Please login to submit a screenshot

"It's not just the definitive GameGear Shinobi, it's the definitive GameGear game"

After a year of the successful GG Shinobi Sega developed on the GameGear, we all figured it was sequel time, so what we got in such a short amount of time was the GG Shinobi Part II: The Silent Fury. The power rangers style gameplay returns, and It improved on many things from the original, introducing backtracking, a new crystal hunt aspect to the game, some ninja's like the yellow ninja who did that stupid hoduken attack in part 1 now wields the windmill shuriken, and a new save feature that makes all the changes simply for the better. The level design is also more non linear which will take players a much longer time to find all of those "life-ups" which enhance your total life bar. Lets move on to the review shall we?

Story: 7/10 Basically the same as part 1, only this time it's lead by the Techno Warriors who hired that blasted Black Ninja who turns out was not defeated in the first game. Now Musashi must not only rescue his ninja companions, but recover the elementel crystals of these ninja guardians, and ultimately search for the hidden enemies base to end it all. This time the story seemed to fit better as each elemental ninja also has a "black" rival ninja they must face in a showdown later in the game. It's a really cool clash of light versus dark ninja's in a fight for the world. Only you can determine of Team Shinobi has what it takes to overcome the darkness.

Sound/music: 10/10 Yuzo Koshiro does it again. Straight up from the title screen to the branch and final levels to the ending credits, it's all a wonderful ride of some of the best gamegear music. To argue which had the better tracks between this and part 1 is disputable, but this games "Building" stage is easily the best track of both games. There isn't any music from the Revenge of Shinobi in this one, but there is a track that seems loosely based of "The Shinobi" from RoS in one of this games hidden rooms. I just love the aura from these games, its truly wonderful, and something deeply missed in todays games.

Graphics: 10/10 Ahh, the same crisp, smooth animations from part 1 and then some. Each ninja is slightly more detailed, and some have much different animations from the first game. Something notable is when you leave the ninja's standing still, instead of just freezing in place, they cross their arms in a fluint fashion. It's minor, but it lets you know that this sequel wasn't gonna count on taking the backseat. Eeverything in part 2 is just more smoothed out and less blocky. Some glorious backgrounds include buildings, hills and roaring clouds, the beloved temple from part 1 redefined, and other urban and rural areas to get lost in. This has got to be the best graphical game on the gamegear, and even looks better than some of the GBA's handheld games.

Controls: 9/10 Controls are kept exactly the same as the first. You can jump (double jump with Green ninja), crouch and move, and attack basically. The giant shuriken weilding yellow ninja can actually throw the shuriken upwards. Big improvement over what he was like in part 1. Pausing allows you to switch between ninja's on the fly and use ninjutsu's, just like in part 1.

Gameplay: 10/10 This is truly the dream game we were all expecting after the GG Shinobi. I mean everything good from that game was thrown into this one and done better. Much better. Not only do we again have a cool intro scene starring the five ninja's but we have four new levels to play straight from the get-go, and this time they can be replayed as many times as you want, and in any order without the possibility of missing something. No more missing life ups and unexplored areas, unless you truly are too lazy to, and that will hurt you later in the game. This game encourages getting lost and backtracking to use unlocked ninja's abilities like the double jump, walking on ceilings, water and swinging across hooks to uncover life-ups, and for the first time, elementel crystals. So what are these crystals? Each colored ninja is a guardian to these crystals, and they have also been kidnapped by the enemy. This basically forces the player to retrace their steps after clearing these levels in order to find unexplored parts. It's great because by the next time you visit a beaten level, you will be more powerful and be able to do more than the first time. But the enemies get stronger too. It's the evolving Mega-Man X factor that really makes this game shine. Everything can be found on a levels 2nd playthrough, but first timers may be retracing levels multiple times before finding every last crystal and optional life-up container before entering the final level, which again is huge. This game is longer than the first simply for the exploration, and while I didn't find it as difficult, it is still extremely challenging, and the final bosses really outshine anything the first game threw at you in terms of challenge. Thankfully, there's a password system to keep track of your progress as you free fellow ninja's and find crystals and life-ups. This game is quite long to beat in one sitting, and even though I've done it on several occasions, it's always great to know I can quit at any given time without too much worry of catching up. Another thing I appreciate is Joe, the Red Ninja, no longer takes a backseat to the other ninja's as his sword is now the most powerful weapon in the game, versus being one of the weakest like in part 1. Some ninja's ninjutsus have been changed, balancing them out more. The green ninja no longer carries that waste of ninjutsu suicide attack, which came in handy in RoS but not in a game like this. He now wields the earthquake jutsu instead of Musashi, while Musashi himself wields a brand new jutsu that lets him teleport to the end of stages once he clears them. It's handy when backtracking, and saves time of running through the whole level again after acquiring a missed crystal or life-up. This game just has the best level design, greater boss battles, more unique enemies, and to me was just a smooth ride all throughout the entire game. It's a sequel that truly delivers and won't leave fans disappointed. The ending, again, is short but sweet, and you really get the feeling that its finally finished. It's a great conclusion to the GG Shinobi saga.

In the end, gamegear owners simply cannot go wrong with this one. Since I grew up playing this one first, I felt alittle spoiled playing part 1 and seeing all the mistakes, but its great afterwards coming back to this one after such a long time and truly realizing its brilliance. Even though the GameGear is dead, owners looking for a class A game will find it in Shinobi II, and perhaps someday I will purchase a new gamegear since my current ones sound system is dead, forcing me to enjoy these games on emulators. This is one of the best examples of not doing the same old Shinobi that already makes it great, but trying something new and having it work just as well, if not better than the Genesis versions. This is a game I will never forget about, as it truly defined the epicness of the 90's media and of being a ninja battling other ninja's in one non-linear action platforming game. A must have for collectors and gamers alike.

Pros.
+Shinobi's back with new moves, new levels, backtracking elements, and redefined gameplay
+Revisit stages as much as you like to collect crystals and life-ups
+New password system makes this a never ending quest to defeat the Black Ninja once and for all
+Harness the power of the Shinobi's using new weapons like the Windmill shuriken and old fan favorites like the Kurasi-Gama and bombs
+Ninja's balanced much more giving each thier own distinction and preferences to the player
+Deep challenge returns with a new final fortress just as unforgiving as the first, and a tougher final boss encounter to boot
+Some returning levels and environments like the temple from part 1, only bigger and better than before
+Great musical score by Yuzo Koshiro
+It's a freaking ninja game

Cons.
-Unlike the first GG Shinobi, there's no sound test cheat to revisit the games nostalgic music

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/23/08

Game Release: Shinobi II: The Silent Fury (US, 1992)