This game is rated ESRB: Mature 17+ for Blood and Gore and Violence.
Shinobi is a hack-and-slash action game developed by Overworks for the PlayStation 2, released in 2002 as a revival of the long-dormant Shinobi series. The game is set in Tokyo, where a mysterious evil force has seized control of the city. Players control Hotsuma, leader of the Oboro Clan, who finds himself in a grim position: the sole survivor of his clan, he must now fight through the very clansmen he once led, who have been reanimated and turned against him by this malevolent power. The game blends fast-paced melee combat with the traditional ninja aesthetics the series is known for, tasking Hotsuma with cutting through waves of enemies across a corrupted urban landscape. Its return marked a significant moment for fans who had followed the franchise since its earlier entries.
The game has eight levels, each of them broken into two sections, and with bosses along the way. The control scheme allows you to dash, attack, jump and throw shurikens. A lock-on feature is also provided. It should be noted that the game also has a few hidden features such as holding attack during lock-on to do a charge attack, double jumping and throwing shuriken to do a shuriken burst, and a stun kick by press down and attack while locking on. The main objectives of the levels is to kill. No item fetching is required, however the ninjutsu scrolls come in handy, and some levels require Hotsuma to break stone pillars to continue. Shinobi also contains combo features. One of these features is called a "tate" kill, whereby if enemies are killed in a chain, a cutscene will play killing all enemies at once and dropping more Yin for your blade. The other feature is that as Hotsuma kills with his cursed blade "Akujiki", the sword will change different colors indicating different damage multipliers.
