{"id":1285,"date":"2024-04-05T19:00:29","date_gmt":"2024-04-05T23:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/?p=1285"},"modified":"2024-04-06T16:37:16","modified_gmt":"2024-04-06T20:37:16","slug":"shadow-dancer-the-secret-of-shinobi-issue-48","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/index.php\/2024\/04\/05\/shadow-dancer-the-secret-of-shinobi-issue-48\/","title":{"rendered":"Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi \u2014 Issue 48"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A secret leg\u00adend in the making<\/span><\/strong>
\nShi\u00adno\u00adbi sequel barks up the right tree with new canine companion<\/span><\/p>\n

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Before Son\u00adic the Hedge\u00adhog and Yakuza, Sega had estab\u00adlished game fran\u00adchis\u00ades and mas\u00adcots for the arcade and home con\u00adsole mar\u00adket. One of those mas\u00adcots was very pop\u00adu\u00adlar and came out on the scene at a time when Teenage Mutant Nin\u00adja Tur\u00adtles were blow\u00ading up across the coun\u00adtry. His name was Joe Musashi, and his adven\u00adtures were detailed in the game series \u201cShi\u00adno\u00adbi.\u201d Ever since its 1987 release, Joe fought a one-nin\u00adja war on crime against the evil Zeed orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion, which plot\u00adted glob\u00adal dom\u00adi\u00adnance with their style of nin\u00adja arts. Time after time, through var\u00adi\u00adous Sega games, Joe defeat\u00aded Zeed and kept the world at peace. How\u00adev\u00ader, in Shad\u00adow Dancer: The Secret of Shi\u00adno\u00adbi, Joe would once again take up his sword against evil.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shad\u00adow Dancer takes place one year after Joe\u2019s most recent bat\u00adtle with Zeed. In 1997, New York City comes under attack by a cult orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion called Union Lizard. NYC<\/span> is laid to waste with sur\u00advivors cap\u00adtured as UL<\/span> hostages. One of Joe\u2019s stu\u00addents, Kaito, hears about UL\u2019s assaults on a neigh\u00adbor\u00adhood and sets out to free its res\u00adi\u00addents. Unfor\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly, Kaito falls in bat\u00adtle. Enraged, Joe heads to NYC<\/span> to bat\u00adtle, accom\u00adpa\u00adnied by Yam\u00ada\u00adto, Kaito\u2019s canine com\u00adpan\u00adion. With a new ally, Joe enters this lat\u00adest con\u00adflict deter\u00admined to free NYC<\/span> from UL<\/span> clutch\u00ades and avenge his stu\u00adden\u00adt\u2019s death. <\/span><\/p>\n


\nShad\u00adow Dancer\u2019s con\u00adtrols are sim\u00adple. While I was impressed with the game-ready default set\u00adup, I also appre\u00adci\u00adat\u00aded that there are oth\u00ader con\u00adfig\u00adu\u00adra\u00adtions. You also have the option of using nor\u00admal or non-shuriken mode, which takes away the abil\u00adi\u00adty to throw shuriken from a dis\u00adtance. I also appre\u00adci\u00adat\u00aded that Joe can also call upon three types of nin\u00adjut\u00adsu in the forms of fire, tor\u00adna\u00addo, and mete\u00adorites. The most vital weapon that Joe has in his lat\u00adest bat\u00adtle is Yam\u00ada\u00adto, who can be used to attack on-screen ene\u00admies with\u00adout hes\u00adi\u00adta\u00adtion, tru\u00adly giv\u00ading cred\u00adit to the phrase \u201ctake a bite out of crime.\u201d Every time I unleashed Yam\u00ada\u00adto aka Kuma-pup\u00adpy TM<\/span>, I loved see\u00ading the bad guys cry in pain as they thought that noth\u00ading could stop them. Jokes on them that a nin\u00adja dog brings them instant terror. <\/span><\/p>\n

The graph\u00adics were pret\u00adty decent as if Sega pulled the game from the actu\u00adal arcade cab\u00adi\u00adnet. The music is \u201990s genre fit\u00adting for Sega games and will make you feel a spe\u00adcial fond\u00adness for the nos\u00adtal\u00adgic days of arcades. I also like that with each stage the music blend\u00aded with the scenery, espe\u00adcial\u00adly at the Stat\u00adue of Liberty. <\/span><\/p>\n

While I do love Shad\u00adow Dancer, I have a few gripes. The abil\u00adi\u00adty to con\u00adtrol Yam\u00ada\u00adto is deter\u00admined by hav\u00ading no ene\u00admies on screen; if Yam\u00ada\u00adto or oth\u00ader ene\u00admies are on dif\u00adfer\u00adent lev\u00adels of stages or when an ene\u00admy can avoid him by jump\u00ading up or down out of his reach, it can get frus\u00adtrat\u00ading. I also don\u2019t care for the imposed time lim\u00adit that makes you rush to the end of the stage. My final griev\u00adance with Shad\u00adow Dancer is that at the end of each stage, there is a bonus stage where you must hit as many ene\u00admy nin\u00adjas as you can with shuriken. I threw a ton of shuriken at nin\u00adja but got low scores for my efforts. It\u2019s a lot of work for lit\u00adtle reward and seems like a waste of time, honestly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shad\u00adow Dancer: The Secret of Shi\u00adno\u00adbi is a game that helped cement Sega\u2019s lega\u00adcy in the video game indus\u00adtry. Sega is rein\u00adtro\u00adduc\u00ading clas\u00adsic games in var\u00adi\u00adous forms for a new gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion of gamers. Sega would be wise to rein\u00adtro\u00adduce Joe Musashi as the undis\u00adput\u00aded mem\u00adber of video game roy\u00adal\u00adty and leg\u00adend in video game hero his\u00adto\u00adry that he is.<\/span><\/p>\n