No, you're not currently watching Bioman,
Power Rangers or God knows what.
This is Shinobi Legions,
known as Shinobi X in Europe.
Shinobi Legions,
on the Saturn.
What is
Shinobi?
Well it's a SEGA
game franchise.
It is true that Sonic comes immediatly to
mind when you talk about SEGA.
But it isn't the only big series
created by SEGA, such as Shinobi.
So the Shinobi franchise started at the beginning
of the 8-bit consoles era, with the Master System.
Which was the first
SEGA home console.
And then there has been Shinobi episodes
on every SEGA console, except the Dreamcast.
Instead of the Dreamcast, there has been 3D
Shinobi games on the PS2, that I never played.
So there has been games on the
Master System, Game Gear, Genesis...
And on the Saturn as well,
with this Shinobi Legions.
I am not the
biggest Shinobi fan.
I played The Revenge of Shinobi on the
Genesis because everyone played it back then.
It was one of the
first Genesis games.
If I remember correctly, it
wasn't very expensive either.
And after a few months, there was an
awful lot of used ones in every store.
So I think everyone who played the Genesis
at this time played The Revenge of Shinobi.
Because you could have one for next to
nothing and it was pretty good.
But after that, there's also been
Shinobi III, the best Shinobi I ever played.
It is an excellent Genesis
title, with a lot of novelties.
The power of the Genesis was
on display with the graphics...
Anyway! Let's talk
about Shinobi Legions.
What do you need to know
about Shinobi Legions?
First of all, as you can see, the
introduction is completely kitsch.
It totally looks like something out of "Message
from Space: Galactic Battle", or stuff like this.
We can laugh
at this.
Let's not forget we thought this was funny
back in the day, but also really well-done.
We were impressed by the fact they
managed to do such a thing in a video game.
All this while laughing, because
it is really funny after all.
So we will play as Sho, the
character you saw earlier.
The script is overly simple, there's
another girl that got kidnapped.
This is our
master's daughter.
Anyway, we'll have to go through
exactly 9 stages to rescue her.
You should know that the hero of this
opus is different from the other episodes.
I forgot the name of the character in the other
Shinobi games, but it wasn't this one, Sho.
Let's go to the options to select the easy
mode, because the game is rather hard.
Let's start with the maximum
amount of shurikens, which is 100.
Well, it isn't really shurikens but
rather some knives in this game.
And let's start
right away!
First
stage.
So this is a classic
2D platformer.
You start at the left,
you go to the right.
And one can even notice there isn't
a lot of new stuff since the Genesis days.
There's the character
we play as.
Look out, he does
not look happy!
So you'll see the graphics sure are
different from the saga's standards.
If you look closely, you'll notice
the character is a digitized sprite.
So, what does
digitized mean?
I'm going to cut
you in two!
It simply
means...
You
bastard!
It means a real person
was the model for the sprite.
A bit like the Mortal Kombat
series on the Genesis.
It wasn't made from scratch on the
computer, but an actor played the part.
It makes the game look more realistic,
but the animation is a bit rougher.
This little effect is nice
too, with the trees...
I think I cut
everything...
Damn, you
fucker...
We can perform a lot
of moves in this game.
It's a pity some moves from The Revenge of
Shinobi, like the kick, didn't make it in this one.
I'm disappointed, because the
kick was my favourite...
Ah, you asshole! I'm going
to reflect your knife...
So the kick was my favourite attack from
Shinobi III, and it was removed from this game.
You
bastard...
So we can defend
ourselves.
I can show you
the vast moveset.
We can defend ourselves
with the sword.
I'm going to reflect
his attack here.
And he managed to
dodge it by jumping...
But I got him here as
he didn't jump.
We can
roll too...
... And then stab him with
the sword, which is nice.
Returning from the other
Shinobis is the double jump.
With the katana, we can do
something like this...
We can also throw a volley of
shurikens while double jumping.
You have to be careful when you kill enemies,
as they often leave bombs behind them.
And they explode in a
matter of seconds.
This one left some
shurikens for me.
Those yellow balls
refill our health.
My
healthbar...
Jerk.
My healthbar is
in the top...
I'm focusing
here...
Let's speed up a bit, so I can show
you the boss before some other levels.
So let's
go faster.
What was
I saying?
So yeah, you can see my
healthbar in the top-left corner.
Then there's my
amount of shurikens.
And there's this
new attack too!
It makes me think of something,
but I'm going to let you guess what.
So according to you, what does this
downward thrust make me think of?
Can't you see this is a
plagiarism of Kid Chameleon?
This is the exact
same move.
Well, I don't know if
this is a copy or not.
This game came out in 1995, and
I think Kid Chameleon came out earlier.
It probably came out in
1993 or 1994... Even 1992!
Anyway! It just makes me
think of Kid Chameleon.
We can also run by pressing
twice on the D-pad.
So yeah, a really rich gameplay,
even without the Shinobi III kick...
I'm really playing badly
here, I'm going to die!
There it is,
I am dead.
I don't know whether I had
reached the checkpoint or not...
Let's see if I restart
from the beginning...
No, it's
OK.
So let's go
faster now.
Fuck!
Let's go
faster...
The game slowed down here,
it is rare but it happens.
You also need to know that in this
Shinobi, we mostly fight with...
Oh, a super
power here.
So we mostly fight
with the katana.
Unlike in the other episodes, we
don't often use shurikens or knives.
The main weapon
is the katana.
So as I said, I collected a
super power, a Ninjutsu.
There isn't a lot of these in the
game, and here it is a hologram.
The Spirit of war
comes to my aid...
Let's go faster to
reach the first boss...
The Spirit of war comes to my aid,
and it harms the enemies it touches.
And my shurikens
are also...
Good, I got some
health back.
Damn, I'm
playing so badly!
It's difficult to play this game while
talking, because it is a rather subtle game.
You can't just rush
your way through.
You need
to block...
Let's reflect
his attack...
Damn, I
got hit!
Let's clear
this up...
What else
can I say?
This Shinobi Legions
is a decent game,
but, as I said, it isn't
the best in the series.
It is far from being
as good as Shinobi III.
The issue is that the levels
are too similar to each other.
There isn't
any really...
There isn't any really original
stage, unlike Shinobi III.
You had stages on horseback, or
on a surfboard in Shinobi III.
And there's nothing like
this in the present game.
Which is a pity, because we always
have the same horizontal scrolling.
Here's
the boss...
So there isn't any
stage that stands out.
Which is
a pity.
It marks a step back
compared to Shinobi III.
You
bastard!
Let's not
get killed...
I can't
believe it!
What else
can I say?
Well, I
killed him.
Let's show you
the second stage.
Mhh, let me rethink that, because
the second level isn't great.
I have a cheat code to access any
stage I want, so I might use it later.
At the end of each level, of
course, the ever-present score.
I never liked the scoring
system in platformers.
I never had any interest in having
0 or 100,000 points in those old games.
The goal is to reach the end and have
fun doing so, but having a big score...
Let's skip the cutscene, I think
you already watched enough of it.
The cutscenes are more or less similar
to the introduction you saw earlier.
It is heavily inspired by
Super Sentais like Bioman.
So yeah, the second
stage isn't great.
You can see
the graphics are...
I mean, we've seen
better, on the Genesis or...
You can see he can hang on the
branches like this, which is nicely done.
Let's pause
the game.
A, B, A, B, C, a very simple cheat
code to select the stages.
Let's pick, for
instance, the sixth level.
I can't remember exactly what it was, but I remember
thinking it was rather cool when I played it earlier.
Oh, no, it's rather
an average one.
Anyway, let's show
you this one a bit.
Damn, I almost
died there!
But as you can see, just like in Shinobi III,
we can hang on to the walls and then jump.
An excellent feature that
originally comes from Shinobi III.
God
damn it!
Anyway, I think we'll
stop this level here...
You damn
bastard!
Watch out
for this bomb...
So this level is nice thanks to the
background, with those nice clouds.
It isn't awesome, but I
thought it was rather pretty.
Let's go and play the seventh stage, which
is the prettiest one if I'm not mistaken.
It takes place
in Hong Kong.
You can see
at the back...
Another
bomb?
So we can see Hong Kong at
the back, and it's really pretty.
You can't see much right
now because of this wall...
This level is pretty hard by the
way, so I'll probably be dead.
Look at this,
isn't it beautiful?
About the
music...
I love this
background.
The music is decent, but is, once again, far from
being as good as The Revenge of Shinobi or...
God damn it, I get
hit every time!
The soundtracks of The Revenge of
Shinobi and Shinobi III are simply...
Fuck, I had to
jump twice.
We die instantly when
we fall into the sea.
Let's try
again...
So the music isn't as good
as in the Genesis episodes,
The Revenge of Shinobi and
Shinobi III, which is a pity...
The tracks are decent,
but nothing to die for.
But they are decent asian-themed tracks,
which sticks to the game's atmosphere.
This level is almost
nothing but jumps...
Those enemies really aim
well with the knives...
There
we go...
Let's reflect
your thing...
You
bastard!
Let me tell you I'm
playing rather badly.
About the game's length, as I
told you, there are 9 stages.
The difficulty is progressive, which is why this level
is a bit harder than the first one I played earlier.
The game isn't really long, only
9 levels, this is the Saturn...
You
fucker!
I'd better block
those attacks.
So we're on the Saturn and a longer
game could have been expected.
It's simple: this game is
shorter than Shinobi III.
Shinobi III is a very, very hard game,
and it's a long, interesting game.
And it's a pity
this one is less...
Ow, come on! I've missed
the double jump again!
This opus is less dynamic than Shinobi III,
and that's the big issue I have with it.
Let's select
another stage.
A, B, A, B,
C, here we go.
Let's go to the
fourth stage.
I completely forgot
what it was.
Oh yeah, this one is pretty
good, and the music is nice.
We're inside a temple, and you can see the enemies
no longer have shurikens but rather staffs.
There are a bit
harder to kill.
A good way to do so is to run towards
them and slice them with the sword.
We can also
do a thrust...
Let's try to
show it to you...
Yeah, like this, but it's
rather hard to perform.
You have to press the D-pad and the button at
the same time, but I don't always manage to do it.
Let's keep
on moving.
You
bastard!
The music
is...
This stage's music makes
me think of a game.
I'm going to let you listen to it to let you guess which
game I'm talking about, and I'll give the answer after.
It sounds almost
identical to me.
Wait, this isn't the good
moment of the song...
Here it comes.
Listen.
So if you found the game,
well you found the game.
Here's a clue anyway: it's a
SEGA game on the Dreamcast.
It's almost
the same song.
I'll give the answer in the
comments if you didn't find it.
You bastard!
I play so badly...
So badly it
angers me.
I don't know what's happening to me,
I used to play way better than this.
I don't know if age plays a part in
this but it gets on my nerves.
OK, let's select
a new level.
For instance,
let's choose...
I don't know, not the eighth one
because it isn't really good.
What was the
fifth one again?
Oh yeah, I think that's the
one with the cart in it!
It's a really
difficult stage.
We'll end
on this one.
It's a tough one, plus there's a lot of
ninjas trowing volleys of knives at us.
It's
tough...
You
fucker!
Now that's what
I call dodging!
Bastard...
No! The cart is
leaving without me!
Fuck, I
missed it.
Let's try
again.
I think this stage is one of the only
ones different from the rest.
But you can see it's
still almost identical.
As far as backgrounds go, you
either like them or hate them.
Those digitalized graphics,
a la Mortal Kombat...
This is a style you
can appreciate.
That's not too much my case, I'd rather have
more colorful and better-animated characters.
Here, even if it looks
more realistic, it looks odd.
Watch out, they're
coming from behind me!
No! God
damn it!
It doesn't matter,
we'll stop here.
I think I've told you the most
important things on Shinobi Legions.
It is obvious this isn't
the best in the series.
It is far from being as
good as Shinobi III.
Which is a pity since it was a Genesis
game, and we're here on the Saturn.
It's a pity to see the
series go backwards.
Even if it is still
a good game.
But it's evident this game
won't go down in history.
So I'll see you next time. I'm planning
on making several more Saturn games.
What else did I want to add?
There was something else...
Oh, yes, one
last thing!
You might have heard, about the Game One channel...
[TN: a French TV Channel dedicated to video games back then.]
The famous Marcus came back two weeks ago!
[TN: A host that inspired a lot of amateur reviewers.]
He originally left because the channel requested
things he refused, so he and others had left.
Anyway, he's back with a new
show, called "Retro Game One".
I've seen like 10 episodes of
it, and it's simply excellent.
It's the best TV show about
gaming I've ever seen.
He gives great commentaries, he
talks about very important things...
He's doing
humour as well.
You can feel he's a
real fan, it's great.
I've stopped watching Game
One for the last two years,
and now I'm rewatching it just
for this Retro Game One show.
It's broadcast at 11:25 a.m.
since a couple of days.
It's also rebroadcast in
the afternoon and at 10 p.m.
I can assure you
it's beyond excellent.
The episodes are
20 minutes long.
The only issue I have with it is that
he plays too many computer games.
Computers like the
Amstrad CPC.
It's a pity he doesn't play
a lot of console games.
But that's the only reproach I'll do
to the show, as the rest is fantastic.
I don't know if you can watch it
on Youtube or wherever,
but if you can watch it,
do it because it rocks.
OK, I tell you bye bye,
and see you next time.
