Shinobi Legions, released as Shinobi X in Europe and Shin Shinobi Den (新・忍伝) in Japan, is an action platformer videogame developed by Sega for the Sega Saturn.
Story[]
THE WAY OF THE NINJA IS TO BECOME THE SHADOW LEADING THE WORLD TO PEACE AND JUSTICE
The "Bloodline of the Shinobi" existed in darkness since the Sengoku Period. Tessai, who had secretly inherited this bloodline, created the ultimate martial art form "Nindo" by merging "Ninjutsu". the Art of Invisibility and "Ki", the Art of Natural Power. One night, Tessai finds infant twins. Although he already had a daughter named Aya, he decides to raise the twins because he lacked sons who would succeed the Bloodline of the Shinobi. He named the older brother Kazuma because he possessed a loud cry with keen senses, and the younger one Sho, because he always smiled while being carried.
15 years have passed and Kazuma and Sho have learned "TOJUTSU", the Art of Swordsmanship, "TAIJUTSU", the Art of Physical Combat and "NINJUTSU", the Art of Invisibility. Aya has learned "SHINJUTSU", the Way of Peace. Tessai saw that Kazuma possessed a dangerous side which lay deep within him, and his fears became a reality when Kazuma sought strength, rejecting trainings of The Way of Peace.
As time passed. Sho and Aya continued their training, and slowly acquired the essence of "NINDO." Tessai eventually passes away without naming a successor and handing down the Final Mystery.
Consumed with hatred and the desire for supreme power, Kazuma now leads "Garzo", a group of evil and darkness. Sho stands as an obstacle, however, and Kazuma has abducted their sister Aya to drain her powers and keep Sho from interfering.
Sho must now rescue his sister while crushing his brother's plans for domination in the ultimate fight for survival!!
Gameplay[]
Shinobi Legions's gameplay is reminiscent of the two Mega Drive titles, though it places heavier emphasis on melee combat. The game utilizes separate buttons for sword attacks and shurikens, with Sho having access to all techniques from the previous titles as well as new ones, performed with specific button combinations. Since sword and shuriken attacks are now performed with separate buttons Sho gets new sword attacks corresponding to the previous shuriken techniques, such as a spinning sword attack performed while double jumping and a downwards sword thrust performed by holding down while in the air then pressing the sword button.
Legions scraps the four Ninjutsu attacks from previous games, and instead Ninjutsu is performed by finding items hidden throughout the game's levels. Items are now dropped from enemies instead of being found in crates.
Levels and Bosses[]
| Stage | Name | Boss |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Capital | Hannya |
| 2 | Mt. Fuji | Ukyo |
| 3 | Bio-Lab | Manu |
| 4 | Samurai Mansion | Rushudo |
| 5 | Undersea Cave | Ninja Army Corps |
| 6 | Ivy Mountain | Won |
| 7 | Chinatown | Red Dragon |
| 8 | Rocky Mountain | KM-99 |
| 9 | Missile Transport Road | Kazuma |
Enemies[]
PAL Version Differences[]
The European version of Shinobi Legions, published by Sega Europe and released as Shinobi X (a revert to the game's original title from when it was first announced at the Tokyo Toy Show in June 1994), was delayed and released in late 1995. It was delayed because Sega Europe's producer David Nulty disliked the original music score and wanted to change it for the European release, in a similar way that Sega of America did years before with the North American release of Sonic CD.
The whole in-game tracks were replaced by noted British video game composer Richard Jacques, while the cutscene music tracks were left intact. Jacques composed the soundtrack in imitation of the style of Yuzo Koshiro's The Revenge of Shinobi. The North American version, published earlier the same year by Vic Tokai, had retained the same music as the Japanese version.
Reception[]
On release, Famicom Tsūshin scored the game a 26 out of 40. Although Shinobi Legions boasted improved graphics and superior sound, it was unfavourably received because of the limited use of the then new hardware's capabilities and its use of live-action cutscenes was much ridiculed.
Sega Saturn Magazine gave the game 3 out of 5 stars, saying that it plays well but fails to make any real use of the Saturn's capabilities, calling it "another Shinobi game that somehow managed to find its way on to CD instead of cartridge." They suggested that the "tacky" FMV scenes were added simply as an excuse to release the game on the Saturn instead of the Sega Genesis.
Gallery[]
