Name: Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi
Platform: Sega Genesis / Mega Drive
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Gamepad
Genre: Platformer
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1991
Developer: SEGA
Publisher: SEGA
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
_________________________
REVENGE IN THE BIG APPLE!

Having destroyed the evil Neo Zeed empire, Shinobi (Joe Musashi) was not heard from again. Joe Musashi could now relax as his ninja skills and techniques were not needed. However, one day a school seemed to have been attacked and children were held as hostages. Kato, Joe's former martial arts student, when to investigate and try to help but was almost killed by the ones that over took the school: The Union Lizard.

Joe went to the hospital Kato had been put in, but Kato died before Joe arrived. All that Kato left was his faithful dog, called Yamamoto. Joe swore revenge to Kato's mother and left with Yamamoto to destroy the Union Lizard, which had now taken over almost all of New York and taken many hostages. Shinobi's mission was to rescue them all and destroy Union Lizard.

--From the Genesis Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi instruction manual.

Gameplay:

The gameplay is very similar to previous Shinobi games except with the addition of the dog as a game mechanic. The dog can harass enemies, allowing the player to kill them more easily. Some enemy types are designed in such a way that killing them is extremely difficult without the assistance of the dog. In the arcade version, the player can press down and attack to call the dog. It is not possible to summon the dog while standing up. When the dog is hurt, it shrinks into a puppy, incapable of attacking until the next power-up. In the home versions, the dog is always present, and must be given manual attack orders by holding down the attack button to charge a meter. If the dog is hurt, it automatically heals after a short amount of time.

Bombs (or hostages in the home versions) are scattered across the stage waiting to be disarmed. The goal of each stage is to disarm a certain number of bombs before facing the boss.

The player character's standard weapons are an unlimited supply of throwing stars, along with punches and kicks when attacking at close range. He can also perform "ninja magic," which may be used only once per stage and kills (or damages, in the case of bosses) all enemies on the screen. A single power-up exists, which upgrades the shuriken into energy bolts and changes the close-range attacks to more powerful sword slashes.

The game contains 4 rounds divided into sub sections totaling 15 stages. The Sega Master System port is the shortest game among all versions. Every round has only one regular and one boss stage.

The arcade version of Shadow Dancer featured bonus stages where the PC will go up against a group of ninjas climbing down a building in the style of a first person shooter. The bonus stage is the same on all the ports except for Mega Drive version. In this version, the PC is depicted free-falling between two buildings while enemies wall-jump back and forth between them. The player moves left and right, throwing shuriken to hit the enemies before they jump past the top of the screen. The SMS version has both bonus rounds.

Hints:

- Earning 200,000 points -
To earn 200,000 points when you battle any boss (except Stavros) reduce your foe to within a flame or two of destruction, then stay out of reach until the last ten seconds. At the very last second, use ninja magic to destroy the boss.

- Practice on Any Stage -
Enter the following code at the Title Screen....
A + B + C - Start
A new option should appear allowing you to practice on any level

- Extra Life -
In the bonus round where you have to shoot the ninjas, you can either kill none or all ninjas. This will give you an extra life.

http://www.consoleclassix.com/genesis/shadow_dancer_secret_shinobi.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_Dancer:_The_Secret_of_Shinobi
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/genesis/code/519116.html