Before the word ninja appeared in every game title for commercial reasons, Sega made three games that understood what a ninja actually was. Patient. Precise. Lethal only when necessary. And accompanied, on one occasion, by a dog.
The Revenge of Shinobi — 1989
The first Shinobi game on the Megadrive. Joe Musashi returns to face Neo Zeed. The soundtrack, composed by Yuzo Koshiro, is one of the finest ever written for a 16-bit machine. The gameplay is deliberate, demanding and unforgiving. One hit and you fall. The game does not apologise.
It contains boss fights that borrowed liberally from licensed properties — Spider-Man, Batman, Rambo — in a manner that would be entirely impossible today. This is either a historical curiosity or a feature, depending on your perspective.
Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi — 1990
The second Shinobi game on the Megadrive and, arguably, the most refined of the three. Hayate — or Joe Musashi, depending on which manual you read — must dismantle the Union Lizard cult in a ruined New York City. He is accompanied by Yamato, a ninja attack dog.
The dog is not decoration. He is tactical. Hold the attack button, the meter fills, Yamato charges. Enemies are pinned. You execute. This is teamwork at its most economical.
Joystiq named it the finest game in the entire Shinobi franchise. Kage does not disagree.
Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master — 1993
The final chapter of Joe Musashi's Megadrive story. Faster than its predecessors. More acrobatic. Wall-running, surfing, and a mid-air dash were added. The difficulty was lowered slightly — a controversial decision at the time, less controversial in retrospect.
The trilogy is available in the Mega Drive Classics collection. There is no acceptable reason not to own it.
Kage played all three. The dog in Shadow Dancer remains his favourite companion in gaming. Yamato asked for nothing. Yamato gave everything.