Shinobi Art of Vengeance review: 2025's definitive action platformer

Shinobi Art of Vengeance is a title I certainly didn’t expect to see coming, but here we are in 2025, with truly one of the best action platformers I think I’ve ever played. I grew up in the 80s, so naturally I was enamored with both Ninja Gaiden and Shinobi. I had more access to the Nintendo titles, but I loved going to the arcades to play Shinobi, and later, visiting a friend to play Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master.

I’m a sucker for awesome combos and smooth, fluid movement, and let me tell you, Joe Musashi has all that and more in Shinobi Art of Vengeance. Revealed originally at the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase back in July 2025, I couldn’t stop thinking about it after the brief trailer. I can tell you definitively, this game does not disappoint.

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Shinobi Art of Vengeance is a modern tribute to the classic Shinobi titles

Shinobi Art of Vengeance is part classic action platformer, but also has some very serious Metroidvania roots to it. You can simply run through the stages if you want, and fight the boss at the end. But if you aren’t exploring, and backtracking when you have more useful ninja tools, you’re going to miss out on so much.

There are plenty of secrets out there to find; but Lord Ruse's minions won't give them up for free (Image via SEGA)

You’ll miss out on amazing skills, cool costumes, including one inspired by Sonic the Hedgehog, health and kunai boosts, and so much more. The gameplay is pretty much what you’d expect: Joe Musashi, head of the Oboro Clan, has to set out into the world to defeat a series of villains, all following the orders of Lord Ruse. Whether riding around on his gigantic dog, surfing across the seas, or climbing up mountains, the gameplay is always varied and intense.

Some stages are complex mazes, others are intricate puzzles, and some are just a mad dash across a moving train! There are a few familiar faces hidden around for those who played the original games too, but I won’t spoil who or what those are.

I can tell you that each stage makes sense, and feels good to explore. There are tons of secrets, and that’s where the real challenge lies. Suffice it to say, you’ll definitely want to explore every nook and cranny of this game.

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Combat and movement is where Shinobi Art of Vengeance truly shines

The combat in Shinobi Art of Vengeance is truly second-to-none. Joe Musashi has a basic sword attack, and a heavy attack, and you can combo these together, alongside your kunai toss. That’s far from everything, though.

You can only air dash once, but you can ninja flip - cancel an attack into a dash - multiple times. Use that knowledge to create stylish combos (Image via SEGA)

You can also cancel some of your attacks into others. For example, you can dive kick in, hit the heavy combo follow-up when you’ve unlocked it at the Shop, cancel into an air dash, and start attacking again from the other side before ever hitting the ground. You can really use this to your advantage on the stronger enemies in the game. There’s even an execute function, when you’ve built up enough pressure on enemies.

Shinobi Art of Vengeance doesn’t feature a meter for this, but does tell you which moves apply more pressure towards an execute. Whether it’s regular enemies or even bosses, everyone can fall victim to that sudden execution at the hands of Joe Musashi. You also have Ninpo of various types to use, more powerful Ninjutsu, and of course, a suite of special normal attacks.

Combos in Shinobi Art of Vengeance are whatever you want them to be! It’s a pretty flexible system, and I have to say, I very quickly fell in love with it. Other side-scrolling ninja games wish their protagonist was as deadly and violent.

Then there’s the movement. Sure, Joe Musashi runs, and he jumps, but there’s also the double jump, air dash, and a variety of ninja tools that will let him climb up and down certain walls, glide through the air, and use grappling hooks. This leads to some of the most bonkers, hair-pulling movement puzzles I’ve seen in years.

There are so many collectibles in each stage; it takes a keen eye and patience to find them all (Image via SEGA)

However, these are almost always off the beaten path. There are movement puzzles in several stages of Shinobi Art of Vengeance, but whether hidden or on the main path, they are all fair and completable. It just depends on how well you know the game’s mechanics. None of it feels unfair. Now, there were a few of these that I spent well over an hour and a half desperately trying to get through, but I felt great once I got to the end.

Knowing not just how to move, but when to use certain movement techniques are key to success as Joe Musashi (Image via SEGA)

There's only thing that I really didn’t care for, as it pertains to combat and movement: it wasn’t always clear when I would potentially have invulnerability frames. There were so many times I’d start to use the dash/dodge while comboing, and just get flavor-blasted by an enemy that I was sure I would avoid. It’s the most minor of nitpicks, but I never really could tell when I was safe and when I wasn't.

One thing I also found rather interesting was that the bosses, while they have specific attacks, really didn’t seem to have patterns. I don’t want to spoil any of the boss fights, but I can tell you that from one attempt to the next, the variations in what they did were pretty serious. Honestly, I kind of liked this. It meant I had to keep on my toes the whole fight.

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The sounds and aesthetic of Shinobi Art of Vengeance were immaculate

Each stage has its own unique sound in Shinobi Art of Vengeance, not to mention its aesthetic. The Fish Market was dingy, filled with huge crates that were being moved around, alongside awesome neon signs that advertised their wares.

Each stage of this thrilling action adventure game feels unique and fresh (Image via SEGA)

The ENE Corp Laboratory looked like an Evil Scientist Laboratory should, except with a few unorthodox surprises. All it was missing was some lo-fi hip hop beats and it would've been perfect; but maybe that's just me.

I also appreciate the sound effects in Shinobi Art of Vengeance. The Kunai throws sound great, as do the satisfying crunches of breaking an enemy's guard. When gliding on a wind current, it sounds real, and it sounds right.

I cannot say enough good things about the visual display and graphics in this game. It performed brilliantly on PC; no lag, no slowdown, no glitches or bugs for my entire time playing the game. Plus it looks incredible. Everything from the combos and juggles in battle, to simply air dashing looks brilliant.

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Final thoughts

This is truly the only way to surf; unless you're in a sewer, I suppose (Image via SEGA)

Lizardcube did fantastic work on putting this game together, that’s for sure. I haven’t felt this good about an action platformer in such a long time. Sure there have been good ones over the years, like The Messenger, but nothing holds a candle to Joe Musashi, and the power of the ninja. In all sincerity, Shinboi Art of Vengeance is an action-platformer masterpiece. Every attack, every movement matters.

While I do think that perhaps the bosses are a little too easy, maybe that’s because there’s plenty of challenge in the stages themselves. Simply unlocking everything, defeating all the various Elite Squads, and overcoming movement puzzles felt incredibly challenging all on its own. So perhaps the bosses aren’t easy, so much as I focused on the challenge the stage itself provided. If you’re a fan of Shinobi, or classic action platformers, this is not a game you want to pass on.

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Shinobi: Art of Vengeance

Shinobi Art of Vengeance is a must-play if you loved the classic games, or simply love intense action platformers (Image via SEGA & Sportskeeda)

• Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC
• Reviewed On: PC (Code provided by SEGA)
• Developer: SEGA, Lizardcube
• Publisher: SEGA
• Release Date: August 29, 2025