shinobi 3 Sega Genesis - Megadrive

Ninja games during the 16-bit era were far better than today’s new gaming technology, and Shinobi series was the best in the genre.

Back in the days during the 16-bit era, I was extremely hooked in Shinobi 3: Return of the Ninja Master on my shiny black Sega Megadrive. Shinobi 3: Return of the Ninja Master is a Ninja side-scrolling action platformer that conquered the genre for a long time. Released in 1993, Shinobi 3 was highly praised by gamers and game critics.

A Ninja Surfer... Literally

Shinobi Riding a Horse

Shinobi in attack form

Graphics were superb for a 16-bit machine. Shinobi 3 used a semi 3-D textures on the background and well detailed characters. The Main Ninja charater was pretty awesome and the enemy designs were outstanding especially the Bosses. Sound mixes were pretty impressive as well. But Shinobi 3’s crown is in the Gameplay.

The Gameplay is extremely fun and challenging. There are only 8 missions in the game but saving the game is non-existent during the Sega 16-bit era, some stages are quite hard to finish and some bosses are impossible to defeat. You’ll get to run and slash your enemies in half, ride horses and ride a surf board while you vanquish ninja enemies and robots. If you are not quite into sidescroller action games, you may spend weeks or even a month to master all Shinobi 3 levels.

Return of the Ninja Master has a high replay value, no matter how many times you finish the game, you will still play it again and again. Even though I own an Xbox 360, PSP, Nintendo DS and an upgraded PC…. I’m still playing Shinobi 3: Return of the Ninja Master on my Sega Genesis Emulator.