The secret of Shinobi
Plus a wishlist of board games, retro anniversaries and what to play
[Note: for some reason Substack didn’t send last week’s post out in email form, so if you’re reading this in your inbox, that’s why it’s late! Sorry about that. - Tim]
Hello there! We're deep in release season now, and I'm trying to focus on finishing each game before I get distracted by a mountain of new shiny things. Of course in reality that means I’m only choosing to play the games that will last 10 hours or less, and having a great time. I'm also excited to dive into the Star-Crossed World DLC for Kirby and the Forgotten Land, but I still think Nintendo's pricing for these things is off. The new levels may be worth $30, but why are they bundled with the technical upgrade of higher resolution and 60 frames per second? Shouldn't that be free? If someone's a new Switch 2 owner and never played this game, they have the option of paying $80 and having it run at 30 frames, or $110 to run as they'd expect on the new hardware. If you're in that position, I'd be looking at second-hand cartridges rather than the eShop.
In the newsletter this week Alice and I both have thoughts on Shinobi, plus we're looking wistfully at the board games and ancient retro titles on our shelves, and going over all the new options to hit the subs this week. Let's go!
Return of the ninja master
By Tim
Streets of Rage 4 was a revelation in 2020, and should rightly serve as a blueprint for bringing back retro franchises in a way that celebrates their history but also creates a brand new experience that holds up as a modern day great. So while Sega had nothing to do with that game, it's no surprise that it announced shortly afterward it would be bringing back five old series for new entries.
The first one to release, this week's Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, is an absolute slam dunk. For a series that hasn't seen a new console game in more than 20 years, I can't imagine a more impressive return than this.
Most notable is that the game doesn't play anything like the 80s and 90s Shinobis. This is an action platformer built on melee combos, double-jumps and air dashes. It's fast, the swordplay is brutal, and it strikes a really nice balance in terms of difficulty. There are some tricks and magic that you must learn along the way, but there are also heaps of techniques and bonuses you earn, purchase or choose, meaning you can build your own custom Shinobi.
If you stick to the critical path you can feel the game pushing against you a little the whole way, but if you want to explore and find the optional extras (including some legitimately gratifying bonuses), you'll face technical platforming challenges that will rake you over the coals.
Also unlike any past Shinobi, there's an emphasis on returning to past levels once you've obtained new gear. It's not a full Metroid-like because the levels are distinct and not connected, but on my way to 100% completion I did have to do a lot of map studying for paths I didn't get previously, and some levels have huge hidden sections you could never access the first time through.
Despite all this, the game still manages to carry the vibe of the Mega Drive Shinobi games. Sure, there are direct references to those games (as well as the arcade and PS2 eras), but Joe Musashi moves the way he should, slings kunai the way you expect, and is every bit the badass from the old front cover illustrations. The game takes you from natural mountains to busy cities, and from shiny technology to horrific gore, with unexpected diversions into the fantastical (including a sweet early game twist about the nature of the bad guy), and it feels just right.
And of course, none of it would work without the incredible hand-drawn art from Lizardcube, which is even more impressive here than in Streets of Rage. Everything's meticulously animated, and way lighting and particle effects are integrated puts it above so many modern 2D games. At first I didn't think the soundtrack from Tee Lopes (with a few tracks from the OG Yuzo Koshiro) was going as hard as it ought too, but I cranked down the sound effects and turned the volume right up and it absolutely fixed it.
What to play
The Rogue Prince of Persia is officially out now after a long time in PC early access, but the big surprise is that it’s launched directly into both PlayStation Plus and Game Pass. This is a platforming rougelite made by the developers who have been handling the expansions and DLC for Dead Cells, and it has a similar setup where you create a build as you go through each procedurally generated run. But of course there is also acrobatics and parkour. And just like the last (excellent) Prince of Persia, there’s easy cross-platform progression.
Also new on PS+ is third-person shooter Earth Defense Force 6 and slow-life sim Coral Island.
Also new on Game Pass is Gears of War Reloaded. This is the second remaster released for the game, which is nearly 20 years old. But you know what, you should play it because it remains incredible. The shooting is great, the characters and story are dumb but surprisingly earnest, and many of the set-pieces are tuned for two-player split-screen co-op. Online co-op works too, and there’s even crossplay since Gears is coming to PlayStation for the first time with this release.
Currently free on the Epic Games is top-down Micro Machines tribute Make Way, and classic point-and-click Machinarium.
Why are you booing? I’m right.
By Alice
Having spent the last couple of weeks falling in love with Shinobi: Art of Vengence, it’s time to voice my most controversial and correct gaming opinion: we need more 2D side scrolling games and fewer 3D open worlds. I’m not saying that game design peaked in the 1990s when the prevailing logic was “put that man in a situation and then make him run sideways”, but it’s a great format that I’m glad is getting more attention this year. It doesn’t give anyone motion sickness, people can still get lost (depending on how it’s set up) so it’s not necessarily holding your hand, but you’re also wasting less time.
I say this as someone for whom the two main games I play are open worlds (Forza Horizon and Fortnite). There are many open world games that feel alive, like the world is a character and the exploration is rewarding. However, so many more open worlds in games add hours, rather than enjoyment.
In a 2D platformer, usually every screen-size worth of space has to earn its keep, it has to add something. It’s like a sentence in a script: it has to earn its place. In an open world game, you can often walk for ages without anything to do or collect. If I wanted to walk around a 3D world where everything cost currency and my foraging options were limited, I would go outside.
From a dev perspective, I imagine a 2D side scrolling game would cost less, potentially require less crunch on a smaller budget (if staffed correctly), and be quicker to make than a proper open world game. Those are all good things in this age of bloated budgets, long development cycles, and publishers shutting down studios to make spreadsheets look nice.
2025 has officially marked the start of the 2D side-scrolling resurgence (I’m manifesting), and life is good.
Bricks, Boards and Beginnings
by Alice
My daughter hath once again brought the plague into my home, so I haven’t been able to play board games with friends for a few weeks. However, what I have been able to do is stare forlornly at my shelves and anticipate playing some games. So, here is what I’m looking forward to playing in the near future:
Pergola
This is a game where you have to plant the perfect blend of flowers to attract bees and other insects to your garden. It’s a Euro-style game that I mostly selected because it looks absolutely beautiful.
Happy Mochi
To level with you, I chose this purely based on its name. You compete to be the first to empty your hand, etc. But mostly it has mochi, and that’s all I need.
Ink
All I know about this is that it’s a strategy game meets art, and recommended for people who love Azul. I love Azul, so let’s do this.
Crafting The Cosmos
Here you play as interstellar architects building the galaxy, able to manipulate the laws of the universe. Including the flow of time, to make your creations and spawn life. I’m super intrigued about how this one is going to work.
Just One
A game where you have to describe words to each other. It has the potential to be hilarious with the right group. Similar to Dixit, but for words instead of art.
Pretty much all of these games allow up to 4 players, and are quite casual, meaning they’re easy to learn and quick to play. While I still love board games I can sink my teeth into for a full day, now more than ever I appreciate games that help add structure to time spent together with friends. Games where the focus is less on taking you into another world, and more on making sure you’re having fun in this one. All these games should fit that brief nicely.
Retro Esoterica
by Tim
You know what time it is! Here are some games that have celebrated major anniversaries in August:
Now 25: Paper Mario With Square having abandoned Nintendo to make Final Fantasy games on the PlayStation, the Big N turned to Fire Emblem devs Intelligent Systems to make a sequel to Mario RPG, and it turned out pretty good! Why make Mario into paper? Given that the game is called Mario Story in Japan, I’m not sure that was the original intent. Most RPGs of the time had polygonal characters that were barely rendered with any detail or emotion, meaning characterisation had to happen in 2D portrait art. By making the characters here 2D themselves, you get to keep the big 3D RPG world but you also get characters that are much cuter, have more readable reactions and move around like lovable cartoons.
Now 30: Yoshi’s Island Selling this as a sequel to Super Mario World (as Nintendo did) does it a massive disservice. Yes, it’s another platformer with Mario and Yoshi in it, but it’s a fundamentally different game. With Yoshi’s ability to turn enemies into eggs and throw them, a hugely reduced threat of death and no time limit to the levels, it’s a slower paced and more exploratory experience. The vibe and aesthetic is totally distinct, in part thanks to the SuperFX 2 chip that allowed for scaling and morphing, in part thanks to the crayon visuals that were drawn by hand. It’s hands down one of the prettiest SNES games, with the brilliant level design and cooked bosses making it a joy to return to today.
Now 40: Road Blaster This is a game that I know very well, but as Road Avenger, one of the first games I played on the Sega Mega-CD. Child me had no idea the game was 10 years old at that point, and was originally made for Japanese arcades, but I would have accepted the fact easily. It’s an FMV game in the vein of Dragon’s Lair, but with beautiful animation from Toei and viewed from a first-person behind-the-wheel perspective. You need to hit the left, right, brake and accelerate buttons at the right times to avoid crashing and dying, so it’s entirely about memorisation. Good thing it looks so cool.