The Revenge of Shinobi/Gameplay

Controls

Genesis	Controls
or	Press left or right to make Joe Musashi walk in either direction.
	Press down to make Joe crouch. Press down in diagonal directions to make Joe crawl to the left or right. While crawling, Joe is lower to the ground, but moves more slowly.
	Press the A button to trigger whichever Ninjitsu ability is highlighted at the top of the screen. You must have Ninjitsu stock available to use.
	Press the B button to execute a regular attack. If no enemy is close by, you will throw one of your shurikens if you still have ammunition available. If an enemy is nearby, you will perform a melee attack. Joe can also attack while crouching.
	Press the C button to jump up into the air. Tap the button to make a short jump. Hold the button down to leap higher up into the air.
+	If you are standing on a ledge that has ground beneath it, hold the down direction while pressing C to drop down to the level below.
	Press jump while in mid-air to perform a somersault. When performed, Joe will bounce higher into the air. There is a very small window of time for the second button press, or the somersault will not execute.
+	If you press the attack button in the middle of a somersault, Joe will throw 10 shurikens in a fan pattern. You must have ten shurikens in ammunition for this move to be performed.
	Press the Start button to pause the game. While the game is paused, press or to highlight one of the four available Ninjitsus. Whichever Ninjitsu is highlighted is the one that will be performed when you press .

Joe Musashi

You play as a Joe Musashi, a ninja master. The evil Neo Zeed organization has destroyed your master's dojo and stolen your girlfriend. Now it's up to you to get her back and save the world from domination at the hands of a ruthless ninja clan.

Joe has a life gauge, which is diminished each time he takes damage from an enemy weapon. It can be replenished by items. Touching an enemy but not a weapon knocks Joe back. If Joe loses his entire life gauge, he loses a life. Extra lives can be found in the rounds and are also given for every 50,000 points accumulated. If he loses all of his lives, the game ends, but it can be continued. The game starts with three continues.

A key move in The Revenge of Shinobi is the somersault, which maximizes Musashi's jumping height and enables him to throw eight shuriken at once in mid-air. Additionally, some stages consist of multiple layers, such as the first scene of the The Military Base and the freeway in Area Code 818. Switching between layer (outdoor/indoor, or on-the-highway/next-to-it) is also done with the somersault move.

The player can choose between four difficulty levels (Easy, Normal, Hard, and Hardest). As difficulty increases, amount of starting lives decreases from 10 to 1. Musashi takes twice as much damage on Hardest. From the options menu, the player can also choose the amount of starting shuriken from 0 to 90 (though there is a trick to enable infinite shurikens).

Ninjutsu techniques

Besides his regular assortment of moves and attacks, Musashi has the ability to perform four special ninjutsu techniques. Only one can be used in each level, unless an additional bonus is picked up or the ninjutsu of Mijin was used to reset your life total.

	Ninjutsu of Ikazuchi (the art of thunder): Joe calls upon Thunder to surround him with its protection. While enveloped in Ikazuchi, Joe will not be injured and his Life Bar won't decrease. After taking several enemy hits, Ikazuchi fades away.
	Ninjutsu of Karyu (the art of fire): Invoke this jitsu to envelop Joe in columns of dragon fire, which then split up and cross the screen, scorching every enemy it touches. Kariu is over when the fire columns disappear.
	Ninjutsu of Fushin (the art of floating): Increase Joe's jumping prowess with this jitsu. When Fushin is cast, his jumps and somersaults have maximum height and distance. Fushin stays with Joe until the scene ends, even if he invokes another jitsu.
	Ninjutsu of Mijin (the art of pulverizing): By invoking Mijin, Joe becomes a human explosion that destroys everything in its blast. Mijin is best used as a desperate last resort, when the life bar is short. Mijin reduces your extra lives by one, so the player must make sure they have at least one other life remaining.