The Legendary Ninja Warrior Returns
Betrayed by your friend, you must battle an ancient and evil clan in this epic conituation of the acclaimed Shinobi series.
— "Back of the case.''
Shinobi is a Hack and Slash Platform Game for the Nintendo 3DS, released in 2011, and the first game in the Shinobi series in nearly ten years at the time.
A prequel to the original game, the story revolves around Joe Musashi's father, Jiro, an Orboro Clan leader in Kencho Era Japan, specifically the year 1256. When the Zeed syndicate attacks his village, Jiro is called on to protect it, but during the battle, finds himself flung 800 years into the future, where Zeed rules with an iron fist. Trapped in the future and his clan destroyed, Jiro joins a local resistance against Zeed, and fights to survive this unknown world, avenge his fallen clan, and rebuild the Oboro anew.
This game provides examples of:
- Action Girl: Sarah Krieger is shown to be quite an impressive fighter on par with Jiro. She even is an unlockable character.
- Alternate Timeline: Because Jiro is unable to return to the past, he plans to begin the Oboro clan anew in the future. Thus, his son Joe doesn't exist in the 20th century in this timeline.
- Continuity Nod: Of sorts in the 3DS version. Enemies from past games like the Brain Mutants make an appearance, and one stage has Jiro board a Zeed warship identical to the one in the final level of Shinobi III.
- Elemental Powers: Jiro's Ninja Magic in the 3DS Shinobi are now classified by elements:
- Fire: The Art of Karyu; it also temporarily powers up Jiro's shuriken and gives them a spread shot.
- Earth: Instead of Mijin, Jiro has a new magic that grants him automatic parrying against enemy attacks, shuriken spread, and increased melee speed, but leaves him severely drained of health when it wears off.
- Lightning: The Art of Ikazuchi.
- Water: The Art of Fushin; also grants faster speed and shuriken recharge.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: Jiro Musashi, due to an energy clash between an explosion and a ninjitsu spell.
- Improbable Use of a Weapon: In the 3DS Shinobi, Kunai are used as projectile weapons much like shuriken. Although not implausible in real life, Kunai were used primarily as tools and melee weapons (as depicted in Revenge of Shinobi and Shinobi III), seldom thrown. However in real life there are kunai-gata shuriken, ones that are shaped like kunai and are very much meant to be thrown.
- Legacy Character: It seems Shadow Master has become a title for the head of Zeed, as the one fought in this game is apparently the very first and is quite different from the Cyberninja in Shinobi III.
- Jiro is an inversion, since Joe Musashi is his son.
- The Man Behind the Man: Orn in the 3DS Shinobi is the real mastermind behind the attack on Jiro's village, and is controlling the Shadow Master (and therefore Zeed).
- Market-Based Title The 3DS version is known as Shinobi 3D in Japan.
- Not the Fall That Kills You…: The ending of Shinobi on 3DS has Jiro fall from space ALL THE WAY DOWN TO EARTH during the entirety of the credits. On fire. And then he walks away unscathed upon landing, all thanks to a ninjitsu spell. Doubles with I Fell for Hours.
- Production Throwback: The game plays like a
Spiritual Successor to Shinobi III, and also contains nods and homages to the original trilogy.- One of the unlockable extra weapons is the Golden Axe. Also in the Oboro Village level next to one of the hidden Mastery Coins is the dwarf Gilius Thunderhead trapped in ice. Free him and he'll thank you with an extra life before moving on.
- The fifth level is called Afterburned, and climaxes with a battle atop a fighter jet as it flies on a sortie against the Zeed warship.
- Rebel Leader: Colonel Sarah Krieger is the leader of an special ops unit opposing ZEED.
- Recycled Title This game shares its title with the 1987 arcade game, and 2002 PS2 game.
- Rocket Ride: Jiro performs one in a cutscene (off the plane you were fighting on no less) to reach the Zeed stratofortress.
- Scarf of Asskicking: Jiro Musashi sports one, continuing the tradition Shinobi (2002) started.
- Secret Character: Though written out of continuity in this game's timeline, series mainstay Joe Musashi returns as a secret character.
- Shout-Out:
- The "No-Mask Jiro" Costume looks a lot like Kage from The Legend of Kage 2.
- Also, getting through Very Hard Mode gives you the option to replace your kunai with fruit.
- There are also a few in the achievements. The name of the achievement for beating very hard? "I Am Ninja, You Are Ninja Too". More include "You Won't Be Back" and "Shark Weak" (defeat the Lava Crawler without taking damage and in under 2 minutes, respectively), "The Smell of Victory" and "Got To Tha Choppa" (same for the Chopper), "Float Like A Butterfly" (complete a level without parrying) and "Die Another Day" (win the bonus stage).
- Yuki Onna: Jiro has to fight one at the end of the first level.
