This Hotsuma's a real hottie! - Shinobi (PS2)

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[@SAPProd]

Just now learned that the Japanese kid playing the Shinobi machine in the commercial is Masi Oka who played Hiro Nakamura in Heroes.

[@Esquire311]

That commercial alone got me hyped for the game, Damn Masi really gets around as an actor

[@andreworozco8439]

He went on to be a founder of a game studio... who would've thought

[@andreworozco8439]

GunnSmyth Jaxx Mobius Games. They did Outer Wilds

[@Chas-OTE]

@@andreworozco8439 This is blowing my mind right now... Mobius Games was co-founded by Masi Oka?!

[@KageMaxwell]

I knew he looked super familiar! Thanks.

[@smexyboii]

The SKILL UP neon lights turns into KILL U. too bad he didn't notice. Love that touch

[@loneronin6813]

My sentiments exactly :D

[@remisan7214]

i like the hell-icopter

[@mattduncan3869]

This game was everything, man. The style, music, and gameplay were all on point. It still stings that sega never continued this style of Shinobi or ever remastered or acknowledged it again.

[@irencsak]

"Ninja vs infected tank" In a just world that one line would be all it takes to bring back the series

[@remisan7214]

this game had a ninja vs a HELL-icopter

[@taibreaker111]

Shinobi: ah, Helicopter-san, my most staunch and consistent enemy

[@CrimsonMoonM]

Shinobi 3 is straight-up one of the best games on the Genesis. I love that game!

[@remisan7214]

i agree, i like that game allot although that level where your jumping up the Falling rocks was super hard when i was young because the double jump is wonkey like the screw attack from super Metroid

[@Vollification]

1st rule of ninja "When standing still, make sure you strike a super-cool pose that says "I will kill you when I find in convinient." " The Revenge of Shinobi was my first Genesis game :)

[@MegaManXPoweredUp]

I think I remember a Lock-On function in the game. It altered your dash so you could go behind opponents. Also, attacking from behind does more damage, and every kill you get in a row increases your damage, so killing smaller enemies and attacking larger ones last can result in a one-hit kill on even bosses. Also, there's a mid-air move that ejects a ton of shuriken to stun all nearby enemies.

[@OldFormat]

One of my all time favorites. This game taught me that the most fearsome opponent is a dog with a sword in its mouth.

[@remisan7214]

fuck, yeah, at least they try to force you to remember to attack from behind because beyond that level, evrey enemie blocks all your moves and you gotta start using your blue clone and electric knives more

[@HellRider_]

Hotsuma has the coolest ninja design of all time! OF ALL TIME!

[@shadowfury2030]

R1 was the lockon if I remember correctly Also, for Ninja games, there was a PS2 Ninja Game that resembled Tenchu. It was called Shinobido: Way of the Ninja. The hook it had was that there were multiple factions, you'd have to ally with one and do their missions against the other factions. It was a bit clunky, but overall it was an okay game. It also came out for PSP, which was an okay port considering the short mission structure made it fun in short bursts.

[@Timestrider539]

The Shinobido games were actually made by the original Tenchu devs, Acquire. Thats probably why it felt so similar.

[@shadowfury2030]

@@gundamsdm was there? That I did not know. Haha. Will have to look for it and try it out.

[@royalpriesthood_8032]

Thank you for uploading this Matt.

[@OddballEddie]

Loved this game, bought with my PS2 back in the day, took me a long time to finish it. Later on when stages require more aerial maneuvers with dash, hit, repeat, it gets insane but you really feel like a badass once you get the flow of it. Not only you'll be able to consistently get the freeze frame finishers but also basically one-shot the bosses by charging up the cursed sword killing the summoned minions first and then attacking the boss. For me both this and Tenchu 3 are must buys on the PS2 and a pity they haven't remastered these games.

[@UltimusShadow.]

Hotsuma: ‘I shall have my revenge’. C’mon SEGA new deeper Shinobi game with a surviving Hotsuma, Joe, Jiro and Hibana. With Ninja Gaiden dead also now’s the perfect time to resurrect this series, we need more ‘Hack n’ Slash! Hotsuma: ‘Perhaps this is our destiny’.

[@artry93]

Ultimus Shadow. Point taken. Despite, I haven't played it before until watched Matt's video. I think it is the perfect time for this game to get the reboot. Looking at popular indie like The Messager and Dead Cells. Even Doom 2016 have a comeback. Seriously, SEGA proof me and others that you HAVE variety of interesting series included this one beside of Sonic the 🦔 and Yakuza series.

[@Doralga]

Hit me with that Lore is Hotsuma from the same clan as Joe Musashi from Shinobi 3

[@UltimusShadow.]

@@artry93 Yes agree SEGA needs more than Sonic and Yakuza. Crazy Taxi, Ecco The Dolphin, Phantasy Star, Otogi, Condemned and Virtua Fighter there's loads of sleeping franchises what about a Resonance of Fate 2. What's sad is it wasn't SEGA who revived Shenmue III or Panzer Dragoon Remake the new Streets of Rage isn't being developed by SEGA either hell Nintendo is keeping Bayonetta alive at this point. SEGA has lost all of their confidence as a Developer and Publisher they are going the way of Atari.

[@artry93]

Ultimus Shadow. Yes, unfortunately they would rather put more energy with the next Sonic film and other well established ones than the forgotten ones. Despite, SEGA is slowly become like Atari in the near future with their game series. Some Indies companies would be inspired and influence with the lists of forgotten games you mentioned into their own games and giving the better treatment than SEGA and some other popular games companies like you mention with the new Street of Rage 4 such as Cave Story, Matt's the Takeover, Cuphead and River City Girls (homage to the 80s/1990s Street of Rage series). Even Capcom have brings back DMC series with DMC 5 (2019) to their original roots than their game partner with Ninja Theory on the reboot with DMC: Devil May Cry (2013) included their DLC's Vergil's Downfall not counting the mobile games. I'm extreme happy with the Indie scene with their story and success with their IP but I'm concern with the DLC and in store microtransaction. Despite, some indies and popular games companies are against the gambling practice with them. Hopefully, they remove them in any type of games in the future. If SEGA going to behaviour like Atari I would rather have a Indie companies with devoted and passionate to made it with this version of Shinobi included the art style and no microtransaction.

[@mcsassafras9043]

Shinobi Shinobi Shinobi The girl who's hard to get.

[@calvinrichardson3006]

Well, a ninja who'll kiss on the very first date Is usually a neckbeard And a ninja who'll kiss on the second time out Is anything but fe-ared But a ninja who'll wait till the third time around: Flip in the clouds! Dash on the ground! He's the ninja you're glad you found He's your Shinobi Shinobi , shinobi , shinobi The game that's hard to get Shinobi , shinobi , shinobi But you can win it yet

[@loneronin6813]

@@calvinrichardson3006 This was the most amazing comment I never knew I needed lol

[@Brianguyanddude]

This was one of my favorite PS2 games, it gets hard as hell with insta death platforming and lack of checkpoints but I actually managed to beat it when I was younger. It's just so stylish, the tate mechanic (where you gotta kill more than 4 enemies at once) is satisfying and the soundtrack is just a great mix of Electronic and Traditional Japanese music. Glad to see you finally playing it! Protip: R1 is the lock on button and becomes essential in later levels. Also when the Akujiki is awakened it gets stronger with each kill, so kill smallfry enemies first before going after the big boys. Couldn't help but notice you running away from the big tengu at the end when you could have easily killed him with your blade glowing purple 😅

[@konversion]

Man, I remember the sword-wielding dogs on stage 4 of this game infuriated me. Took me so long to finally beat it.

[@remisan7214]

later in the game, theres a giant 2 faced demon that has so much health that the sword will start eating you before you can actually kill him, plus he blocks all your attacks and is too but to backstab or confuse

[@Justin-wf7fh]

Oh I remember this. If you put the game down and tried again later, your reflexes were trash and you had to "git gud" all over again.

[@strifesire]

I actually had the opposite experience. I could not beat the final boss. Went away for Uni came back on break and blasted through it in less than an hour. The tilt was real at the time.

[@MegaManXPoweredUp]

@@strifesire This was my first Rated M game, I think. Or was it T? Eh, either way, I remember I beat the game back when it was new, but I wasn't able to get a good rank on it until I downloaded it on my PS3 years later. By then, I was more experienced in games, so it was no longer as hard.

[@remisan7214]

this game needs patience and thinking, people often think its just a mindless quick pace hack and slash and so people play it that way and then complain that its too hard... and il agree because that final boss is supendiously hard, especially on the hardest mode

[@HereIam123]

Dude, I remember the commercial of this where the guy is sitting in front of the arcade machine, and shinobi comes in and murders a bunch of enemies in a convenience store. I thought it was very badass.

[@benrrific]

Let's be honest, we all want a "Devil May Shinobi".

[@remisan7214]

i don't want that, this game is perfect how it is

[@tonyknighton4019]

Nah.

[@Vollification]

1:32 Tokyo just never seems to catch a break

[@tiend15]

The music is FREAKING amazing! I mostly remember the ps2 demo! Enjoyed it so much

[@notsureicare488]

Gosh, I remember the commercials made me so excited for something I never played. "SHINOBIS BACK!"

[@deebznutz100]

Once you get Akujiki the game gets tough. To get good at this game you must Master Taté. What is Taté? When you enter a battle you will notice symbols appearing on the top right of the screen. These symbols represent the enemies you must defeat within the area. After you kill the first enemy and invisible timer will begin counting down and one of the symbols will begin to Glow. You will have a limited time to kill the next enemy and so on until all of the enemies are defeated. if you did it correctly you will get a cutscene showing all the enemies slain and Hotsuma in a cool pose. (Only works with groups of 4 or more.) This is Taté. You will also notice after killing the first enemy your sword begins to glow blue meaning your sword has become stronger making it easier to kill the next enemy. killing more enemies will cause your sword to gain more strength up to the point where it starts to glow red. It is possible to one shot bosses when your sword it is red keep this in mind. Lock on and dashing are essential to mastering this technique. You'll gain an extra dash and a jump after hitting an enemy. Kunai freeze enemies. You can also perform an area attack when throwing a kunai at the top of a double jump, assuming you have a stack of 10 kunai to perform this move. You have access to a guard crush when pressing away from an enemy and attacking and a spin attack when pressing toward and an enemy and attacking. Enemies also take more damage from behind. You also have access to three different kinds of ninja magic you can switch between them by pressing left and right on the d-pad. pressing and holding the attack button gives you access to a type of stinger move that goes through enemies and does a lot of damage but it also consumes your Akujiki timer so use wisely. Hope this helps anyone trying to play this game!

[@filipeboaventura127]

14:45 the game literally tells you to git gud. That's how hard this game is.

[@remisan7214]

The most rewarding part of this game is when you get to play stage EX with joe musashi, and just relax in the game without being timed or having to fight bosses using the swords dmg amplifier

[@ohjeezriles]

Me, 10 minutes in: he’s gonna wallrun right

[@Shadow_of_Yharnam]

This was literally my favorite ps2 . Chaining kills together was epic

[@hermes_job_observer144]

The Shinobi series is definitely in the top 3 ninja series ever, with their bitchin' sound tracks, smooth gameplay and fast parallaxing backgrounds with really cool bosses. Plus, Yuzo Koshiro is one of if not the greatest video game music composer of the 16-bit generation (80's/90's) and is sighted as one of the most influential innovators in the Chiptune genre.(if you love video game music you owe it to yourself to become acquainted with this man's work).

[@HereIam123]

Matt, I really love the evolution of your youtube video format, you've really grown into a unique style this past few years,

[@matthewschlieben5398]

Happy to see this game getting attention (but boy was this hard to watch, lock on dammnit!) R1 was there the entire time and u never tried it once?

[@johns6265]

Red Ninja: End of Honour. Not exactly well loved critically but my interest was caught by the cover and I ended up picking up an unloved copy nobody wanted for minimal money a few years ago. The main character has some um... Ninja assets that are super effective. Bujingai and Blood Will Tell are kind of ninja adjacent games.

[@Solh0und]

Supposedly, Nightshade ( the pseudo sequel to this) was made in response to the criticism of the previous game being too difficult.

[@NucleaRaptor]

Which is hilarious, because stages 10 and 11 of Nightshade have more instakill pitfalls than the entirety of Shinobi combined. Like Bayo, the game rates your performance in each level on a whole bunch of different metrics so it can rub your failure in your face at the end, and I think I was somewhere around 68 deaths by the time I beat stage 11. I was a gibbering, incoherent ape-man by the end of it.

[@charlestonson2200]

The stylish cutscenes are the “tate” which is pronounced “tah-tay.” It’s when you kill 4 or more enemies within a certain amount of time. Tates are necessary for some bosses and will fully charge your Yin. Also there is a lock on system, one of the triggers, it’s very necessary to be any good at this game.

[@Krisstoff001]

This game was brutal, really hard to master but once you did it really made you feel like a killing machine.

[@Haysey_Draws]

Edgy kids online "I identify as an attack Helicopter lol!" Shinobi's around the world "Time to Die!"

[@ShinTheSilverDemon]

Those scarf physics are mesmerizing.

[@benjaminglaser2347]

Yaaaay, I love this game! One of my favorites on the PS2, along with the sequel Nightshade.

[@IfYouInsist]

yes yes yes

[@jaredflury13]

I remember getting this game as a kid and I was so upset I couldn’t progress that far. I often think of Shinobi and idk why. It’s even in one of my handles lmao

[@KageMaxwell]

Hotsuma is for sure on my list of favorite ninjas.

[@mr.badguy8500]

Shinobi PS2 was one of my favorite games on my PS2 library, but man it was so infuriating because of how many pitfall deaths there and the game also wants you to master fighting over pitfalls deaths while chaining dash kills, it extended to the Tate system where the more kills you chain the more powerful Akujiki becomes to the point of one shotting bosses. Oh and how I hate Hiroko.... That final boss was a pain in the ass to kill for me because his stage is a huge pitfall trap and he and the enemies tend to spend so much time floating over there while shooting you from afar.

[@Chenso2099]

I don’t know how I was able to beat him, but I can only call it luck Bc I was getting demolished by this dude and his shit ton of lil minions that would fire at you and sometimes become elusive and incapable of being hit. Oh, and I hated when Hiroko would try to combo you...that, that was annoying af as he was on your ass and teleported to you while doing his string of attacks. Oh! And not just that, but if you tried to hit him, he would block and/or counterattack! And lets not forget his dumb fucking magic that he would spam projectiles with! AAAAAAAAAHHHH...I’ll just end it right there before I pop a blood vessel.

[@remisan7214]

@@Chenso2099 im not trying to flaunt but i kinda beat him on insane mode with hotsuma which is the mode you unlock after beating him on hard mode, and its kinda easy so erm... awkward

[@Chenso2099]

remisan ...I hate you 🤣 nah, but hopefully, I get better at the game, because I want to beat it at the hardest level to challenge myself and get all the goodies for doing so-I’ve yet to get all the collectibles, so imma do that, but that’ll be when I feel comfortable enough to get demolished again by the game lol

[@remisan7214]

@@Chenso2099 kk cool, honestly, it took me 67 deaths to beat him on insane mode, i counted, you just gotta remember to always kick him so he can't block your regular attacks and to stop him from teliporting to attack you, you gotta have your volume all the way up to hear him laugh and go"hrmph" because he always does that spicific sound before he starts teliporting, i think hitting him with your sword and or throwing a knife at him will stop him from teliporting, also using the lightning power up is your only useful friend before you go for the 9 enemies 1 hit kill, (on insane, you gotta do the maximum chain attack twice to kill him) also don't ever restart the level when your loosing or you mess up, i always find that i did best when at the brink of death or when my sword started eating me or when i messed up the "tate" (hes honestly not that hard, he's just annoying because of that stupid intro)

[@truerockfan]

I loved playing this game years ago. It is hard as hell and I remember getting to the blind swordsman boss and that fight drove me insane and I never got past it. If you weren't aware, killing enemies while those symbols are in the top right corner lets you know the amount of enemies currently available to kill around you and as you kill each one, an orb will light up. If you can axe off all of the enemies before they fall apart, it will count as group kill. When you awaken the sword, this does the same thing, but with an added bonus. As you kill enemies in a group, the blade starts to light up and will change color. In boss fights where enemies spawn up, you have to quickly target the enemies and take them out and then when you have killed them all and their orbs are glowing, you can actually one shot kill the boss as long as you time it right. It was also difficult because there will be stretches where enemies don't appear and after the second level, the sword is awakened and when that center red meter is gone, it starts sucking out your hp until you die. Only way to stop that is killing enemies

[@mephistoknackerman1406]

Shinobi is magnificent. One of my favorite games on the genesis was Shinobi 3.

[@remisan7214]

remember splatterhouse2? super Metroid? super Castle vania4? (i feel like im forgetting one)

[@remisan7214]

best game on the ps2, this is my favorite game out of all games ive ever played, number1, its hard but i beat it on super rank and im glad cuz im pretty sure im the 1 percent, this game is so fun yet its not mindless, I LOVE IT! ITS like the re4 of ninja games, i subbed because of this

[@HunterForHire422]

I have a long history with this game. Played it as a little kid and got road blocked by the final boss and only beat it many years later. Then this year I finally went back to beat hard. Then realized super difficulty was a thing and dedicated myself to getting all the coins and s ranking every stage. With 50 hours of gameplay I finally did (mostly because I would just play the game over and over again for fun). One of my 2 favorite games ever made and I still do a run through ever so often.

[@remisan7214]

@@HunterForHire422 i know, its one of the best games ever made yet it somehow got so overlooked and neglected of the respect it deserves, maybe its too hardcore for newcomers even if its a simple game with simple michanics

[@HunterForHire422]

@@remisan7214 I'd say the game demands high skill by stage 3 onward so people were pushed away. Especially with no easy mode. Ironically when nightshade had an easy mode and was less punishing I had less fun. All I want is this game on modern consoles with a better resolution

[@Tea_Sippin]

You are going to play Nightshade, right? RIGHT!?

[@zekegonzalez1845]

He should. The game has the lock on he wants. Nightshade had some cheap ass platforming deaths though.

[@remisan7214]

@@zekegonzalez1845 shinobi 2002 has lock on as well

[@NucleaRaptor]

Words cannot describe how much I love this game. I've lost count of how much time I sank into it, because the timer that clocks your total gametime got maxed out at 99:59 like a decade ago. 🔥 *HOT TAKE:* 🔥 for me personally, this is #1 character action of all time, all day erry day. Better than Ninja Gaiden, better than Bayo, better than DMC even. Now, these are all excellent games, don't get me wrong, but the one thing that always kinda bothers me about them is how you're given twenty gorillion moves and combos. Having options is nominally a good thing, but I generally find that after playing the game long enough to figure out what's good, you eventually just settle into 8 or so BnBs that work for you and cruise on them until the end of the game. Unless you're some inhuman madlad like Donguri or just feel like showing off every once in a while, 80% of the tools these games offer you tend to go basically unused. That's absolutely not the case with Shinobi at all. Your moveset is pretty limited, but every move in there exists for a reason, so if you want to succeed, you're forced to learn and apply everything in your arsenal. It's a more arcadey, focused kind of approach to game design, which I find much more appealing precisely because of how deliberate it is. Of course, you can't talk about Shinobi without mentioning the Tate system that the entire game is built around. The funniest part is that when I first played it, I thought it was a just cool visual gimmick to encourage combo-chaining behavior. I didn't truly grasp it until I got to stage 6B and accidentally killed the fox-snake demon boss in one hit. I thought it was some kind of weird glitch, lol. It's only after I replayed the fight that it really dawned on me what actually happened. The last time I experienced this visceral C L I C K somewhere deep within my head followed by a brain-searing epiphany was when I played the original Tenchu for the first time as a dumb little kid and discovered that you can do stealth kills. If you haven't played it, the gist of it is that you have a magical life-draining sword called Akujiki that sorta freezes people in place when you deal a lethal blow, so if you haven't dropped the killchain, the game rewards you with a sick-ass cutscene of Hotsuma striking a cool pose and basically going "OMAE WA MOU SHINDEIRU" as the entire room full of goons explodes into viscera behind him all at once. And then you're rushing right towards the next enemy encounter, because if you don't constantly feed blood to Akujiki, it's going to start feasting on *you.* The real genius of it, though, is that the sword actually gets stronger the more people you kill. I forget the exact damage multipliers, but it roughly doubles in strength with each new kill. The game gradually ramps up the difficulty until you're handling groups of 8 mooks attacking all at once, and by the end of an 8-kill chain, Akujiki has this blood-red steam coming off it. At that point, your attack deals *64 times* the normal damage, and you can double that if you go for a back attack, which is enough to kill any boss in the game IN ONE HIT. At this point, the entire way you think about boss fights changes completely. Instead of waiting for the opening, getting a few hits in, then getting out of dodge like every other game in the genre, you're dodging enemy blows, biding your time until the boss summons the maximum number of mooks, carefully positioning yourself so you can set up an unbroken kill-chain leading towards the boss... And then, like some kind of ninja Tazmanian Devil, you're just zapping your way from one enemy to the next in a flurry of strikes, until you dash up to a giant demon boss and cleave him in half (I seriously can't stress this enough) *IN ONE STRIKE.* Once you get the hang of it, the game turns into an exquisite ballet of violence. It seriously needs to be experienced. Pick it up if you get a chance, I promise you won't regret it.

[@TyGreenGoblin]

Thankyou for explaining this. I loved the mechanics to this game when I beat it forever ago.

[@NucleaRaptor]

@@TyGreenGoblin Thank you for reading all that, man. 👊

[@pescando]

Absolutely remember that Shinobi ad. One of the most iconic video game ads.

[@Spit1990]

IDK HOW I managed to beat this and DMC3 as a child.

[@Spit1990]

@@night1952 Highly reaction based and/or able to make you take weeks off just to recover the confidence to try again?

[@graysonjones5425]

This man uploads daily? How the fuck? The quality of the content is so goddamn nice and the videos are so long. I don’t know how he hasn’t gone insane or how he isn’t in the top 1% of youtubers

[@HunterForHire422]

This is one of my 2 favorite games ever made. It's tight controls and gameplay keep me coming back and I love the soundtrack. It's one of the very few games I've ever 100%

[@HunterForHire422]

@@zydian_ I did play it and while I prefer the first game it's a lot more beginner friendly

[@EmpireSun]

I remember when Adam sessler from xplay gave this a high rating and It got me super excited for it so I asked my parents. It was one of the best Christmas ever

[@johnlu3244]

I'm surprised how far matt got without using the lock-on

[@SuddenCruelty01]

That was Hiro Nakamura from Heroes in that commercial lol

[@TheMetalGearKid]

Damn, the nostalgia is getting me. This game was a joy to play, until the Stage 3 boss and the last three chapters🤣 But also, the OST is a banger to listen to and it's on Spotify

[@PuppyPizzeria]

god i had this game on the ps2 but i was a little shit kid that broke the box and couldnt remember what the game was called for years im glad i know now

[@Mr-on2ww]

6:02 At first I thought he said : "SHINOBI'S FUCK!" LMAO

[@randlel07]

This is still one of my favorite games!

[@osto1964]

This games last boss destroyed my will to live. I remember trying for 4 hours and just gave up, I couldn't do it anymore.

[@retroroy88]

I love youtube's auto subtitles... "Your coochie has awakened"

[@the_e]

The shinobi commercial made me get this game back in the day lol. This game was a little difficult & codebreaker helped me finish this game eventually lmao

[@Goblintom]

Still missing the best Tenchu, Matt, Shinobido.

[@eddieperez8516]

I was stuck on the final boss in hard for 7 years. Every year I would play the game refamiliarize with stage 8B and then try to beat final boss for hours every single time I was close to killing him. Until one year I put the game on killed him on second try. Worth it just so I could get the emblems in very hard for Joe Higashi.

[@FainDAFT]

First played this as a kid. It was my older brothers copy and I was shit at it. But I came back when I was older and got to fully enjoy it. And yes, the first levels ost is top tier. “Transfiguration”

[@justinscott7546]

Have to say "thank you" Matt. I picked this up on PSN not long after this video was up. After playing it a little I said "This really feels like a Dreamcast game". After looking into it online. It was gonna be one but the DC got discontinued. Pretty neat history there.

[@hammersmashedgame676]

Matt: *lists video game ninjas* *Doesn't mention Strider* Headcanon: Matt V Strider bloodfeud CONFIRMED

[@XenoMike]

This game was so gd cool. That same TV commercial hooked me when I was a kid. The difficulty was insane though, I wish I was hardcore enough to have beaten the game but I was so bad at some of the platforming in later levels that the sword would kill me before I could find the next batch of enemies. Now that we have save states with emulation, I may have to give this a crack. I'm honestly surprised at how well the visuals hold up, at least when it comes to the player character. He still looks, moves, and stands around as bad-ass as I remember. I think this game is what made me a sucker for masks & helmets with multiple eyes (like Isaac Clarke from Dead Space)

[@remisan7214]

i never made that connection, yeah! issac clark does have a mask with multiple blue eyes as well, deadspace 1 and shinobi 2002 are on my top 5 best game list with re4, soul reaver and super metroid... and re7, and splatter house 2, and black ops 1 zombies, and shadow of the collosus, and ff7, and Goldeneye on wii, and Metroid fusion, and castle vania sotn and super cv4, and genji dawn of samurai, and silent hill2... ok im done i think

[@agustindanielgimenez9483]

with the lock on, you can dash, kill one enemy and dash again

[@agustindanielgimenez9483]

And you can dash around the enemies

[@oxxymoron34]

I played the shit out of this game when it came out. The more kills in a row you got the more damage you did with the sword. The "keep killing or we drain your life" mechanic was rough at times. They followed this game up with Nightshade in 2003.

[@ghostroses2388]

I do have a lil soft spot for ninja games, haven’t been too heavy since I was yung, the recent one just got into is aragami, btw the second stage theme is amazing

[@remisan7214]

best song in the game other than the menu

[@HoroMotosuwa08]

Matt! if you get a chance, do try shinobido, its what the tenchu folks did after they lost the rights to tenchu and THAT never gets brought up in the ninja conversation!

[@WolvTerror]

"every sonic game ever". god i wish. We've been stuck at the Sonic 1-2-Spinball-Blast hell for too long. Never going to see a new release of 3 or anything past Blast

[@ASJyirod]

This the game with no checkpoints right?

[@UltimateAnimeGamer]

I think there were checkpoints, but they were so rare that they basically were nonexistant. I think theres like 1 or 2 checkpoints in each level, and each level takes a WHILE.

[@NeoStrayCat]

@@UltimateAnimeGamer Actually the only "checkpoint" system is when you get to the stage boss, not the stage itself, sadly. Though the later half of the game is stages already putting you in a boss fight.

[@TheDudeManBro]

Ahhh, so that's why I moved on. I recalled it being fun, but could not remember why I stopped

[@pariah076]

Helicopters are the natural predators of ninjas.

[@JBX07]

I'm here for the scarf

[@xtatis]

Tenchu 2 and this Shinobi was my bread and butter back in the day, nowadays, Sekiro is in my heart

[@wastelandroar]

Ayy! I got this game for my 15th birthday and it was the first RATED M FOR MATURE game I'd ever gotten. Even still have the first issue of the comic they made. I remember drawing Hotsuma on a oekaki board cause I loved his design/scarf so much.

[@EditorJohn_TIRL]

Where does Shinobi stand with me, Matt? I recently spent and entire night beating the original arcade Shinobi on a Raspberry Pie with save states... and it’s still took me about 4 hours. My fingers haven’t been that sore in ages! Couldn’t imagine doing that in the arcade as a kid with quarters! I cursed a lot, but had a blast. 😋 Love your vids, man.

[@tai0purto]

I must've been a really impatient kid. I remember playing this, not reaching too far and immediately toss it aside: screw this, it's too hard.

[@SilverNightbane]

Oh it IS hard. The only way to beat the final boss... or hell, any of the bosses from mid up to the final level is to gain stacks of enemy kills and then power your sword up to the point that one hit from it can chunk off 1/3 to 1/2 the health of the boss. NOW IF ONLY THE DAMN SWORD DIDN'T DRAIN YOUR HEALTH WHILE THERE ARE NO MOOKS FOR YOU TO KILL. Ironically, the sequel, Kunoichi (or Nightshade in the US) fixed that damn problem by giving you the power boost WITHOUT draining your health if you haven't killed anything within the first 10 seconds.

[@Chenso2099]

Same lol it wasn’t until recently that I came back to the game, taking out my PS2 after years of having it boxed away at my grandparents’ place. Took me a while to relearn the controls and find new ones that I didn’t know before Bc there was no damn tutorial to teach you them (I didn’t know about the lock-on until the last two levels, maybe even just the last one, and that was because I saw a review showing it was possible) 😂 I respect that, and I eventually beat the game after so many grueling nights and tries. I plan on replaying it on hard and unlocking some of the extra neat stuff, but I just wanna relax in my satisfaction of having been able to beat it. Not only that, but I’m hoping I can snag a copy of the sequel: Nightshade, as it’s similar but with a new character and levels to play in.

[@SilverNightbane]

@@Chenso2099 Trust me, Kunoichi/Nightshade literally fixes every single problem PS2 Shinobi had. Funnily enough, you can unlock Hotsuma as a playable character there, without the drawbacks to boot.

[@remisan7214]

i enjoyed it allot as a kid, i remember it ebing my favorite game and once i lost my ps2, and this ganm at age 10, i went searching for it and its still my favorite game, i doubt i was good at the game and probably beat the bosses by luck and never got passed the fire level but still, you guys are noobs, git gud

[@SatNightShasta]

This is one of my favorite PS2 games, though the last few levels are unforgiving. The Messenger though is the best ninja game.

[@kiliksama]

Danggg this takes me back to when I was a teen. I remember getting to the last boss and didn’t know how to hurt him I so stopped playing lol

[@GigadeathPressure]

Gstar321 is playing the hell outta mk11, last time I heard

[@HexerTheHacker]

Mannnn, my fucking childhood... ... my folks were awfully chill with what I played. Probably because my pops loved watching_

[@pryan609]

You need to play the sequel to this on PS2 next; Nightshade.

[@rayraygottago]

You should talk about the garbo-yet-enjoyable sequel, Nightshade.

[@HunterForHire422]

What's your issue with the sequel? I thought it was almost as good.

[@curajacaster]

omg he mentioned mrgstar, i was just rewatching some of his stuff, miss that king

[@zekegonzalez1845]

I used to binge watch his MK playthroughs! Mr gstar needs to return.

[@curajacaster]

@@zekegonzalez1845 SAME. I was hoping he'd make a comeback with MK11 but all i've seen is people have seen him in online matches

[@zekegonzalez1845]

@@curajacasternice! So he's at least ok! Yeah Mk 11 and Re3 remake. There's some ground to cover!

[@SuperSpindasher1991]

8:48 there’s a good chunk of sonic games they still refuse to rerelease

[@Chenso2099]

Ha! What a coincidence. I had this game since I was a kid, it wasn’t until now recently that I took out my PS2 and beat the game. It’s challenging and difficult but very satisfying for that same reason once you figure out the controls and learn how to overcome obstacles and enemies. The mechanic of every kill done in a short time span making your sword stronger and having to feed the sword with the blood of your enemies keeps you on your toes and in a frenzy, and of course, when you do kill every enemy near you in that span of time, you get a cool flashy anime styled kill scene that provides a nice lil incentive for you to keep at it. The music is also killer and the story nice and simple and to the point. It’s highly underrated, and it’s a shame not many people know about it. Glad my dumb kid brain got bedazzled by the box art for looking like some weird skinny “bug alien” sword dude Bc I would’ve never have gotten it otherwise. Anyway, my brain is kinda not here right now and slow Bc I just woke up without having slept properly. I know this is kinda irrelevant to my spill of the game, but I found I should bring it up because I normally don’t type this way about something....yeah, idk, kinda weird I guess lol hopefully I wake properly. Oh! But I finally started the Yakuza series recently! Though, I couldn’t find Yakuza 0 or Kiwami, only getting the remaster collection, but I’m happy with my purchase.

[@whitewing2]

there is a lock on either press to lock or hold to lock. its also helpful so you can dash to your enemy's back (most enemies' weakness) or lock on move analog stick back and Shinobi will kick the enemy breaking their shield also yes you can run on walls and you wont slide down, as in stick to the wall, you'll need it in upcoming stage also you see those japanese characters on the upper left? try to fire them all up by killing all enemies fast

[@ArtenMorningstarr]

I love the PS2 Shinobi game, it was so much fun but brutally difficult to the end. I did beat it once. I never did play the spinoff with Nightshade in it.

[@kn6361]

Did you reference Kung Pow: Enter the fist? Ok, brand new respect is given

[@ahmedabboud6547]

So, the reason that badass cutscene happens mid-combat where it cuts to Hotsuma sheathing his blade while his enemies are sliced down, is because you killed 4 enemies or more. As long as you kill 4 enemies or more within the time limit, you'll get that cutscene. But you have to kill ALL the enemies that are in the area. It's a whole mechanic in the game. Also, after "Akujiki awakens" that mechanic goes a step further by increasing the damage that the blade inflicts with every kill., but again, this is only as long as you kill the enemies within the time limit. Also, there IS a lock-on. I just don't remember what button it was..... Now, play the sequel. It's called Nightshade. XD

[@shiningknight23]

Always eyed getting this off PSN because I'm a Ninja Gaiden fan. I love that you uploaded a video of it because I was just thinking about this game again the other day

[@joebagodonuts5468]

You could say that dashing is a good way to get from point shino-A to point shino-B.

[@zekegonzalez1845]

Loved the shoutout to GStar!!! He needs to come back, yesterday!!!! I'm about to check his channel. Have you tried Nightshade the sequel? That game has lock on. Not a good one though

[@theheromans]

Oh my god, I forgot this game existed, and I own a copy of this game. I loved this game.

[@SmrtPhonRtistCF]

I loved this game, when I first got a ps2 (very very late in 2012 ), I played this, and it's sequel, nightshade. I too also remembered the commercial, with that guy who also skewed Sylar, and is a massive JoJo fan, (Masi Oka who played Hiro on "Heroes").

[@eropandasennin13]

If you could take a look at Bujingai Swordmaster, Blood Will Tell or Red Ninja, that would be so cool!

[@MongooseDave2]

Shout out to XLHGladiator for having one of the best playthroughs of this game on Super difficulty.

[@BigDaddyZakk420]

Shinobi is up there in the top 3, for sure. I’d say 2nd overall. Especially Shinobi 3 and PS2. Tenchu will always be number one for me though. With Gaiden in 3rd. The one that came out on the O.G. Xbox was insanely great.

[@pescando]

Dude Matt, you really talked up that Shinobi 3DS game. I think we need to see what all the hullabaloo is about.

[@lordshura9717]

The soundtrack to this game is fucking fantastic!!