Shadow Dancer (Sega Master System)
Easily the best looking Shinobi game for the Master System… But how does it play?
The Shinobi series has always been a really strong series for Sega. Back int he dark days before Sega had a distinct mascot, they had a collection of titles that just defined Sega. Shinobi was one of those titles.
I was excited when I first started the Leftover Culture Review about reviewing Shinobi games. Some of my first reviews were on the Mega Drive games, Revenge of Shinobi and Shadow Dancer and Cyber Shinobi on the Master System.
I’m sometimes a bit bummed I decided to tackle my favourite Shinobi titles so early because it isn’t an easy collection of games to talk about and discuss. This review hasn’t been easy either, Shadow Dancer on the Master System is just… very odd.
Obviously, it’s a great looking game. Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi came out towards the end of the Sega Master System’s lifespan and does a great job showing off what the system could do graphically but it starts to lose what made the first Shinobi game so memorable.
This game came out when the Shinobi series was really picking up steam. On the Mega Drive you had both Shadow Dancer and revenge of Shinobi being released around the same time, in the arcades you had the arcade version of Shadow Dancer (totally different to the Mega Drive version) and on the Master System you had Cyber Shinobi and Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi all released within a couple of years within each other.
It’s pretty interesting to note that this version of Shadow Dancer, out of all the Shinobi games released on the Mega Drive and in the arcades at the time, was one the latest to be released and because of that, it never reached Japan or the USA. Just liek Cyber Shinobi, it was a PAL exclusive.
I always thought it was a bit strange they decided to port the arcade version of Shadow Dancer to the Master System and create a totally different ‘Shadow Dancer’ game for the Sega Mega Drive, but I can speculate that by starting fresh on the Mega Drive, they could create a really tight, console-tailored experience. On the Master System, they knew this version wasn’t going to be a blockbuster seller and decided a port of the arcade would be more simple.
So where does that leave games like Shadow Dancer: Secret of Shinobi? The Sega Master System was truly capable of some great graphics, considering this was competing with the Nintendo Entertainment System and that’s the one real advantage. I can only assume the total focus on the sprite size and clarity is what left the scrolling jittery and the gameplay all mushy. This is a much more playable game than Cyber Shinobi, but neither titles can compete with the enjoyment of the original Shinobi.
We’re missing the fluid, throw yourself into danger gameplay; That real arcade, well paced action. The levels in Shadow Dancer are short, the bosses can be downright frustrating and with your one hit KO, dying because your character wouldn’t duck fast enough or being hit by projectiles as soon as the enemy appears feels cheap.
The Master System has its limitations when porting an arcade title, but the more I play Shadow Dancer, the more I can really appreciate the effort and work that went into bringing the arcade experience home to the Master System. Sega had a really good thing with the Shinobi series, and when they sent it to the arcades, they gave it their all. To retroactively take an awesome game like Shadow Dancer and make it recognisable on outdated hardware is a really awesome feat.