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Guide Shinobi around an eight-directional platform environment, beating hell out of anyone in your way. Lifts and conveyor belts help or hinder progress and crates hold goodies.

The wise man Confucius once said, "A bad hairstyle is never cut, it just falls out in time." Fortunately these were some of the old fool's less popular pearls of wisdom, because he couldn't have been more wrong. Once more the pungent smell of hair tonic is thick in the air as the lengthy-locked master of Neo Zeed has risen from his grave and again seeks ultimate revenge.

Enter Joe Mushashi, ninja master and all-round short-haired good boy. Brought up by monks from an early age, Joe was taught the incredible skills of the sword, the awesome ways of the fist and the good honest values of a decent haircut.

It was during those youthful days at Shinobi High School that young Joseph first learnt to use those all-important skills. A vicious bully, Nigel Zeed continually taunted Joe about his centre-parting, the holy hair-do of the Shinobi. After many months of persecution Joe finally snapped.

Stealing the sacred scissors from the School temple, he snuck into Nigel's room after dark and cut off all his hair. For ten long years, Nigel hid from the world, growing his hair in secret and massaging magic tonics into his scalp. Now he's back in the most incredible wig ever seen. He has kidnapped Joe's beautiful bride Naoko, and held the world to ransom. Stopping only long enough to trim his side-burns, Joe has once more donned his ninja garb and sworn to destroy the accursed Zeed once and for all, for he is the Shinobi...

Obviously those accursed Zeed boys use the Frank Spencer Removal Service for transporting their belongings around, because scattered around all the levels are crates packed with all kinds of goodies. Inside these crates can be found extra throwing daggers, hearts which provide much needed energy and extra ninja magic.

Joe can also collect a power-up icon which allows him to throw flaming shuriken and use a sword in close combat.

Having been an avid fan of the Hot Shoe Show since he was a boy, Joe is quite adept in the sprightly movement department. What's more, he's picked up some smart new skills since the original game. Here's a rundown of some of the finest moves since the Highland Fling.

1. Boost
   There was a time when Joe would cringe at the very sight of an impassable vertical sliff-face. Those days are gone for good. Everyone's favourite ninja master can now use walls to propel himself upwards.
   
   This means if there are two vertical walls on each side, Joe can bounce between each one and reach the top of the cliff. Sometimes, this trick can save Joe's hide if he's falling down a chasm.
2. Swinging
   Joe now leaps up and hangs from the ceiling. From this position Monkey-boy Mushashi can swing from arm to arm, effectively climbing across the ceiling. This move is especially useful for climbing over a room full of baddies.
3. Somersault
   Just like in the first game, Joe not only jumps, but also somersaults for extra height. Whilst spinning, he can unleash a lethal spray of throwing daggers, provided he has enough to throw, of course.
4. Running
   This might sound like no big deal, but let's remember that Joe couldn't run in the first game. Not so the case here. By pressing the joypad twice in one direction the boy Mushashi races across the screen as if his ninja-issue jocks were on fire.

Revenge Of Shinobi remains one of my favourite Megadrive games so I was extremely anxious to get my hands on the sequel. Now I have, I'm in two minds about it. I can see it's a brilliant game that's a lot bigger than Revenge Of Shinobi with better graphics.

I was disappointed by the music. Considering it was done by Yuzo Koshiro, I was expecting something far superior to the tunes this game proffers. In terms of playability, it's a lot faster than Revenge Of Shinobi, and I really liked all of the new moves Mushashi pulls off in his quest to destroy the Zeed.

However, I can see that as an overall package it's not quite as strong as the original game which was extremely polished and never short of action. To me, this isn't quite as good. Whilst I can see Shinobi III is a high quality cart, I can't help but recommend the original game over this. For Shinobi fans who really enjoyed the original, I'd recommend buying this immediately.

To be honest, I was expecting a lot from this sequel. The cartridge has twice the memory capacity of its predecessor and the screenshots looked just superb.

That said, I can only express my disappointment at the end result. Graphically, the game's a mixed bag. The main sprite and most of the enemy sprites look gorgeous, but some of the backdrops are awful. On one level, for example, the waves in the background are just a still picture.

It just spoils the whole feel of the game. The lack of variety between the levels is also another downer. Most of the levels are just machine-based factory-type levels and the more unusual levels, like the airship, are just poor rip-offs of other games like Sonic or Strider.

The music is good, but considering the tunes were written by the master of console music, Yuzo Koshiro (of Streets Of Rage and Revenge Of Shinobi fame), it's all pretty standard and quite forgettable. As far as playability goes, this game has still got what it takes and the improved movement of the main character helps a lot, but the game just doesn't have the atmosphere or polished feel of its predecessor.

I do like this game, but I was expecting so much more. As it stands, Shinobi III is not as good as Revenge Of Shinobi.

Presentation 85%
P. The usual standard of options and a really nice intro sequence with a bit of storyline to boot.

Graphics 84%
P. The sprites are smartly drawn and animated and some of the bosses are superb.
N. However, some of the backdrops are of a very low quality.

Sound 87%
P. The spot-effects are excellent...
N. Although the music could have been better considering it was written by Yuzo Koshiro.

Playability 89%
P. The controls are easy to handle and the platform action's initially enjoyable.
N. The somersault's more difficult to perform than in the original, and the levels aren't imaginative enough.

Lastability 87%
P. The eight levels are quite difficult, especially in hard or hardest mode and the bosses should challenge you for quite some time.
N. Once completed, there's not a lot to bring you back.

Overall 88%
Although not as good a package as the original Revenge Of Shinobi, this game is still a decent platform ninja game, bigger and faster than the original. It's just a shame that more wasn't added to the concept.