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Become the hardest Ninja imaginable - swing your katana, throw your shuriken, use your magic, and generally beat seven types of doo-doo out of the fiendish foes determined to stop your progress. Anyway, it's a good thing you can do all these stunts as the baddies (the Zeeb) have kidnapped your girlfriend: to rescue her you must travel around the world, destroying their bases as you go.

Shinobi carries with him a limited number of shuriken (which can be replenished as the game advances) as well as his sword. He can also kick his foes, jump, somersault/shuriken-spray attack. The best form of attack however is the devastating Ninjitsu magic; this comes in various forms depending on the game's level, and is crucial in order to defeat the end-of-level bosses.

With eight stages, each subdivided into three parts, and a big baddie to beat at the end of each one, Revenge Of Shinobi is a huge game. It includes animated sequences and a host of options. Check out the screenshots...

The locations are many and varied as you traverse the globe. You start in a dojo in the Far East and then progress to caves and waterfalls.

Other locations include skyscrapers, trains, motorways, the back of a lorry, docklands, Chinatown, and even an army base!

Perhaps the most exotic locale is on board an airship. Here caution is required to avoid being sucked out and falling to your doom!

As in all games of this type, the end of each level is patrolled by a giant guardian who must be beaten. On the first level there's a giant robot samurai, followed by a Shadow Ninja in a disco! Then there's a giant bomb, guarded by a laser defence system, a Terminator Android, a giant truck packed with missiles, Spiderman and Batman lookalikes, Godzilla, and finally the head baddie himself - The Master. As you can imagine, he's a real toughie!

The Zeeb army is a large one, and features a variety of soldiers. On level one there's ninja, flying ninja, robot dogs and samurai. On later levels there are machine-gun wielding soldiers, grenade throwers, Rambo lookalikes with giant flame throwers, karate experts, female ninja and robot defence systems! And they're all out to stop you!

Shinobi has access to four types of Jitsu magic, and needs them in order to get past the bosses.

1. Fushin Creates flickering after-images of Shinobi. These take all the damage for you until there's none left.

2. Ikazuchi Causes lightning around Shinobi's body which protects him.

3. Kariu The magic creates sheets of flame which scour the screen, giving any baddies serious grief.

4. Mijin Makes Shinobi explode in ritual suicide. Loses a life, but has a devastating effect on the opponent.

Revenge Of Shinobi is packed full of secret bonuses - somersaulting and firing in certain places may uncover extra energy, bonus lives or even ninja magic! They're all tricky to find, but expert ninja should be able to discover them all!

I'd be more than impressed if I'd played this game in the arcades. But on the Megadrive? Wow! It's an absolute treat for the ears and eyes. Each level is a graphical masterpiece, from the depths of Chinatown to the top of the tallest skyscrapers, and the animated opening sequence will leave you gasping with admiration.

The sprites are simply superb - the animation on all of the enemies and Shinobi himself just has to be seen to be appreciated. On top of that are the incredibly rock soundtracks and stunning sound effects!

All that would be useless without decent gameplay, but Revenge Of Shinobi doesn't disappoint here. It's challenging and amazingly addictive and keeps you glued to the machine for hours at a time - I just didn't want to stop playing.

Revenge Of Shinobi really shows off the abilities of the Megadrive - if there's one game to buy for it, it's this!

This has to be one of the most outstanding games on the Megadrive - or any console, come to that. The graphics are exquisite, the music superb, and the gameplay out of this world!

I was suitably wowed by this game, and you will be too: there aren't many games around that are a match for this, which really pushes the Megadrive to its limit.

I can assure you that you will be ecstatic with this if you buy it - it's what you bought a Megadrive for in the first place!

Presentation 95%
Stunning opening sequence - and continues to impress throughout the game.

Graphics 91%
Highly polished with some parallax scrolling that'll knock your socks off.

Sound 94%
Loads of incredible tunes and effects!

Playability 95%
So addictive and easy to get to grips with you'll be drooling.

Lastability 90%
The game seems never-ending and the multiple skill levels add plenty of long-lasting appeal.

Overall 94%
Utterly brilliant in every way. If you don't make this your next purchase you're mad!