History YMMV / Shinobi

** ''Revenge'' — "Terrible Beat"

** Let's just cap it off and say that since ...Mr. Yuzo Koshiro (VideoGame/StreetsOfRage and VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey) was behind the music for most of the franchise... this trope is everywhere in this series.
** The PAL version of Shinobi X/Legions has some pretty awesome new music composed by Richard Jacques, who also did the music for the Saturn port of ''VideoGame/Sonic3DBlast''. This version is considered by many to be superior since it sticks truer to Koshiro's style. Compare [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2AOFMRg9r0 the original]] version of stage 1 to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH3fSDiup00 Jacques' version]].

* SoBadItsGood: The cutscenes in Shinobi X/Legions.

* WhatAnIdiot: [[spoiler: Ageha is quite a sore loser. Ok, her love interest Moritsune was killed by Hotsuma in a duel in order to keep Akujiki sealed, but then she suddenly decides to resurrect him... by freeing the archenemy of the Oboro clan who eventually proceed to kill everyone, turn Moritsune into a living puppet and eventually disposing of her.]]

* TheScrappy: [[spoiler:Ageha]], see WhatAnIdiot below. Many players barely sympathized with her [[spoiler:even when she is killed.]]

* WhatAnIdiot: [[spoiler: Ageha is quite a sore loser. Ok, her love interest Moritsune was killed by Hotsuma in a duel in order to keep Akujiki sealed, but then she suddenly decides to resurrect him... by freeing the archenemy of the Oboro clan who eventually proceed to kill everyone, turn Moritsune into a living puppet and eventually disposing of her.]]
* TheWoobie: The first two Oboro's [[CameBackWrong revenant]] you meet are, respectively a chubby boy and a cute little girl. Who just after appearing pray for Hotsuma to ''[[MercyKill KILL THEM]]''. [[TearJerker Poor Hotsuma...]]
--> '''Hotsuma''': "Akagane... Shirogane... not you too!"

* IronWoobie:
** If the [[MultipleEndings bad ending]] of ''Revenge of Shinobi'' is canon, Joe Musashi would be this in ''Shinobi III''.
** Hotsuma in the [=PS2=] game has it pretty rough. At the beginning of the story, he forced to take the role of the Oboro clan leader and Akujiki's new wielder after killing his brother, Moritsune. As the story progresses, his clan members have been killed and brought back to life as Hellspawn for him to kill and feed Akujiki. By the end of the game, [[spoiler:his only option to seal away Akujiki is by killing Hiruko with it before allowing himself to die as the Golden Palace collapses.]]

** [[http://i.imgur.com/zqZL5Th.gif And then there's the boss at the end of said level]] which is a giant, mutant, human-like beast thing who slowly turns pale every time you hit its eye. At least [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp9iqBW0_TI the music that plays during the boss]] [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome is cool]].

* BreatherBoss: Lobster is this in Master System Shinobi. Squeezed in-between the infamous [[GuideDangIt Mandara]] and the brutal four-phase long final boss against the Masked Ninja is by far the easiest boss in the game, who does nothing but slowly walk towards you and raise his sword up and down. When his sword is raised up he blocks your attacks, but all you really have to do is get one hit in and you've already won as he's also vulnerable immediately after being knocked back, making it laughably easy to take him out in seconds. Lobster could also be considered a breather in between the ''PlatformHell'' that was just before his fight and [[EverythingTryingToKillYou the hectic Masked Ninja stages immediately after.]]
* CompleteMonster: [[BigBad Hiruko]] from the [=PS2=] remake is an EvilSorcerer awakened from [[SealedEvilInACan a long slumber in Tokyo]] and sets about trying to TakeOverTheWorld. He wipes out the Oboro ninja clan, and revives them into twisted, undead parodies of themselves to force their surviving leader Hotsuma to fight them while also unleashing hellspawn onto Tokyo to turn it into an inferno. He [[TheStarscream betrays his ostensible master]] to allow Hotsuma to defeat all in his way so Hiruko can absorb their power and restore his youth while gaining ultimate power. It is revealed that the one who broke Hiruko's seal was the Oboro ninja Ageha, in return for Hiruko reviving Moritsune, her dead lover and Hotsuma's elder brother. Hiruko keeps his end, but makes Moritsune a host for the demon lord Aomizuchi and has him kill Ageha while gloating her reward is to die at the hands of the man she loves. He reveals his true plan was to force Hotsuma to kill everyone in his way, his [[SoulEating cursed sword Akujiki devouring their souls]]. Hiruko plans to force the combined souls to himself, giving him a "pure, perfect soul" so he may become [[AGodAmI the most powerful being alive]].
* CrowningMomentOfFunny: In the Genesis port of ''Shadow Dancer'', the boss of Stage 3 will back up a bit if you get to close. You can trick her into doing this continously by [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything crouch-walking in front of her]]. The moment she steps past the edge of the platform, [[GravityIsAHarshMistress she will fall and be defeated instantly]]!
* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: The [=PS2=] ''Shinobi'' has "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwVbIk1TdLw&fmt=18 Call]]," one of the best final boss themes ever written.

* MisattributedSong: Despite having worked on the soundtracks of previous entries, Creator/YuzoKoshiro did not compose for ''Shinobi III''. While that game's soundtrack lacks the experimental flair of Koshiro's work, it's [[AwesomeMusic awesome]] enough in its own right that the mistake is easy to make.

** The PAL version of Shinobi X/Legions has some pretty awesome new music composed by Richard Jacques, who also did the music for the Saturn port of Sonic3DBlast. This version is considered by many to be superior since it sticks truer to Koshiro's style. Compare [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2AOFMRg9r0 the original]] version of stage 1 to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH3fSDiup00 Jacques' version]].

* GameBreaker: The Art of ''Mijin''. The explosion, while costing you a life, also restores your health meter and takes out nearby enemies. More importantly, it respawns you in place instead of at the last checkpoint, preventing you from losing a large amount of progress. It also gives you another use of your special moves, so you could just use it over and over. (Until your lives run out, at least.)

* IronWoobie: If the [[MultipleEndings bad ending]] of ''Revenge of Shinobi'' is canon, Joe Musashi would be this in ''Shinobi III''.
** Hotsuma in the PS2 game

* TooCoolToLive: [[spoiler:Hostuma, although his fate is unknown at the end of ''Shinobi (2002)'', many fans have agreed that he perished as the Golden Palace collapsed.]]

* ThatOneBoss: In the [=PS2=] ''Shinobi'', chances are it's Hiruko. If you can't pull off a "TATE" attack he takes forever to kill and you can't hurt him while he's attacking.

** ''3'' has quite a few, especially ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKQeAA1ssxM Mandara]]'' and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOWrn3Ngz6c The Shadow Master's theme]].

** ''3'' has quite a few, especially ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nSTeI3sO8w Mandara]]'' and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsCnVkxA3Xg The Shadow Master's theme]].

** Let's just cap it off and say that since ...Mr. Yuzo Koshiro (StreetsOfRage and VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey) was behind the music for most of the franchise... this trope is everywhere in this series.

* CompleteMonster: [[BigBad Hiruko]] from the [=PS2=] remake is an EvilSorcerer awakened from [[SealedEvilInACan a long slumber in Tokyo]] and sets about trying to TakeOverTheWorld. He wipes out the Oboro ninja clan, and revives them into twisted, undead parodies of themselves to force their surviving leader Hotsuma to fight them while also unleashing hellspawn onto Tokyo to turn it into an inferno. He [[TheStarscream betrays his ostensible master]] to allow Hotsuma to defeat all in his way so Hiruko can absorb their power and restore his youth while gaining ultimate power. It is revealed that the one who broke Hiruko's seal was the Oboro ninja Ageha, in return for Hiruko reviving Moritsune, her dead lover and Hotsuma's elder brother. Hiruko keeps his end, but makes Moritsune a host for the demon lord Aomizuchi and has him kill Ageha while gloating her reward is to die at the hands of the man she loves. He reveals his true plan was to force Hotsuma to kill everyone in his way, his [[YourSoulIsMine cursed sword Akujiki devouring their souls]]. Hiruko plans to force the combined souls to himself, giving him a “pure, perfect soul” so he may become [[AGodAmI the most powerful being alive]].

* CompleteMonster: [[BigBad Hiruko]] from the PS2 remake is an EvilSorcerer awakened from [[SealedEvilInACan a long slumber in Tokyo]] and sets about trying to TakeOverTheWorld. He wipes out the Oboro ninja clan, and revives them into twisted, undead parodies of themselves to force their surviving leader Hotsuma to fight them while also unleashing hellspawn onto Tokyo to turn it into an inferno. He [[TheStarscream betrays his ostensible master]] to allow Hotsuma to defeat all in his way so Hiruko can absorb their power and restore his youth while gaining ultimate power. It is revealed that the one who broke Hiruko's seal was the Oboro ninja Ageha, in return for Hiruko reviving Moritsune, her dead lover and Hotsuma's elder brother. Hiruko keeps his end, but makes Moritsune a host for the demon lord Aomizuchi and has him kill Ageha while gloating her reward is to die at the hands of the man she loves. He reveals his true plan was to force Hotsuma to kill everyone in his way, his [[YourSoulIsMine cursed sword Akujiki devouring their souls]]. Hiruko plans to force the combined souls to himself, giving him a “pure, perfect soul” so he may become [[AGodAmI the most powerful being alive]].

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: The PS2 ''Shinobi'' has "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwVbIk1TdLw&fmt=18 Call]]," one of the best final boss themes ever written.

* GoddamnBats: Many of the "minienemies" that appears in the Ps2 game have shades of this. Also, in earlier games, the ninja who were airborne had a rather nasty ability to wreck your jumps with very well placed shuriken.

** The PAL version of Shinobi X/Legions has some pretty awesome new music composed by Richard Jacques, who also did the music for the Saturn port of Sonic3DBlast. This version is considered by many to be superior since it sticks truer to Koshiro's style. Compare [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr4ikHN4N2U the original]] version of stage 1 to [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_Fdgl5f1xU Jacques' version]].

** ''Revenge'' has "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX-KcQI4jEM&fmt=18 Terrible Beat]]."

* MisattributedSong: Despite having worked on the soundtracks of previous entries, Creator/YuzoKoshiro did not compose for ''Shinobi III''. While that game's soundtrack lacks the experimental flair of Koshiro's work, it's otherwise [[AwesomeMusic awesome]] enough in its own right that the mistake is easy to make.

* MisattributedSong: Despite having worked on the soundtracks of previous entries, Creator/YuzoKoshiro did not compose for ''Shinobi III''. While it lacks the experimental flair of Koshiro's work, it's otherwise [[AwesomeMusic awesome]] enough in its own right that the mistake is easy to make.

** [[http://i.imgur.com/zqZL5Th.gif And then there's the boss at the end of said level]] which is a giant, mutant, human who slowly turns pale every time you hit its eye. At least [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp9iqBW0_TI the music that plays during the boss]] is cool.

* TheWoobie: The first two Oboro's [[CameBackWrong revenant]] you meet are, respectively a chubby boy and a cute little girl. Who just after appearing pray for Hotsuma to [[MercyKill kill them]]''. [[TearJerker Poor Hotsuma...]]

* TheWoobie: The first two Oboro's [[CameBackWrong revenant]] you meet are, respectively a chubby boy and a cute little girl. Who just after appearing pray for Hotsuma to [[MercyKill KILL THEM]]''. [[TearJerker Poor Hotsuma...]]

* TheWoobie: The first two Oboro's [[CameBackWrong revenant]] you meet are, respectively a chubby boy and a cute little girl. Who just after appearing pray for Hotsuma to ''[[MercyKill kill them]]''. [[TearJerker Poor Hotsuma...]]