The One Sega Genesis Game Everyone Should Play At Least Once

As someone who has been playing video games for 35 years, I love talking about the games I enjoyed the most. One of them was Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master. The hack-and-slash platform game, which was released in July 1993, is one that everyone should play at least once. The Shinobi series dates back to 1987, with the first game, Shinobi, released on November 16 of that year. Fun fact: this came out three days after I was born. As of August 2025, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is the thirteenth game in the series, released for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. In this story, however, I'll be solely focusing on Shinobi III and the things I liked and disliked the most about it. Out of respect for my readers and subscribers, I won't spoil the ending. I'll only say this: it's going to leave you in awe.

In this game, you play as protagonist Joe Musashi, as Neo Zeed threatens to destroy the world for the second time. I'll be discussing some of my favorite levels, my most disliked levels, and stick around at the end of this story where I share one major thing that I liked about this game in general.

So, here are the levels that I liked...

Round 4-1: Destruction

I've always dubbed the beginning of this round as "The Surfing Level" and the music in it was something you can jam to. This is my overall favorite level of the game.

Round 2-1: Secret Entry

Seen above is the beginning of Round 2, where Joe Musashi is on a horse, where he has to destroy kite-riding green shinobi, jump over spike barricades (indicated by an exclamation mark), and utilize the horse's dive kick to defeat the yellow shinobi mini-boss.

The yellow shinobi mini boss was a pain and a headache for me. It's difficult to see but he's the enemy on the far right.

Round 3-3: Body Weapon

This grotesque creature, which scared the ever-loving shit out of me as a kid, is named Hydra. This hideous monster comes from the background and appears in front of you. Aim for his eyes. Every time you inflict damage towards him, he'll pull out his hand, which you can avoid by jumping out of the way. He'll shoot three projectiles as he gets closer. Then, he'll charge and shoot a laser at you. You can avoid it by either jumping out of the way or ducking. Once you inflict a lot of damage towards Hydra, he'll retreat back into the ground.

I have one level that I despised the most and considered it the most frustrating of the entire game. Before I do, be sure to like this story when you're done reading it, subscribe to my page, and follow me on my social media pages. Finally, please consider sending me a one-off tip, which you can find at the end of this story. No matter how big or small they are, they'll encourage creators like me to continue writing and publishing new stories to you.

Round 6-1: Traps

This is the beginning of Round 6 and it was the most frustrating level of them all. I couldn't get past this part for 27 years until 2020. During the global pandemic, I played this game on my Sega Genesis Mini. The main reason why I couldn't get past this level was because I didn't know how to jump and roll on one descending rock to another. Eventually, I figured it out and reached the boss for the very first time. Speaking of that boss...

This boss is named Karura, which I have faced for the very first time. Here are some steps on how you defeat her:

1. Disrupt Her Spin: When Karura performs her feather blade spin, throw a shuriken to interrupt the sequence.
2. Attack with Power-Up: While the power-up is active, immediately follow up with a running slash until she starts her spin again.
3. Duck Her Ranged Attacks: When Karura attacks from a distance, duck to avoid damage.
4. Repeat: Continue this pattern of disrupting her spin, attacking, and ducking to defeat her.

Once I defeated her, I felt a sense of relief and knocked an item off my gaming bucket list.

Reference: How to Defeat Karura

One final thing I wanted to talk about is the one thing I enjoyed the most about this game. It's the music. In the comments section of a gameplay I've watched on YouTube, many people expressed that this game had the best music and should've won an award for it. Speaking of the music, the composers who should be recognized for it are Hirofumi Murasaki , Morihiko Akiyama, and Masayuki Nagao. While the number of copies of Shinobi III was never made public, the Shinobi franchise has sold over 4.6 million copies worldwide.

I would highly recommend this game to everyone. Some levels may be difficult, but once you try them a few times, you'll enjoy this game over time.

Shinobi III OST Playlist