Shadow Dancer (in Japanese: シャドー・ダンサー) is a side-scrolling action videogame produced by Sega, originally released as an arcade game in 1989. It is the second arcade game in the Shinobi series, following the original Shinobi itself. The game was developed on the Sega System 18 motherboard hardware. Home versions were released for the Master System and various home computers.
Story[]
In the mid 1990's, the space program was moving ahead full-steam. Space shuttles were launched nearly every day, carrying various cargo, crew and science officers who performed experiments.
Secretly, the government tasked the crew of the space shuttle "Olympia" with the crucial mission of testing a new weapons system by remote control. A terrorist group known as the "Asian Dawn", renowned for its rampant use of violence, was told of the secret mission by a mole they had managed to plant in the NSP (National Space Program) laboratories, and planned to sabotage the mission, hijack the shuttle and use their control over the weapons system to threaten the earth.
It's Takashi to the rescue! The world-famous Ninja do-gooder has looked for a chance to take out Asian Dawn. Now you can help him to shut them down, while ensuring the security of an entire nation! Head into battle with your throwing stars (Shuriken), your Ninja Sabre and your trusty dog, and defeat the terrorists wherever you find them! Don't let them get inside the shuttle!
Gameplay[]
The play mechanics of Shadow Dancer are not much different from the arcade version of the original Shinobi. The controls and almost all of the player's moves from the original Shinobi are present here as well. The biggest change is the addition of a canine companion that follows the protagonist around. When the dog barks towards an enemy, the player can sic the dog on the enemy by pressing the attack button while crouching, allowing the player an opportunity to attack the enemy while he's being bitten by the dog. However, if the player takes too long to attack the bitten enemy or the enemy has a strong defense, then the dog will be hurt and will turn into a harmless pup. The dog will remain in pup form until the player acquires the next time bomb or finishes the stage. The dog does not appear during boss battles.
The player's weapons consists of an unlimited supply of shurikens and a sword which is used when adjacent to an enemy. When the player collects half of the time bombs in each stage, stronger weapons are granted until the player finishes the stage or loses a life. The player can also use from one of three random ninjutsu techniques (called "Ninja Magic" in the game) that will clear the entire screen of enemies. Normally, these techniques can only be used once per stage, but if the player continues the game after getting a Game Over by inserting another credit, the protagonist will restart the stage with two units instead of one. Bonus points are awarded if the player completes the game without using shurikens or ninjutsu.
There are four different missions, consisting of three stages for the first mission and four stages each for the remaining three. In the first few stages of each mission, the player must collect a certain amount of time bombs scattered throughout the stage in order to proceed to the goal. The final stage in each mission is a confrontation between the player and the boss. Between missions, the player will participate in a bonus stage where (from the character's perspective) an army of ninjas dropping down from a building must be shot down. The player is awarded an extra life if he successfully complete these bonus stages.
Missions and Bosses[]
| Stage | Name | Boss |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stop the sabotage! | Yoroi |
| 2 | Cut off the supply route! | Steam Locomotive |
| 3 | Surprise attack on the underground organization! | Yaiba |
| 4 | Crush the enemy's ambitions! | Asian Dawn Boss |
Home Ports[]
Master System[]
The Master System port of Shadow Dancer was released 1991 exclusively in Europe and Brazil. Although this version bears the title Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi on the packaging (much like the Genesis version released during the same year), it is actually based on the arcade version and is simply titled Shadow Dancer in-game. However, most of the content from the arcade version was cut and the play mechanics were modified a bit. Missions now consists of a single side-scrolling stage and a boss encounter. The player's canine companion no longer follows him around, but can still be summoned to kill certain enemies from a distance. Collecting time bombs is now an optional task that the player can conduct while on his way to the goal. When the player gathers all five time bombs in each mission, he will gain an attack power-up for the next boss battle. The attract sequence now shows profiles for the protagonist (who is named Fuma in this version) and most of the enemy characters.
Home Computers[]
Shadow Dancer was released on various home computer formats in Europe during 1991. Versions released for the Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum. These versions were published by U.S. Gold and developed by Images.
Reception[]
The game was reviewed in 1991 in Dragon #172 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars.
Gallery[]
