Hello friends. Dan Ryan here, you… there. Thank you so much for checking in and if you like what you see please comment and share. A long time ago on a website far, far away, Geekade if you’re curious, I wrote a column during the summer months called Kung-Fu Fridays. The goal with those posts was to highlight a martial arts, read Kung-Fu/Ninja/Karate/etc., movie, video game, or sometimes both at the same time. My love for martial arts media is endless. It has been a major part of my pop-culture identity since I was a little kid and now, as an adult, it has only grown. So it is in that spirit that I bring this new version to you, the reader. Submitted for your approval this is Kung-Fu Fridays: Shinobi Legions. As with all reviews here on the blog I will be using the wholly original, not copied at all from any defunct gaming magazine, patent pending SAG Pod Ranking System, which is explained below…

Developed by SEGA and published, for some reason, by Vic Tokai in NA in September of 1995, Shinobi Legions might just be the game that most captures the spirit, tongue in cheek though it may be, of this series. For a game released in 1995, it is so very much a game released in 1995. The entire opening cinematic is FMV, full motion video to the youths among us. The cutscenes in between levels are FMV. The character sprites are digitized actors. The sound effects are digital. The special effects are blended into the digitized actors and backgrounds in a way that, even if you didn’t know this was a 90’s game, you would know this was a 90’s game. And somehow it all works, mostly.

Graphics: 4

So yeah, the graphics. Look, I love the way this game looks and moves and feels; it’s all like a big bowl of comfort food to me. That said, I don’t think I ever want anything to look like this again. It’s all a bit too clean and too separated. It’s quite obvious to see the character sprites “on top of” as opposed to “a part of” the backgrounds. It worked back then, kind of, and works now because of how much a product of its time Shinobi Legions is. Some things, like the giant dildo snake, are just awful. But in general, there is a certain charm to the style of this game.

Sound: 2 (with a caveat)

The sound effects in Shinobi Legions are fine. There is nothing really spectacular but nothing that sticks out as egregious either. It’s pretty standard hack n’ slash ninja game stuff. Where this game takes a massive hit is the soundtrack. Both NA and JP got Shinobi Legions whereas the EU got Shinobi X. Legions’ soundtrack is boring and generic so much so that the reason for the title change, and slight delay in release in Europe, was apparently due to SEGA of Europe hiring Richard Jaques to redo the score. However, that’s not the game I played so can’t factor in here. (you should def play that one though)

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Control: 3

Shinobi Legions took a bit of liberty with the standard Shinobi formula. Gone were the shurikens as your primary attack. In was a katana, one that could block as well! The focus on swordplay rather than ranged combat shifted the focus to a more intimate fight and gave the game a new intensity that works well. The controls themselves are quite good with everything responding the way you want and expect, except for that damn double jump. Double jumping does not feel good in Shinobi games with the exactness of the timing being very, very frustrating. It will cause you to die more than a few times which is unfortunate in a game that otherwise plays well.

Fun Factor: 3.5 Shinobi Legions is a good time IF you know what you are signing up for. It caught a lot of players off guard back in the 90’s as a follow up to the much loved Shinobi III. It is wholly different in the way that the 2002 Shinobi is from other entries. (love that scarf) But, if you are looking for an arcade-like action game starring a ninja, Shinobi Legions has got you covered. It’s not overly long and, while falling victim to some bad memorization traps common in retro games, is reasonably difficult. And if you find that your Saturn doesn't quite work as well as it used to, give the Fenrir Duo a try. It's super simple and will allow you to enjoy your library for a heck of a lot longer than a CD.

But I want to know what you think. Join the Stone Age Gamer discord, or you can find me on Bluesky to let me know your thoughts. In the immortal words of Billy Joel, “Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes: I'm afraid it's time for goodbye again.” See you soon.