History VideoGame / Shinobi

* CrosshairAware
** ''Shinobi III'': In the WombLevel section of Round 3, the grotesque Hydra will surface in the background and a computerized targeting reticle will slowly drift towards Joe. Let it get too close and it locks on to him before the Hydra unleashes its laser breath. Blocking the Hydra's line of sight to Joe will temporarily disable the targeting system as the Hydra submerges and waits for him to be visible again.
* CyberNinja: The Shadow Master.

* EvilCounterpart: In the [=PS2=] ''Shinobi'', the [[spoiler:four]] [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Hellspawn Lords]] are actually twisted and dark counterparts of the FourGods: eg Shirogumo stands for the White Tiger of west, and is a white GiantSpider with Tiger's head and [[DishingOutDirt earth powers]]. From the same game, [[spoiler:Moritsune]] is one to Hotsuma, having many of the same attacks and abilities [[spoiler:he later doubles up when he is possessed by Aomizuchi, who stands in for the Azure Dragon of the East.]]

* [[spoiler:FishOutOfTemporalWater: Jiro Musashi.]]

* GuideDangIt: Killing the Ninja Master in ''Revenge of Shinobi'' can get like this, given he appears completely invulnerable and even the boss-killing Mijin magic deals no damage to him. As it turns out, you can only attack his body, which is usually protected by his deadly Kabuki hair -- [[TacticalSuicideBoss until he overextends it in his initial strike]], which leaves an opening that Joe can throw a shuriken at... or even detonate a ''Mijin'' into.

* MinecartMadness: Happens in ''Shinobi Legions''.

* {{Ninja}}: ''Obviously''.
** Ninja dogs with swords in their mouths! Before you ask: No, [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons when they bark they don't shoot swords at you]].

* RelatedInTheAdaptation: Played straight and then subverted in ''Shadow Dancer''. The original arcade game starred an unnamed ninja with no relation to the Musashi bloodline, but the Japanese Mega Drive version establishes to be Joe Musashi's son Hayate, where he is given an elaborate backstory of how he was estranged from his father in the manual. However, the English manual for the American and European version ditches that backstory in favor of just making the protagonist into Joe Musashi himself.

** Riding on horseback at the beginning of stage 2.
*** On which said horse can do a ''diving KICK'' ...awesome

* ShoutOut: An organization named "Zeed"? An enemy named "Ken-oh"? Someone must have been watching too much ''[[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar Hokuto no Ken]]'' when they made the game.

* SuicideAttack / TakingYouWithMe / ActionBomb: The Art of ''Mijin'' sets off an explosion fuelled by Joe's lifeforce (i.e. one life) that'll wipe out {{Mooks}} and inflict heavy damage on Bosses. Also, for the longer stretches, it's a great way to avoid having to do a level from closer to the starting point - if you're going to die, might as well do it without having to do everything over again, no?
** But if you try to do it when you don't have any lives left, this can fall right into ExplosiveStupidity.

* TakeThat

* NintendoHard: More like SEGA Hard, but the Shinobi series has challenge practically written into its very DNA. The original arcade game and ''Shadow Dancer'' make you a OneHitPointWonder and inevitably get hectic from all angles, while ''Revenge of Shinobi'', ''Return of the Ninja Master'' and ''3D'' are plenty challenging and fully expecting you to master their mechanics or get annihilated. The [=PS2=] entry is probably the hardest game in the entire franchise, between juggling a life-draining sword that forces you to play aggressively to survive, and straight up high challenge boss fights that require you to use all the tools and abilities as well as have reflexes to survive; death means an [[CheckpointStarvation entire stage restart]] unless you reached the boss.

* RewardedasaTraitorDeserves: [[spoiler:In the PS2 game, Ageha having betrayed the Oboro to resurrect Moritsune for Hiruko, he rewards her by reuniting her with the ninja she loved. But then, Aomizuchi who is controlling Moritsune kills Ageha.]]

** Lest we forget... Joe Musashi...a master ninja, fearsome shadow, all around badass... clad in WHITE.

* RewardedasaTraitorDeserves: [[spoiler:Having betrayed the Oboro to resurrect Moritsune for Hiruko, he rewards her by reuniting her with the ninja she loved. But then, Aomizuchi who is controlling Moritsune kills Ageha.]]

* ''The Revenge of Shinobi'' - 1989 (Mega Drive/Genesis, known in Japan as ''The Super Shinobi'')

* AttackItsWeakPoint: Both Lobster samurais had their heads as their weak point. Some bosses have this as well.

* ForMassiveDamage: The [=PS2=] game's Tate system tended to require human foes to be hit in the back for one-hit kills, while the massive Hellspawn Lord bosses had "taunt" phases to their attack patterns where they took hugely increased damage. Outside the US-only Super difficulty, every boss could be killed by Hotsuma in a single sword swing save the two iterations of the Blackhawk. Yes, even Shirogane and Akagane if attacked at the right time.

* ImprobableUseOfAWeapon: 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.

* DegradedBoss: The Shadow Dancer (Boss of Stage 2 in ''Revenge'') returns in ''Shinobi III' as Stage 2's MiniBoss.

** Similarly, in the Japanese version of ''Shinobi III'' the penultimate boss is Byakushishi ("White Lion"), who is supposed to be the Ninja Master's younger brother while in Western releases makes him The Ninja Master instead.

** The [=PS2=] game's Tate system tended to require human foes to be hit in the back for one-hit kills, while the massive Hellspawn Lord bosses had "taunt" phases to their attack patterns where they took hugely increased damage. Outside the US-only Super difficulty, every boss could be killed by Hotsuma in a single sword swing save the two iterations of the Blackhawk. Yes, even Shirogane and Akagane if attacked at the right time.

Sega revived the series in the early [[TurnOfTheMillennium 2000s]] with a new 3D game simply titled ''Shinobi'' for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 in 2002, which had the player controlling a new ninja named Hotsuma, who wields the life-draining blade known as Akujiki (Eater of Evil). Joe Musashi also appeared in the new game as well as a hidden character. It was followed by a pseudo-sequel titled ''{{Nightshade|Kunoichi}}'' in 2003, also for [=PS2=], which featured a female ninja named Hibana. Many of the older titles (namely the three Genesis games and the original arcade game) had been re-released for the Wii Virtual Console.

* NotSoFastBucko: In ''Shinobi Legions/X'', the protagonist Sho spends the game trying to rescue his girlfriend Aya. You actually rescue her after only stage 4, and she even teaches you the secret to the ultimate Ninjutsu technique, [[[spoiler:but the BigBad's ninjas were eavesdropping on you both so they could overhear the secret, and they recapture Aya after knocking her out with a cheap shot. So your mission to rescue Aya isn't over yet.]]

* LawyerFriendlyCameo: In the early versions of ''Revenge of Shinobi'', Musashi will fight against thinly-disguised pastiches of Franchise/{{Rambo}}, [[Franchise/{{Terminator}} The Terminator]] (or TheIncredibleHulk, depending on how you look at it), Franchise/{{SpiderMan}}, Franchise/{{Batman}}, and even Franchise/{{Godzilla}} as bosses. Unfortunately, [[SubvertedTrope the companies that made the characters started catching on]], so shipment of the games was stopped in order to modify the sprite data. This happened at least 3-4 times, with each revision removing or altering the characters in question. By the time of the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} re-release, Rambo was spriteswapped, Spider-Man was recolored pink, Batman was a mutated Manga/{{Devilman}} ripoff, and Godzilla's skin was peeled off. Yep, that's right: only the Terminator / Hulk survived.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Gameplay example with the fight with Hiruko in the PS2 game. Hotsuma's attacks will only remove a sliver of Hiruko's health, so he can only reliably be killed with "TATE" attack. If Hiruko didn't summon minion to allow Hotsuma to do a "TATE" then he may well have been impossible.

The original ''Shinobi'' was originally released in 1987 for the arcades. The player controls a ninja named Joe Musashi, who fights a criminal syndicate known as "Zeed" in order to rescue his kidnapped students. The original game featured a floor jumping system similar to Namco's ''VideoGame/RollingThunder''. Musashi is armed with his punches and kicks, as well as an unlimited supply of shurikens (which can be upgraded into a sword and gun), as well as different kinds of ninja arts which could be used to kill all on-screen enemies. Sega also made a [[UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem Master System]] rendition which changed the game mechanics by adding more weapons, as well as a health gauge system and the ability to carry multiple ninja arts. There were also licensed versions for the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem and PCEngine.

* {{Onmyodo}}: Hiruko is an onmyoji and thus utilizes this. The "Hellspawn" are in fact shikigami [[DubNameChange and are referred to as such in the Japanese version.]]