Shinobi: Art of Vengeance Announced

This is beautiful

 

The game looks awesome! I'm looking forward to trying it!

 

Looks up their usual flash standards to me. Not impressed at all. Still, it should play ok at the very least

 

Me when I see a game with handdrawn 2D animation

 

Looks pretty cool. Here's hoping it gets a (non-Limited Run Games) physical release.

 

If we were talking about something like Castle Crashers I'd get the "flash game" comparison and complaint, but this looks genuinely gorgeous.

 

It's the usual Lizardcube look that clean flash-like look with IMO poor/lacking animation, to their credit their games do play ok so... it be worth giving a go and it's not going to be full price
I don't like the look of the new Ninja Gaiden 2D game either (and the less said about Ninja Gaiden 4 looks the better)

I liked how Blazing Chrome, TMNT Shredder’s Revenge or the bloody brilliant Devil Blade Reboot did the retro old school style graphics compared to how Streets Of Rage 4, Battletoads 2020 approached it

 

This is one of the prettiest looking games I've ever seen. Crazy framing and composition work, stunning backgrounds, excellent amount of restraint on the vfx that still lets it be present without being overpowering. Color balance is amazing and never makes any shot too distracting. And the animation is superb, too. Game's a real stunner.

..Which is why I'm struggling to understand the above statements that the animation is "poor/lacking". The fact that the animation framerate isn't fluid? I don't need it moving on 1s to feel the weight of the animation; in fact I prefer the opposite. Emphasize the punchiness of the movement over how smooth it moves. Less is more.

The only other ways I can see it resembling a Flash game is because it zooms in and out at times, and moves 2D vector art across the screen at 60fps. But I don't think that makes it look cheap or poorly made, that's just a stylistic choice. Maybe a reassessment on that is in order. After all, Rayman Origins and Legends also do that, and I wouldn't call them poorly done either. Maybe not your cuppa, sure, but that's as far as I'll budge.

 

Rayman Origins looked far more impressive and LizardCube games don't have great animation IMO in Streets Of Rage 4, especially on characters like Dylan But I get this look and the team have their fans like how a lot of people not only lave Braid but also its look. I am also far more impressed with the graphics in Muramasa the Demon Blade than anything from Lizard or #1 never mind the graphics in Devil Blade or Blazing Chrome

All I will say is Lizard games do play and control well so it be worth a punt

 

Out of all the Sega revivals THIS is the one I am most excited for. Shinobi III is one of my favorite genesis games and probably in my top 20 ever. This looks like a nice blend of Shinobi III and Shinobi 3ds, with the enemies having health bars and what seems to be a light combo system? I'd need to see a tiny bit more to be for sure.
I hope Sega pushes hard on the marketing for this one because it could be huge with the indie game and retro gamer crowds.

 

I guess I'm the only one who's pretty disappointed by this? SoR4 felt very respectful and reverential of SoR2's mechanics, balance, appeal and high level play, and then built a new game around it, instead of just making a modern beat'em up that's inspired by flashy modern fighting games and has very little interest in old beat'em ups. This feels the opposite, it's totally interested in flashy modern ninja games and feels like it has no interest in Revenge of Shinobi - maybe it thinks that Shinobi III feels "cool" but that's about it. I know Revenge isn't a super polished action game, but I would've liked to see a take on the Shinobi games that actually feels interested in it and in how that game feels?

 

I'm with you. I wasn't impressed with SOR4 and not looking forward to this.
For me, Revenge Of Shinobi was the best in the series and the only In-House Sega Mega Drive game that came close to Mario IV perfection.

 

Wouldn't say I'm disappointed but I'm side-eyeing it pretty hard due to the mention of ingame 'upgrade' currency -- okay, so this ain't your grandpa's Shinobi, but what this could entail might be sorta bad? I dunno, maybe it's naïve and old-fashioned of me to want this to be a simple linear arcade-action title like the 16-bit era; but the idea of currency/upgrades runs counter to that.

I like what I see, but I remain somewhat trepidatious as an old fan of the series.

FWIW, I absolutely loved SOR4 though.

 

I really enjoyed SoR4 too, which is why this being not much like the other Shinobi games was a letdown. Revenge (and the original arcade game too) was all about kunai management and how it's a really useful but limited tool, and about inching in carefully and deliberately. Are kunai as a resource even going to be a thing here considering how many movement and melee options you have? The upgrade stuff also isn't to my liking. It might still be a fine game but I wish it felt like it was taking Revenge of Shinobi and doing something with it. To be fair to the game, I haven't played PS2 Shinobi but it seems like it maybe takes some inspiration from it? I think I remember PS2 Shinobi having that kind of "teleporter finisher" that this game showcases, and PS2 Shinobi seems to be a pretty interesting game.