The Revenge of Shinobi

ザ・スーパー忍 (Za Sūpā Shinobi)Genesis, Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 +101989

  1. JP1989
  2. NA1989
  3. EU1990
  4. RU—

The Revenge of Shinobi is the Western title; in Japan the Mega Drive game was released as The Super Shinobi (ザ・スーパー忍). The most recent official way to play it is the Sega Mega Drive library of Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack (2023); it is also part of the Sega Genesis Classics compilation (2018).

The Revenge of Shinobi is an action platformer developed and published by Sega. It came out for the Mega Drive in Japan on 2 December 1989, where it is called The Super Shinobi (ザ・スーパー忍), and reached North America the same month and Europe in October 1990. The soundtrack was composed by Yuzo Koshiro.

The game is best known for the history of its revisions. The first version featured unlicensed lookalikes of Rambo, the Terminator, Spider-Man, Batman and Godzilla. Later cartridge revisions redesigned some of them and licensed Spider-Man properly, adding an official copyright notice. That notice was removed again in the digital re-releases from 2009 onward.

Sega kept the game in circulation: it appeared on Wii Virtual Console in 2009, on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade in 2012, and on mobile under the Sega Forever label in 2017.123

Names and releases

RegionTitle on the boxPlatformDatePublisherSrc
NA The Revenge of Shinobi Genesis December 1989 Sega 1
JP ザ・スーパー忍Za Sūpā Shinobi Genesis Dec 2, 1989 Sega 2
EU The Revenge of Shinobi Genesis October 1990 Sega 1
WW The Revenge of ShinobiVirtual Console; uses revised build with the Spider-Man notice removed Wii 2009 Sega 1
WW The Revenge of ShinobiPlayStation Network PlayStation 3 2012 Sega 1
WW The Revenge of ShinobiXbox Live Arcade Xbox 360 2012 Sega 1
WW The Revenge of ShinobiSega Forever (also Android) iOS 2017 Sega 1
WW Sega Genesis ClassicsCompilation (Sega Mega Drive Classics in PAL regions); also Windows, Linux, macOS, Xbox One and Switch PlayStation 4 2018 Sega 1
WW The Revenge of ShinobiNintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack (Sega Mega Drive library) Switch Jun 28, 2023 Nintendo 2

Also known as: ザ・スーパー忍 JP2The Super Shinobi JP3Za Sūpā Shinobi JP2

Box art by region

  • The Revenge of Shinobi box art, North America release
    NA The Revenge of Shinobi
  • The Revenge of Shinobi box art, Europe release
    EU The Revenge of Shinobi
  • ザ・スーパー忍 box art, Japan release
    JP ザ・スーパー忍

Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.

Version differences

  • TitleMega Drive (JP)Genesis/Mega Drive (NA/EU)

    The Japanese release is called The Super Shinobi and has a different logo from the international version.3

  • ContentMega Drive (JP)Genesis/Mega Drive (NA/EU)

    In the Japanese good ending, the staff roll plays in time with the music. The international version skips the credits, jumps straight to the 'The End' screen and cuts the music short.3

  • ContentRev01 and later

    The first revision swapped the Rambo-style flamethrower enemies for bald soldiers, redrew the round 6 boss's Spider-Man form to match the licensed character, and turned its Batman-like form into a Devilman-like creature.3

All differences (6)

Reception

Critics rated it very highly at launch: Computer and Video Games gave it 93%, Mean Machines 94% and Zero 97%. In 1997 Electronic Gaming Monthly placed it 83rd on its list of the best console games of all time.1

In lists

Sources

  1. 1en.wikipedia.org
  2. 2ja.wikipedia.org
  3. 3tcrf.net
  4. 4ja.wikipedia.org

Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13

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