The Final Word game review

Shinobi Legions -- Vic Tokai, Inc.

In this side-scrolling platform game for the Sega Saturn, you play the part of Sho, air to the Shinobi blood line. Through use of the power of "Nindo", you must save your sister Aya from your evil brother Kazuma and stop his forces from taking over the world.

R.I.P.
Ever since the Revenge of Shinobi (which I still play) on the Gensis, I've not been to major of a Shinobi fan, but this new version is great. All of the characters are sprites of actual people, the backgrounds are detailed and the animation in general is pretty smooth. Sound was so-so, but gameplay was right on the money. I loved all of the new moves, especially the fact that you could use your sword as a shield, or just swing it any time you wanted to. The game cinemas are straight out of a grade-B kung-fu flick... and eventhough they went cheap and subtitled all of the dialog, it actually fits ok. Lot's of fun... and darn it, the infinite shuriken trick doesn't work (like I expected it to anyways).

Salamander
Uh, I haven't played Shinobi since the Genesis was new, and I can't say as how I've missed it any... Shinobi Legions is okay, but it isn't really any great advancement. On the up side, the B-grade movie-style FMV intermissions were extremely funny. Overall, unless you're a real Shinobi fan, you may want to skip this one.

>>>>> 38.5/50 <<<<<		R.I.P.	Salamander
Graphics		4.5	3.5
Sound		3.5	3.5
Gameplay/Control		4.5	3.5
Longevity/Playability		4.5	3.5
Overall		4.0	3.5
Total		21.0	17.5

(10/95)