Shinobi: Art of Vengeance

Story and setting

Joe Musashi leads the Oboro Clan, a hidden order of shinobi that has protected the world for generations. When the paramilitary ENE Corp attacks Oboro Village, the settlement is burned and much of the clan is turned to stone. Joe sets out to confront Lord Ruse, the ruthless mastermind behind ENE Corp, and dismantle the organisation’s grip on the world.

The story is deliberately direct, providing a revenge-driven framework for the action rather than attempting to become a character-heavy drama. Joe is joined by allies including his dog Yamato, who can grow large enough to carry him, while the journey moves through more than a dozen locations, from Oboro Village and military facilities to neon city streets and a desert.

How it plays

This is a side-view action platformer with a strong hack-and-slash focus. Joe’s katana, kunai, shuriken, Ninjutsu and Ninpo abilities can be combined into long attack strings, with light and heavy strikes feeding into dashes, aerial attacks and executions. Filling an enemy’s Execution Gauge allows Joe to finish them instantly, with multi-enemy executions rewarding careful crowd control with extra health, kunai and gold.

The platforming is more than a straight run from left to right. Stages contain branching routes, hidden rooms, collectibles and challenge Rifts, while new abilities such as a grappling hook and glider open previously inaccessible areas. Amulets alter Joe’s abilities and encourage different approaches to combat. The campaign takes roughly 15 hours for a typical playthrough, with more time available for completionists.

Completing the main story unlocks Arcade Mode, which scores each stage, and Boss Rush, which places the game’s bosses in sequence. The overall experience is closer to a compact action adventure with light exploration than a pure arcade conversion.

Post-launch content and updates

The main post-launch addition is the SEGA Villains Stage DLC, released on 3 April 2026. It adds five crossover stages, six music tracks, three bosses in Goro Majima, Dr Eggman and Death Adder, three extra Ninpo abilities, three outfits and two Boss Rush modes dedicated to the crossover bosses. It is included with the Digital Deluxe Edition and can also be bought separately.

A free update released alongside the DLC added Hardcore Mode, with tougher enemy damage and placement, altered healing and new boss attack patterns. The same update introduced settings for hit stop, hit flash, camera shake and character outlines, plus an improved map display and a menu for revisiting tutorials. Earlier patches fixed a progression-blocking Neo City bug, improved the original Switch version’s resolution and addressed a save-data problem affecting some highly completed save files.

Platforms, editions and UK price

The Switch 2 version is available digitally and physically in the UK from 24 September 2026. Nintendo lists a higher-resolution handheld presentation at 1080p, but neither Nintendo nor SEGA has published a specific Switch 2 frame-rate target or a separate docked-mode resolution specification. Save data can be transferred from the original Switch version to Switch 2, but not back in the opposite direction.

The standard Switch 2 digital edition is £24.99, while the Digital Deluxe Edition is £34.99 and includes the Starter Pack, SEGA Villains Stage, digital art book and soundtrack. The physical Deluxe Edition has a £39.99 UK RRP. The game is also available digitally on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC via Steam. It is a purchase title rather than one currently listed in the UK Game Pass or PlayStation Plus catalogues.

Critical reception

The original release was received warmly. Metacritic records an 87 critic average, while Push Square awarded the PlayStation 5 version 9/10, praising its fluid combat, illustrated art style, secrets and post-game modes. GameSpot also gave it 9/10, highlighting the hand-drawn presentation and deeper modern combat, and Gamereactor UK scored it 9/10.

The main reservations are that some stages can feel too long, certain platforming collisions are occasionally awkward and the straightforward story does not match the quality of the combat or visual design. The Switch 2 version itself has not received the same volume of dedicated reviews, but it contains the same core game and post-launch content with a higher-resolution handheld presentation.