Сеганың "Шиноби" ойындары сериясы

Video game series by Sega

Shinobi (忍, Shinobi) is a series of hack and slash games created by Sega. The ninja (shinobi) Joe Musashi is the protagonist of the original series of games (Shinobi to Shinobi III). 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 franchise sold more than 4.60 million copies. 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 Hayate (疾風), 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 are mentioned. 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.

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 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 Mega Drive version of Shadow Dancer, titled Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi and is 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 claims 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 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. It is the twelfth title in the series since the 1987 original arcade games.

A new Shinobi game featuring hand drawn 2D animation was announced during The Game Awards presentation on December 7, 2023. No developer, platforms or release date were announced at the time.

In 1990, Sega released Alex Kidd in Shinobi World on Master System, a spoof of the original Shinobi game in which Alex Kidd takes the position of Joe Musashi. In the game, Alex Kidd has to rescue his girlfriend, a native of Shinobi World, from an evil ninja named Hanzo. A good ninja fuses into him and gives him his powers. Often related to the series is the handheld The Revenge of Shinobi game for Game Boy Advance, however, this game shares only the name and basic premise (ninja action) with other Shinobi titles.

A comic book series based on the game, written by Alan McKenzie and illustrated by Jon Haward, was published in the UK publication Sonic the Comic between 1993 and 1995, with four stories printed during its run. In 2014, Sega and Hakuhodo DY formed the production company Stories International for feature film and TV projects based on their Shinobi games. In April 2016, Marc Platt was assigned to produce a live action Shinobi movie through his production banner Marc Platt Productions along with Adam Siegel & Stories President and CEO, Tomoya Suzuki. Welsh Alternative Metal band Lostprophets referenced the game in the title of their debut single Shinobi Vs. Dragon Ninja on their debut album The Fake Sound of Progress in 2000.