is a series of hack-and-slash games created by Sega. The ninja (shinobi) Joe Musashi acts as the protagonist of the series. The first Shinobi was released in 1987 as an arcade video game. Along with Alex Kidd and Sonic the Hedgehog, Joe Musashi has long been one of Sega's flagship characters, acting as a mascot for a short time in the late 1980s when ninjas were popular in mainstream media. The series' games are a showcase of Sega's technical accomplishment, noted for their high quality of graphics, gameplay, and music, as well as their high level of difficulty. The Shinobi series sold 5 million copies as of 2024.

Plot The main character of Shinobi (the original Japanese word for "ninja") is most commonly associated with that of Joe Musashi, the protagonist of the original arcade game and many of its sequels. His name is a combination of both an archetypal Western first name and a Japanese last name, Musashi likely being derived from the legendary Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. In the manual of The Revenge of Shinobi, Musashi's backstory is told as that of a weak boy who first entered the dojo of the Oboro clan at a young age and gradually, through tireless practice and meditation, worked himself up to become the most skilled and respected ninja of his clan. His peaceful existence in the mountains of Japan is shattered when the ninja crime syndicate Zeed rises to power and attempts to revert Japan into the Sengoku period of civil war when the ninja thrived.

After being defeated by Musashi in the original Shinobi, Zeed reforms three years later as Neo Zeed and attacks the Oboro clan directly. With his master assassinated and his girlfriend Naoko kidnapped by the enemy, Musashi swears revenge, and in the ensuing battles through a series of locations in Japan and America, as chronicled in The Revenge of Shinobi, all but annihilates Neo Zeed. When Neo Zeed returns in Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master, Musashi comes out of retirement one last time and destroys them for good.

In the arcade version of Shadow Dancer, Joe Musashi is replaced by a nameless new ninja and his canine companion as the game's protagonists. The ninja and his dog must disarm various time bombs spread across an unnamed metropolis that were planted by a terrorist group. The game was remade for the Mega Drive/Genesis under the title Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi, with the protagonist's identity differing between regions. The Japanese version identifies him as Joe Musashi's estranged son , while the English language manual identifies him as Joe Musashi himself coming out of retirement. In the Master System game The Cyber Shinobi, Zeed has resurfaced once more, this time under the name of Cyber Zeed. A grandson of Joe Musashi must prevent them from threatening the world again.

Shinobi Legions presents a different plotline. The shinobi is Sho, the youngest of two brothers raised by a lone ninja master. The elder brother becomes corrupted and abducts the master's daughter in search of the ultimate ninjitsu technique, and Sho has to prevent him from destroying the world. Neither Joe Musashi nor the Oboro clan is mentioned.

Following a seven-year hiatus in the series, the lead archetype returns in Shinobi for PlayStation 2 as Hotsuma, another member of the Oboro clan. In a similar theme to Shinobi Legions, the game starts with Hotsuma slaying his elder brother Moritsune during a full moon Oboro ritual. The main plot revolves around Hotsuma's battle to defeat a powerful sorcerer called Hiruko and put an end to anarchy in Tokyo. The game features Joe Musashi as a hidden character, as well as Moritsune himself (who appears in the game's storyline as an enemy named Aomizuchi).

In a break with tradition, Nightshade (Kunoichi in Japan) featured a female ninja named Hibana. Hotsuma appears as a hidden character, though it requires a completed Shinobi PS2 game save on the memory card to unlock him. Joe Musashi returns as he did in the PS2 Shinobi by completing 88 missions in the game. The protagonist of the 3DS Shinobi 3D is Jiro Musashi, Joe's father.

Gameplay The main weapons of Shinobi are the shuriken (or throwing knives), but over the course of the series, the emphasis gradually shifted to a ninjato. One of the most important moves in the game is Shinobi's somersault, performed by tapping the jump button a second time at the height of a jump. The somersault is used to leap onto high places, perform trick jumps, and use the hedgehog shuriken attack to wipe out several opponents at once. The ability to run was introduced in Shinobi III.

Another staple of the series is the four magical ninjitsu attacks Shinobi can use to kill their foes, or improve their own abilities. The four ninjitsu techniques are: Ikazuchi, Fushin, Kariu, and Mijin. Another common feature of the early Shinobi games is the enemy AI, where enemies could duck behind boxes to reload their weapons after firing at Musashi, or hide behind boxes or shields to block Musashi's shurikens.

Each level in Shinobi is usually divided into two or three scenes, and the final scene is a battle against a powerful boss character. Standard Shinobi stages include bamboo forests, dojos, docksides, and industrial complexes filled with biological monstrosities.

Timeline The following is a timeline of releases in the Shinobi series. Listed are the names of each game, the corresponding release date, and the consoles for which they were developed/ported. Further below is a brief discussion of each release. For a more detailed examination of each game, click on the corresponding link in the timetable.

No.International titleJapanese titleYearGame system 1. Shinobi Shinobi 1987 Arcade 1988 Master System 1989 Commodore 64, Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, MSX, IBM PC, PC Engine, NES 2009 Wii (Virtual Console), Xbox 360 (Xbox Live Arcade) 2020 Nintendo Switch (Sega Ages) 2. Shadow Dancer Shadow Dancer 1989 Arcade 1991 Commodore 64, Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, Master System, ZX Spectrum 3. The Revenge of Shinobi The Super Shinobi 1989 Mega Drive/Genesis 2009 Wii (Virtual Console) 2012 PlayStation 3 (PlayStation Network), Xbox 360 (Xbox Live Arcade), Windows (Steam) 4. Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi 1990 Mega Drive/Genesis 2006 PlayStation 2, PSP (Sega Genesis Collection) 2010 Windows (Steam) 5. The Cyber Shinobi 1991 Master System 6. Shinobi The G.G. Shinobi 1991 Game Gear 2012 Nintendo 3DS (Virtual Console) 7. Shinobi II: The Silent Fury The G.G. Shinobi II 1992 Game Gear 8. Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master The Super Shinobi II 1993 Mega Drive/Genesis 2006 PlayStation 2, PSP (Sega Genesis Collection) 2007 Wii (Virtual Console) 2009 PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection) 2010 Windows (Steam) 2013 Nintendo 3DS (Virtual Console) 9. Shinobi Legions Shin Shinobi Den 1995 Sega Saturn 10. Shinobi Shinobi 2002 PlayStation 2 2012 PlayStation Network 11. Nightshade Kunoichi 2003 PlayStation 2 12. Shinobi Shinobi 3D 2011 Nintendo 3DS 13. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance Shinobi: Fukushū no Zangeki 2025 PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, Windows (Steam) 2026 Nintendo Switch 2

Series Shinobi (1987)

Shinobi, the first game in the series, was released in 1987 for the arcades and ran on Sega's System 16 arcade hardware. Sega released a home conversion for the Master System, followed by licensed ports for the IBM PC, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum and MSX, as well as the PC Engine (via Asmik) in Japan, and an unlicensed port by Tengen for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America. Shinobi introduced several novelties to traditional platform mechanics, such as sophisticated enemy AI and multiple layers in each level.

Shadow Dancer (1989)

Shadow Dancer is the 1989 arcade sequel to the original Shinobi. It runs on Sega's System 18 arcade hardware. The plot follows an unnamed ninja and his canine companion who must disarm various bombs spread across a city and defeat the terrorist group responsible for planting them.

The Revenge of Shinobi (1989)

Known as The Super Shinobi in Japan, The Revenge of Shinobi was the series Mega Drive/Genesis debut. Featuring a soundtrack by composer Yuzo Koshiro, the game is widely regarded as the best entry in the series.

Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi (1990)

The Mega Drive/Genesis version of Shadow Dancer, titled Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi and is a different game from the arcade original. The backstory differs between regional releases, giving the unnamed protagonist from the arcade version an identity - the Japanese version establishes him as Hayate, the estranged son of Joe Musashi; while the manuals for the English language versions claim that he is Joe Musashi himself. Although the basic gameplay is similar to the arcade version, little of the actual game content — from levels to character art — is the same.

The Cyber Shinobi (1991)

The Cyber Shinobi was a Master System exclusive title, released as a follow-up to the Master System port of the original Shinobi. The Cyber Shinobi is notorious for being one of the worst games in the series. Since it is mentioned in the manual that the hero's grandfather defeated Neo Zeed, the Joe Musashi character in this game appears to be the grandson of the original Joe Musashi.

The G.G. Shinobi (1991)

The debut of Shinobi on the Game Gear system was titled Shinobi, though in Japan it was known as The GG Shinobi (The Game Gear Shinobi) and the game still carries this name internally in all regions. Its gameplay is largely reminiscent of The Revenge of Shinobi. In a take on the Japanese Super Sentai series, Shinobi revolves around the quest of five coloured ninjas (red, pink, blue, yellow, and green) to bring down a powerful crime organization. The game starts with the player just controlling the red ninja and then freeing more and more of his compatriots as he progresses through each level. The soundtrack was once again composed by Yuzo Koshiro.

The G.G. Shinobi II: The Silent Fury (1992)

The Silent Fury (also The G.G. Shinobi II) is a direct sequel to the original The G.G. Shinobi game on Game Gear, and features much of the same gameplay mechanics as its predecessor. Both The G.G. Shinobi and The Silent Fury were Game Gear exclusive games. It was scored by Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima.

Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (1993)

Known as The Super Shinobi II in Japan, Shinobi III is regarded by many as the high point of the series . It introduced a much smoother, faster style of gameplay while keeping the series' familiar trademarks firmly intact. The game marked Musashi's last appearance in a Shinobi game until Shinobi was released in 2002 for the PlayStation 2. At least two known beta versions of Shinobi III are currently in circulation, featuring almost completely different levels from the final game.

Shinobi Legions (1995)

Shinobi Legions was the only Shinobi game developed for Sega Saturn. The gameplay is similar to that of Shinobi III but with many tweaks. The plot represented a break with the traditional storyline of the previous games, as it focuses on an entirely new character named Sho. Shinobi Legions uses live-action cut sequences between each round and digitized live actors in game sequences.

Shinobi (2002)