Retro Gamer magazine celebrates the history of Shinobi

The latest issue of Retro Gamer has dedicated its cover to Sega’s Shinobi, which is returning to game systems after a 14-year hiatus. The 10-page article not only looks at the evolution of the popular series, from its 1987 arcade hit to classics like Shinobi III: Return Of The Ninja Master on the Mega Drive, but also features insight from a number of veterans, including the creators of Art Of Vengeance.

“We tried to look at all the different games that have been made for Shinobi and tried to incorporate what we thought would fit the most,” says Ben Fiquet, the CEO of Lizardcube, the developer behind the new game. “Ultimately, the main inspiration would be [The Revenge Of Shinobi ] and Shinobi III.” Although Ben and the team are big fans of the series, he admits that creating the new game wasn’t as straightforward as they expected. “It turns out it was more complicated to make a game that is a platformer, an action game, and kind of a Metroidvania game. So it started simple, but it kind of snowballed.”

Outside of Retro Gamer’s extensive Shinobi coverage, issue 276 also features an excellent article examining the history of Naughty Dog’s Jak And Daxter series with designer and writer Dan Arey, as well as a look back at Frontier: Elite II, David Braben’s staggeringly complex follow-up to Elite.

You can also read about the creation of Descent and Navy Moves, a game so hard, even its programmer struggled to complete it, an interview with Simogo’s Simon Flesser about the creation of Sayonara Wild Hearts and how Jason Graves composed the atmospheric score to Dead Space.