The Revenge of Shinobi details Joe Mushashi's quest to destroy pop culture icons.

Regional Differences

There are a couple minor differences between regions. Both the Japanese and international versions of the game are stored on the same cartridge, and will change appropriately depending on your console/emulator's region setting.

Title

Japan International

A simple logo change. The game was called The Super Shinobi in Japan and The Revenge of Shinobi internationally.

Staff

A staff roll will appear during the good ending in the Japanese version. They actually sync well with the music, both of which end at the same time. Unfortunately, the credits are omitted from the international version for some reason, jumping straight to the "The End" graphic and cutting the music short.

Revisional Differences

This game went through a ridiculous number of revisions.

ROM header information Revision Domestic title International title Date Product number Region Smash Pack SUPER SHINOBI SUPER SHINOBI 1989.MAR GM 00000000-00 J Rev00 THE SUPER SHINOBI THE REVENGE SHINOBI 1989.SEPT GM 00001105-00 JUE Rev01 THE SUPER SHINOBI THE REVENGE SHINOBI 1989.SEPT GM 00001105-01 JUE Rev02 THE SUPER SHINOBI THE REVENGE SHINOBI 1989.SEPT GM 00001105-02 JUE Rev03 THE SUPER SHINOBI THE REVENGE SHINOBI 1989.SEPT GM 00001105-03 JUE Virtual Console THE SUPER SHINOBI THE REVENGE SHINOBI 1989.SEPT GM 00001105-03 JUE

REV00 was only released in Japan.

REV01 was the first version to be released internationally.

REV02 was also apparently released in Japan, though it had a smaller print run.

REV03 was included in compilations such as the 6-Pak (US).

(US). The version included in Sega Smash Pack for PC is actually a prototype. See the prototype page for more info.





REV00 → REV01

REV00 REV01

The flamethrower enemies, cheekily named "Rocky" in the Japanese manual, were changed from Rambo lookalikes to ordinary bald guys called "Gunners".

REV00 REV01

The boss of Round 6, Metamorpher, takes on two forms: one that resembles Spider-Man, who then transforms into one that resembles Batman. The Spider-Man form was changed to resemble the actual Spider-Man. It's mostly just a palette swap, though the eye parts of the mask were also changed.

He also no longer transforms into the second form, but instead slinks away through the top of the screen when defeated. The second form then flies down from the top of the screen.

According to a 2003 interview with game director Noriyoshi Ohba, Sega had requested Spider-Man be included as a sort of cross-promotion for their arcade game, Spider-Man: The Videogame.

REV00 REV01

The Batman form was changed to resemble the manga character Devilman.

REV00 REV01

His accompanying bats were also redesigned.

REV01 → REV02

REV01 REV02



A new screen was added before the title screen to accommodate the copyright notice for the use of Spider-Man. The copyright notices for Sega and Yuzo Koshiro were also moved from the title screen to this screen.

REV02 → REV03

REV02 REV03

The "TM" on the title screen was removed.

REV02 REV03

The boss of Round 7, Monster G was changed from a Godzilla lookalike to a horrifying skeleton dinosaur with exposed organs.

REV02 REV03

The dinosaur's fire breath was also changed from red to blue.

REV03 → Virtual Console

Presumably due to legal precautions (read; the Stage 6 boss), the game was often held back from being rereleased (in compilations and such) throughout the following decade. That was, until 2009, when the game was finally modified one last time and released on the Wii Virtual Console, which was also the basis for all subsequent rereleases since. See the notes page for the raw patch code.

REV03 Virtual Console

Since Sega's Spider-Man license had long since expired, the copyright notice was removed from the copyright screen, sort of negating the reason for its creation in the first place.

REV03 Virtual Console

The face of Joe Musashi that appears on the original title screen was based on that of actor Sonny Chiba, specifically on his appearance from the Japanese TV series Kage no Gundan. For the Virtual Console release, this was expectedly changed to avoid legal issues. The new likeness itself is that of Tsuyoshi Matsuoka, a director and programmer at M2 who largely handled Virtual Console releases, as revealed on the M2: Complete Works documentary.

REV03 Virtual Console

As you could guess from the copyright change, Spider-Man isn't the real Spider-Man anymore. His palette was changed to a questionable shade of pink, but he still acts the same as before.



