His name is a combination of both an archetypical Western first name and Japanese last name, Musashi likely being derived from the legendary Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. The main character of Shinobi (the original Japanese word for " ninja") is most commonly associated with that of Joe Musashi, the protagonist of the original arcade game and many of its sequels. The Shinobi franchise sold more than 4.60 million copies. The series' games are a showcase of Sega's technical accomplishment, noted for their high quality of graphics, gameplay and music, as well as their high level of difficulty.
Along with Alex Kidd and Sonic the Hedgehog, Joe Musashi has long been one of Sega's flagship characters, acting as a mascot for a short time in the late 1980s when ninjas were popular in mainstream media.
The first Shinobi game was released in 1987 for arcades. The ninja ( shinobi) Joe Musashi is the protagonist of the original series of games ( Shinobi to Shinobi III). Shinobi ( 忍 SHINOBI) is a series of hack-and-slash action video games created by Sega. The Nintendo Switch version adds local co-op via split-screen - a nice feature - alongside the online multiplayer, achievements, mirror modes, rewind and save states available in other versions.ĭigital and physical versions of the compilation will be available on launch, set for sometime this winter.The logo from Shinobi (2002) bears the shinobi kanji (in red) that adorns every title in the seriesĪrcade, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, IBM PC, Nintendo Entertainment System, PC Engine, Master System, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Sega Genesis, Mega-Tech, mobile device, Sega Game Gear, Virtual Console, Microsoft Windows, iPhone, Nintendo eShop, Sega Saturn, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo 3DS Surprising no one, Sega will bring its Mega Drive Classics compilation to Nintendo Switch later this year.Īlready available for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, this medley of Mega Drive games features more than 50 titles.