Those of us who are old pensioners, who love nothing more than boring today's youth with nostalgic stories of yonder years, will recall that Shinobi was something of an awesome Megadrive game. As has become fashionable in film, TV and now gaming, retro hits are being reinvented for the new millennium and Sega's classic hits the PS2 with mixed results.

Our story begins when good friends Hotsuma and Moritsune must engage in the senseless ritual for leadership of the Oboro clan by fighting to the death. Hotsuma wins and claims leadership for four peaceful years. However, a massive earthquake brings Tokyo to its knees and wipes out the entire clan. At the centre of the disturbance a mysterious tower appears, from which an ancient sorcerer is sending out all manner of minions in an attempt to take over the world. Against this bizarre backdrop, Hotsuma sets out to avenge the death of his clan and kick some ancient sorcerer butt. This unimaginative storyline is little more than an excuse for all manner of speedy ninja slaughter and although the cut scenes are very nicely animated, many of them fully rendered rather than using the game engine, the characters are as dull as the story.

With no training level we dive straight into the action in the middle of Tokyo as Hotsuma runs through the streets, slaughtering the masked ninja warriors that appear at every turn. The first couple of levels are not at all challenging and although they're a gentle introduction to the game they mislead you to think that the action is pedestrian all the way through, which it is not - come level 3 you will be struggling to defeat some of the enemies without some thought, strategy and skill and I imagine you'll die a few times in the process, as I did.

Fortunately, Hotsuma's rather limited range of moves is very satisfying to use and the quick paced nature of the action coupled with several nifty features makes the game quite enjoyable, at least in short bursts. You have a sword that you can swing around at your enemies with one combination available but a good lock-on system allows you to attack enemies in any direction. You have a stealth dash where you disappear from sight almost entirely and a hazy blue shadow zooms around - this is an essential technique that allows you to whiz around opponents that are blocking you and slash them from behind before they know what's happening. You can also pick up Shuriken and throw them at opponents - these both damage and stun and so are best used to stun the tougher enemies and then combo attack them before they can get a hit in. They're also great for knocking flying opponents, such as the bizarre and annoying hellspawn, out of the sky. Finally is your ability to stick to and run along walls in a gravity-defying manoeuvre and a good double jump. By using these various abilities, you will find yourself leaping onto walls, running along them then launching off with a sword attack and stealth dashing around all over the place. This makes for very fast-paced action - but it also makes for repetition.

Indeed, it is repetition that kills any potential for greatness this game had and leaves it as a very short-lived experience. There are only 8 levels, each split into two parts and whilst the locations do get more interesting as the game progresses, the scenery in each level is very, very samey. The first level on the city rooftops is dark and dull, the next one in the grounds of your clan temple is almost as dull and the third level in the subway passages is dull beyond belief. The textures are not particularly detailed and the colour palette is washed out and limited, making for some of the most boring level locations I've seen in a while. The enemies, which do get tougher as the game goes on, are also not particularly exciting. They are mostly a mixture of normal ninja warriors and dogs at first, with the odd big warrior thrown in for good measure plus the weird flying hellspawn and some spiders. Again, this makes for a fairly mundane first couple of hours gameplay in these earlier levels. Although things do become more challenging and slightly more imaginative in the later levels, it's not quite enough to really hold your attention and so this becomes a game that is best played in short bursts. Even so, you're looking at 10 hours tops to finish it.

The boss encounters are also quite generic and unimaginative - they are not particularly difficult to defeat until you get to an old guy with a pack of dogs who can regenerate his health and is extremely tough to kill but in a very frustrating way. You must focus your attention on him but the dogs constantly tear at you, lowering your health. Also if you don't kill some dogs your sword will begin to sap your strength, as it feeds on the souls of its victims and if it runs out of souls it starts eating you. So whilst you're trying to kill the very annoying dogs, the old codger can regenerate his health all the way back to full. Like I said, very frustrating. I got through it in the end but I was ready to put my foot through the screen by the time I did.

Coming back to the soul-eating sword, this is a nice touch as it forces you to keep moving and keeps the pace fast throughout each level. It also encourages you to fight strategically, because you will be attacked by groups of enemies that spawn into the level, generally between 4 to 6 at a time and if you kill them all within a certain time limit you get a Tate (pronounced ta-tay) and the action freezes as you watch all the enemies, who were frozen after your death blow, literally fall to pieces. The graphics are quite gory in this respect and it is very satisfying to watch the ninjas and dogs slide into two bloodied halves and topple to the ground. Hotsuma's animation is also excellent, especially his very long red scarf that snakes around behind him, it's a beautifully fluid animation and a lovely touch. The other graphical highlights are some of the bigger, more creative bosses, such as the massive tiger/spider hybrid you face in the subway and your Ninjitsu attacks look awesome - including the flaming Kaen attack, which is basically a smart bomb and the Kamaitachi lightning storm that rains death down on your foes.

These graphical touches aren't enough to save this from still looking fairly samey though and the average sound effects and fairly standard (although often fitting) arcade style music does not help to give the game much presence or atmosphere. There are a few secrets to find here and there but they often involve tricky jumps and a fall to your death (or being killed by your enemies for that matter) will result in going right back to the start of the level, which is extremely frustrating and at least one midway checkpoint would have made this a lot less annoying.

Despite a couple of flaws and a general lack of imagination and variety, Shinobi still manages to be good fun to play with fast-paced hack and slash combat, even if the experience is ultimately short-lived. However, it lacks the personality and style of The Mark of Kri, the challenge and freedom of Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven, the scale and depth of Primal or the coolness and intensity of Devil May Cry 2. It's a good enough game but there are many better ones around (such as the four I've just mentioned) and they demand your attention more than this does. Still, if this style of gameplay appeals I'm sure you'll enjoy it while it lasts.

Reviewed by Geoff Holland for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).