Shinobi holds a special place in my heart. As far as I can remember, it was the first time I was ever able to play as a ninja in the arcade; I thought that a single ninja star could eviscerate a human being. When Shinobi hit the home console, it was the first Sega Master System game that I ever traded for. I can't recall which game I gave up, but I remember thinking that I got the better end of the deal. Eventually, Ninja Gaiden and Tenchu took over my ninja-loving fetish. However, I would always bring up Shinobi in conversation. Now, Sega has ported Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master to the iPhone. It's a smoother game that the original Shinobi, but it's still about seventeen years too old to play. And while Shinobi 3 may not measure up to today's gaming standards, nostalgic fans like myself will still enjoy life as a one-hit kill shuriken throwing ninja.

I had forgotten how lackluster non-RPG stories were back in the 90s. Instead of getting full voicing or cinematics, gamers are stuck with a lot of text to read. Most gamers will click the action button before even reading through the hefty text. In case you don't, here's the setup. Joe Musashi has retired to the mountains as most ninjas do after saving the world. However, no world is ever completely safe. Musashi feels the presence of the Neo Zeed crime syndicate. He thought he defeated them two years ago, but the crime organization has been built up once again under the direction of Shadow Master and wants to take down Musashi's clan. Sadly, he's the last ninja entrusted with the legendary Oboro Ninjitsu magic. So, he springs into action.

Shinobi III is primarily a 2D sidescrolling game, with seven total levels. However, there are moments where you play the game partially on-rails. There are also a few platforming levels to switch up the game's pacing. By default the game gives you fifty shurikens to start off with. This is enough to get you through most boards because you can pick up additional shuriken along the way by breaking boxes. However, if you decide you want more you can always go into the options menu before you begin the game and raise your shuriken tally to seventy. It's one of the more odd options. Typically, you would expect the game to ration out shuriken based on the difficulty setting easy, normal, hard or expert. However, this game puts the on the honor system. You can start off with no shuriken or with any multiple of ten shuriken up to seventy.

Most of the time you'll use your shuriken to take down machine gun toting bad guys, ninjas, mutates and robots. You can also get a power up by picking up the POW items. The shuriken delivers one-hit kills from afar, except for a few two-hit kills that come down the pipe later on in the game. If you move in close, you can save your shuriken and use your sword. There's no way to switch between the two so it all comes down to distance. On the iPhone, the sword looks more like a butter knife so it just feels cooler to go with the shuriken. You can also jump in the air and execute a multi-shuriken barrage from above.

Once you start playing the boss battles, you will notice that the HUD can get really crowded with the A, B and C buttons. Also if you haven't changed your controls, the C button defaults to jump. This button is on the right side of the screen and directly in the middle. It quickly covers up the boss at all times, making you an easy target. So, you'll have to be sure to adjust your buttons and preferably switch your view. Going to the small screen view places the buttons outside of the playable area. Also, your D-Pad won't get in the way as much either.

Some of the platforming and rails portions of the game are tricky, especially on the smaller screen. For starters, you can die between some platforms and not between others. On the second board, you fight while going up an elevator. If you haven't played the game, you will most likely die when the elevator hits the next floor. The question is: how did the elevator get through and not you? Also, riding on surfboards and horses are the more the more painful boards to play through. You have less control of your character and it's hard to get the precision and timing you need on the iPhone. Although, you can only use ninja magic once per board it is still a nice treat. You only get four types: one is a form of invincibility, another creates flame spires on screen, one increases your jump and there's one that lets you give up a life to attack all the enemies on screen at once.

Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master brings home another Sega classic. It's not going to win over any new fans, but old time gamers will certainly shed a tear at this 16-bit classic.

Final Score: B-