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Once upon a time, the place to experience cutting-edge games and mechanics was the arcade. Back when coin-ops were king, the hardware that drove these titles was more powerful than home systems, but they were also backed up by high skill ceilings – an understandable situation, given that the objective of operators was to pull in as much coinage as possible.
The upshot of this difficulty was that dedicated players were able to learn the mechanics and eventually get so good they could 'one credit complete' many games – and, when playing arcade titles today, a big part of the appeal is flexing your skills in a challenging environment.
But what happens when classic arcade properties are updated for modern players – players who weren't even alive when the coin-op era was at its height?
The disconnect that often exists between retro IP and modern sensibilities is the topic of a fresh debate online, with Lizardcube's Shinobi: Art Of Vengeance being at the focus of the conversation.
The source of the contention is an interview with Lizardcube CEO Ben Fiquet on the Iron Lords Podcast last year, a segment of which was included in a superb deep-dive video by SpidersSTG which analyses how tight, arcade-style gameplay which rewards skilful play has been replaced by more accessible mechanics to appeal to a wider audience on home systems.
"I have to remind myself I'm a gamer as well, and I find modern games more appealing," says Fiquet when discussing his studio's approach to updating Shinobi for a new generation of players. "They are better in every aspect than retro games. I have nostalgia; I have very good memories from these games, but they will be better with gameplay from now."
It seems that this comment in particular has ruffled a few feathers – even more so now that it has been resurfaced by popular retro YouTuber St1ka. "I don't understand this hate towards arcade game design," he says on social media. "I LIKE the new Shinobi, but is it so hard to not have contempt for arcade-style game design?"
In the original video, SpidersSTG highlights the issue – Shinobi: Art of Vengeance has a sizeable built-in audience which is expecting tight gameplay in tight spaces, one-hit kills, insane set-pieces – all of the things that made the original Shinobi games so appealing, and mechanics which have evolved over years. Instead, Lizardcube's game offers wide-open environments mixed with Metroidvania-style exploration, a clear (and, you could argue, not unreasonable) attempt to hit as wide an audience as possible.
"We played all the old titles, and we tried to figure out how to make a game out of it, but we didn't like it," says SpidersSTG, paraphrasing Fiquet's comments. "So we're going to make a modern game for modern audiences, and we're going to call it Shinobi."
He adds:
"I can deal with disappointment. It happens all the time. This feels more like a betrayal. There's this opportunity to bring back a kind of gameplay and design ethos like a whole lost language, vocabulary and concepts. And that's not what's happening. What's Shinobi bringing back? 2018 indie Metroidvanias."
I'm a huge Shinobi fan myself, and to me, the series hit its apex with games like the original arcade title, Revenge of Shinobi / Super Shinobi, Shadow Dancer (the Mega Drive version) and Shinobi III / Super Shinobi. I still enjoyed my time with Shinobi: Art of Vengeance – as did many others who played it – but it was clear from the outset that, despite some of the same moves and enemies being present, Lizardcube was taking a very different direction with Joe Musashi's latest adventure.
Was it a bad game? Not in the slightest, I would argue. Did it tick all of the boxes of a great Shinobi game, however? Well, it seems that is a lot less clear – but it's worth pondering if Sega would even have signed off on a title which faithfully reproduced gameplay from the '90s without any modern-day trappings.
Whatever your take on this, it seems that the strategy didn't quite work, as Sega has already said it is disappointed with Shinobi: Art of Vengeance sales. Should Lizardcube have stuck more to the franchise's roots, as it did with the brilliant Wonder Boy: Dragon's Trap and Streets of Rage 4? Or would that have limited the game's appeal to modern players?
Whatever your opinion on this topic, it's clear that when bringing arcade properties back from the dead, there's a dangerous line to tread when it comes to pleasing existing fans and catering to the whims of modern audiences. It will be interesting to see how the upcoming Golden Axe, Streets of Rage and Crazy Taxi reboots pan out, as they will all face a similar challenge.