Shinobi with Alex Kidd - No Kidding!

What the devil? This is Shinobi with Alex Kidd. Alex Kidd was an awful game. But then again, so was the Sega Master System conversion of Shinobi.

But put those two cr*ptastic game together and what do you get ? Absolute pure 8 bit joy.

The graphics absolutely scream 8 bit goodness. Easy on the eye with pathetic backgrounds but pleasing use of the limited palette to make weird and wonderful enemies.

Even the rubbish sound effects, but easy on the ear music, brought out all the nostalgic goodness of the Sega's 8 bit sound chip.

Best of all, it was super easy. After that trauma I had with Contra and Gradius, this was a breath of fresh air.

I always knew that there was something special about the Sega Master System.

Shinobi - Sega Master Garbage

This was a game I so wanted to enjoy. The ninjas, the shuriken and the cool end of level bosses. But the music, the controls, the graphics, the scrolling when the ninja goes up a level are terrible. I just couldn't get into the music and where was the ninja magic? There were so many frustrating parts and the timing of the jumps are just too rigid.

However, I was pretty sure that when I first bought this, I was loving every minute of it. I guess some things change. Gears of War, 3d platform games and analog sticks have really spoilt me.