyes every time I saw one. It was a lot.
Fortunately, the act of replaying once you have the right tools is a streamlined affair. You don’t have to complete levels to keep what you find in them, you can fast travel between checkpoints, and the map highlights any content you came back for. This means you can get in, get your unlocks, and get out without having to redo the whole game.
Fast travel can be cheesed as well, if you feel like it, since you’re fully healed whenever you use it, even on a first playthrough. So long as you’re not very far from your previous checkpoint, zapping back there might be a better option than pushing forward if you took some bad damage.
The platforming elements are as tight as the combat. Musashi’s responsiveness makes hopping around the world a treat, and those unlockable traversal tools like the grappling hook are as cool as they are functional. Some slick chase sequences pop up from time to time, with Joe having to escape exploding buildings or pursuing helicopters, and I’m impressed by how annoying these segments aren’t.
Speaking of cool sequences, the classic runner stages from the 16-bit era are represented, with players riding on wolfback or surfing their way across the screen. These levels are pretty neat and break up the traditional gameplay well enough, though they can be a little annoying when they throw a whole ton of high speed crap at you. They’re quite samey despite being short, which makes them okay as novelties, but nowhere near the stars of the show.
While the game controls well, one must be careful of the game wresting control away from you. If you’re unlucky, you’ll take undue damage or lose your footing due to execution moves sending Joe flying toward the enemy even if it’s in a precarious position, and you likely won’t get control back soon enough to act.
There are other moments like this, too, due to various scripted moments.
At one point, I was fighting a guy near a crate that contained an item, which paused the action when I struck it - not a problem, except for the fact that when things unpause, enemies seem to get a slight headstart. Losing health because you literally weren’t allowed to dodge an attack isn’t all that cool.
There are also certain fights that briefly disable controls when they’re over, but the inertia of your last input remains. I’ve fallen from platforms thanks to this, and while I was lucky enough that no pitfalls were present, it’s still something you’ll want to watch for. None of these issues occur so much that they ruin the experience, but they crop up enough to warrant a player’s readiness.
As you might be able to tell, I’m a big fan of the game’s aesthetic. The 2D art is fantastic, brought to life with some wonderful animations. Despite how pretty it looks, movement is crisp and clearly communicated to the player, a balance similar games sometimes struggle with. I especially like the character art shown in dialogue, which appropriately resembles 80s and 90s anime.
The music’s pretty damn good too. It doesn’t rely on aping the retro games’ soundtracks but nonetheless evokes them in its own unique way. There’s a fair bit of voice acting, because the story of Joe taking on the nefarious Ruse has a surprising amount of screen time. The voices and the script are fine, elevated by the fact Joe only reacts in grunts and huffs.
There’s only one issue with the sound - if a character is talking to Joe over a radio or speaker, they get a harsh filter effect slapped on them that I found deeply unpleasant. I’m not normally prone to sensory issues when it comes to sound effects, but I skipped through these voice lines quickly.
All the praise aside, I did feel more and more fatigued as I played on. It’s all consistently great, but consistency can be an issue - Vengeance keeps the same pitch and pace throughout, and many of the fights tend to feel the same. While absolutely not a dealbreaker, this is not a game I felt compelled to play over long stretches, needing frequent breaks between sessions.
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is a very well put together game. Slick presentation, watertight controls, and clever level design combine in a wonderful return for Joe Musashi. It might not be enough of a challenge for some, and it has some issues with upping its ante, but overall? Quality stuff.
8.5/10
