Play Order (Release = Chronological)Recommended
0 / 9 playedEvery major Shinobi entry in release order, grouped by era. Start with Art of Vengeance or Revenge of Shinobi.
Arcade and Genesis classics
- 1 Shinobi Arcade debut against the Zeed syndicate.
- 2 Shadow Dancer Arcade 1989; Genesis port subtitled The Secret of Shinobi.
- 3 The Revenge of Shinobi Genesis debut with Yuzo Koshiro soundtrack.
- 4 Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master Joe Musashi's last classic era outing.
Saturn era
- 5 Shinobi Legions Called Shinobi X in Europe and Shin Shinobi Den in Japan.
3D era
- 6 Shinobi PS2 reboot starring Hotsuma; extreme difficulty.
- 7 Nightshade Sequel starring Hibana, first female lead.
- 8 Shinobi Griptonite side-scroller for 3DS.
Modern revival
- 9 Shinobi: Art of Vengeance Lizardcube 2D revival; released August 29, 2025. Start here.
About Shinobi
Shinobi is Sega's ninja action series starring Joe Musashi and his Oboro clan. Release order is the recommended play order. Newcomers should start with Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, the 2025 Lizardcube revival, or The Revenge of Shinobi for the Genesis era.
The list runs from the 1987 arcade original through Art of Vengeance, released August 29, 2025. It covers the Genesis classics, the Saturn entry, the PS2 3D games and the 3DS return. Handheld spinoffs for Game Gear and Master System are excluded.
Good to know
Nightshade launched in Japan in late 2003 as Kunoichi and in the West in 2004; 2003 is used here. The 3DS entry (2011) stars Jiro Musashi, father of Joe. The SEGA Villains Stage DLC for Art of Vengeance launched April 3, 2026 with a free Hardcore Mode update. Some listings show a Switch 2 edition of Art of Vengeance, but Sega's main announcement covered Switch, PlayStation, Xbox and PC.
