Shinobi was one of my favorite games growing up. It has always been a challenging experience, a true classic old school game that made you want to throw your controller (or spend all your quarters, depending on where you played it). So when I heard this classic game was coming to the Nintendo Switch, I was excited and also a bit confused to be honest. Do we really need to play this game again? Will they be adding new features to keep it interesting and give a nice classic twist on it.
The answer is sadly no. The game has one small new feature, it allows you to “rewind time”, which is nice if you dont like dying, but besides that it’s the same game you’ll remember from many years ago. The graphics are the same, the gameplay is the same and the music is the same. Not that there’s anything wrong with bringing a classic back for the younger crowd to enjoy, but with nothing new to offer, the question is why? We’ve seen a lot of remakes and restored version of classic games coming out, but they all have something to offer in terms of changing it up.
If you’re looking for a nice re-visit to a classic retro game, then I recommend picking up Shinobi. If you like have better memories of the game than being disappointed, then don’t pick it up. This should be a lesson to video game developers that sometimes, somethings are better left off in the past. Bringing back Shinobi could have been something special and brought the franchise to a new light and added some fun new features, possibly bringing in a new younger audience. The gameplay doesn’t hold up to this day like other old school games and the graphics are about the same if only slighter better on the Switch. Save your quarters and go to the arcade to replay this classic if you’re really feeling the itch.
~Miguel
