SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance marks the comeback of beloved shinobi Joe Musashi as he enacts revenge for his clan. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.
SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance Review Overview
What is SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance?
SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance is the newest installment in the long-running SHINOBI series that began in 1987. In this 2D action-platformer Metroidvania, players will step into the shoes of ninja protagonist Joe Musashi as he seeks revenge against Lord Ruse, the head of the paramilitary organization ENE Corp, who razed his village to the ground and turned his clan into stone in the name of power and ambition.
Developed by Lizardcube, the team behind brawler title Streets of Rage 4, it boasts the studio’s signature hand-drawn style in its graphics, highlighted by sleek and fast-paced combat.
SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance features:
⚫︎ Engaging Metroidvania Combat
⚫︎ Saving the World as a Ninja
⚫︎ Hand-drawn 2D Animation
⚫︎ Challenging Enemies
⚫︎ Secrets and Collectibles Galore!
| Digital Storefronts | |||||||
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 Steam |
 PlayStation |
 Xbox |
 Switch |
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| $26.99 | |||||||
SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Gorgeous Hand-Drawn Graphics Smooth and Engaging Combat Immensely Fun to Explore |
Story can be Cliché Some Areas are Needlessly Complex at Times |
SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance Overall Score - 82/100
SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance is a solid return to the well-loved Shinobi series, bringing in players with its charming, hand-painted visuals and smooth and engaging action-platformer, Metroidvania-esque gameplay. While it has its weaknesses with its story and some frustrating gameplay mechanics, it’s an immensely enjoyable game in its own right for both Shinobi fans and newbies alike.
SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance Story - 6/10
While the rest of the game is absolutely stunning, the story is where its weakness lies. It’s your typical revenge-seeking plot, as if the title doesn’t give it away already—the village or their clan gets razed, then the protagonist swears to get back at the villain who dared do it and chases them to the ends of the Earth—the usual predictable formula. Not exactly the most compelling narrative, but it works for the game nonetheless. It’s not the story that drives the game—it’s everything else.
SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance Gameplay - 9/10
Gameplay is one of the factors where SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance shines. Fluid controls give way to snappy attacks and combos in battle, making for engaging gameplay that’s sure to keep you on the edge. Difficulty-wise, it’s challenging but not overly complex—most of the time. Even with polished gameplay, some instant-death obstacles feel needlessly complicated with the need for exact, precise timing—fail that, and you get sent right back to the beginning of that particular zone. Level design can also feel rather empty after a while.
SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance Visuals - 10/10
Its visuals are fantastic, employing a vibrant 2D hand-painted style that looks stunning in all aspects. From the details in the unique backgrounds to the character designs, it's evident that the developers put a lot of effort into the game’s visual presentation. Hell, even a boring old factory looks interesting in the game. Animation is smooth, the details are gorgeous, and there were no frame drops or stutters in my entire playthrough.
SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance Audio - 8/10
Audio-wise, it’s great in terms of background tracks and sound design. The music is quite fitting for a ninja journey across perilous areas, and it's well-accompanied by the sound effects of combat. There are some locations where the background music is quite annoying after a while (the incessant alarm at The Mountain didn’t help at all) and the voice acting, while decent, can get grating, but overall, the audio is solid.
SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance Value for Money - 8/10
The game clocks in at around 10 to 15 hours depending on the level of completion you’re going for, and even a little more if you’re gunning for 100% in all secrets and collectibles. Additionally, you unlock Arcade Mode and Boss Rush after completing the main missions, allowing for further replayability to top your own records. It can be a little steep, but for $27, you’re getting bang for your buck in all aspects of the game (maybe except the story, but I digress.)
SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance Review: A Ninja Game Done Right
Joe Musashi makes a stunning comeback after 15 years in SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance (from here on simply referred to as Art of Vengeance), the newest title in the long-running Shinobi series from SEGA. A well-known mascot for Japanese ninja since the 1980s, Art of Vengeance is a wonderful return to form and one that is a treat for longtime Shinobi fans and a grand welcome to newbies who would want to step into its world.
While Joe Musashi was definitely a name I was familiar with, one of those Shinobi game newbies is me, a casual platformer gamer who was inexplicably captivated by the game’s graphics. I’m a sucker for anything that looks artsy and painted—heck, one of my favorite video games of all time is Okami. I knew what I was getting myself into, but I didn’t expect that I’d enjoy it as much as I did.
Gorgeous Visuals, Hands Down
Let’s get into the visuals first since I’ve been hyping it a bit too much now. From the get-go, you’re greeted with magnificent hand-painted graphics, which really bring the game to life. From the character designs of Joe and the more major characters, to the individual enemies, to the charming backgrounds that make the 2D space even bigger than it actually is, Art of Vengeance’s visuals are pleasing to the eyes, and there are no janky animations that make it worse. If you’re familiar with brawler title Streets of Rage 4, then this level of visual grandeur shouldn’t be surprising to you, considering it’s created by Lizardcube, the same developers.
You know the game is amazing art-wise when you can pause at any moment and when you take a screenshot, it doesn’t look blurry or strange, which can happen in other action-packed games—for Art of Vengeance, it still looks like a work of art. It’s like every single frame has been painstakingly accounted for and delicately drawn. It’s no wonder it has the word Art in its title already—it is art in itself.
What makes it even better is that there are no reused background assets across all the areas you’ll need to traverse through as Joe, each area being individually unique. One moment you’re in a dense bamboo forest, slicing through enemies with ease, and then the next you’re in the snowy remnants of your village, then after that you’re treated to stunning fireworks and lanterns when you go and foil the attack on the lantern parade. Even the secret factory doesn’t seem as boring as it should be with the depth and detail present in the background.
Smooth Combat Really Makes You Feel Like a Ninja
Another appealing part of the Art of Vengeance is the gameplay, the core of…well, any game. As a 2D action-platformer Metroidvania-like, players will control Joe as he traverses through the many locations of the game in a side-scrolling fashion, taking down enemies in combat using his trusty katana, kunai, and different types of special abilities, namely the Ningi, Ninpo, and Ninjutsu. Typical stuff, I know, but the buttery-smooth and intuitive controls and variety in combo and gameplay make it incredibly fun. There’s a certain rush to it when your combos play out exactly the way you want them to, and seeing your foes poof into nothing after being defeated—the adrenaline, I tell you.
I know it’s about the visuals, but the animations just flow so well that combat somehow feels like you’re watching an interactive hand-painted ninja movie. Every single move is flashy, and the animations make it even more epic no matter how small it is. From the roundabout 360 swings to the fire Ninjutsu burning enemies to a crisp, it all looks epic.
One of my favorite aspects about the gameplay is the Execution mechanic, even if it can be pretty tricky to set up. The Execution move lets Joe instantly obliterate enemies with full Execution gauges with one double button press, and it’s absolutely amazing when you manage to chain several enemies with one move, plus you get a shower of goodies like extra kunai, coins, and health points. It also adds a little bit of extra something to it all—games like this usually have you finish off enemies as quickly as possible, but with the Execution mechanic, you might want to hold off on eliminating them outright so that you can combo them (hence, the hard set up especially when most of the enemies around you are the cannon fodder ones that disappear with one swing of your katana). Gotta use that noggin sometimes too (mine was very much used, thank you).
Cliché, but Decent Story
The game’s most pressing weakness is its narrative, but I’d like to reiterate that there’s nothing wrong with it—it’s just serviceable at best. It’s a classic revenge story, one that seems to mirror the first Shinobi game even (based on extra research, at least).
In a nutshell, the game’s story goes like this; in an attempt to quench his loft ambitions of power and control, Art of Vengeance's antagonist Lord Ruse conquered armies and lands all over the world with his paramilitary organization, ENE Corp. Powerless to stop him, the rest of the world crumbled in his wake of destruction. The only one that was left to crush is the Oboro Clan, humanity’s long-standing protectors. ENE Corp and Ruse were one step ahead of the clan as they razed their village to the ground, turning its inhabitants into stone, with Joe being a little too late to stop it. In the name of revenge, Joe Musashi swears that he will stop at nothing until "Ruse lies dead at his feet".
Where have I heard that before…oh, do you mean every other revenge-centered plot out there? It plays out similarly to the original Shinobi too, only with a different organization and a different antagonist, both wanting to conquer the world.
With that said, I personally didn’t get attached to any of the characters, nor did any of them stand out to me as memorable in personality or story outside of their designs (I’m looking at you, big baddie Lord Ruse). However, it’s decent for the game, whose focus is more on the gameplay and the visuals than the narrative. You’re out for revenge? Okay, got it—as long as I can ram down foes with flashy skills, I’m good. But If you’re looking for something deep and heartstring-pulling, you won’t find it here in Art of Vengeance, that’s for sure.
Some Areas Are Unnecessarily Complex
While the gameplay is immersive and fun, there are just some areas that seem unnecessarily complicated. Granted as most of these are in optional areas, but the optional areas always hide the best things, right? Anyway, some hitboxes of those instant-death traps like spikes and rolling blade things seem a bit too large for their size, needing you to execute your dodge moves with hairline precision, lest you get sent back to the beginning of that particular zone. There’s a certain area in the Oboro Clan village dojo where you’ll need to maneuver through poison-tipped spikes—both from the ceiling and the floor, with only a narrow passageway allowing you to move through.
I swear on my cow (if I had one) that there was no pixel of Joe’s long body that touched either of the tips, yet I was still harmed. Once, twice, thrice—up until his health depleted and I had to do the whole thing all over again. This happened to me in the factory in the Mountain as well, where those sharp rolling blades moved in a criss-cross pattern. What added to the difficulty there was that you had no way of knowing where they were since the camera is affixed to where Joe is.
Then again, maybe it’s a skill issue on my part, but those hitboxes can be pretty punishing, especially if you’ve just missed the perfect timing by like…a pixel. Once is enough, but when everything starts to overlap, it can get pretty frustrating.
Is SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance Worth It?
Worth It, It’s Definitely the "Art" of Vengeance
SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance is well-worth it, for the dazzling visuals that just take you into its world, and the thrilling and immensely engaging gameplay from the combat to the exploration and collectible-searching. While it has its setbacks story-wise and with some difficulty spikes here and there, it doesn’t heavily take away from the whole experience that is evidently more gameplay-driven than anything else.
Whether you’re new to the series or a veteran fan, SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance is surely a game to try out and will keep you entertained for hours.
| Digital Storefronts | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steam |
PlayStation |
Xbox |
Switch |
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| $26.99 | |||||||
SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance FAQ
Does SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance have a demo?
SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance has a demo available to play on their Steam storefront.
Do you need to have prior knowledge on the Shinobi series?
No, SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance is a standalone title, and can be freely enjoyed without needing background lore from the previous games.
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SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance Product Information
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| Title | SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance |
|---|---|
| Release Date | August 26, 2025 (Advanced Access) August 29, 2025 (Full Release) |
| Developer | SEGA, Lizardcube |
| Publisher | SEGA |
| Supported Platforms | PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch |
| Genre | Action |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | ESRB RP / PEGI 12 |
| Official Website | SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance Official Website |
