From playing the new Shinobi 3D and speaking with the game's producer at Sega, it's clear that developer Griptonite Games is looking back more to the Genesis classics than to the PS2 reimagining. I'm a big fan of Griptonite's Spider-Man games on DS, and there are definitely similarities evident in Shinobi 3D. The character moves quickly and animates well, and the side-scrolling levels have a great sense of depth, even before you turn up the 3D slider. However, the producer made it clear that Shinobi will not have the Metroid-style exploration of Griptonite's recent DS games. This is a linear action game, and there should be a lot of it. I played for more than 10 minutes and only cleared about half of a single level; the producer assured me there are "many" levels in the complete game, because they want it to be packed with content.

Shinobi feels great on 3DS because the main character's ninja skills and agility translate into a fun sense of movement. He jumps and double-jumps, sticks to walls, and shoots a grappling hook straight up to climb on ceilings. Combat is very quick, a combination of sword slashes and throwing kunai blades that apparently regenerate after a few seconds. You can also parry with the R button to block (and maybe counter), but enemy attacks are just as fast as yours, so playing defense requires very quick reflexes.

Shinobi 3D isn't the best-looking 3DS game at E3, but it has a nice, cartoony-Japanese art style and fluid animations. A boss battle set in a snow-filled garden looked particularly nice and reminded me of the O-Ren Ishii fight in Kill Bill. There are also horse-riding sections seen from a 45-degree rear view (so you aren't looking straight into the horizon.) These chase sequences could potentially add excitement and variety to a linear ninja-action game, but I had a lot of trouble judging side-to-side depth in this sequence. This may be one of those scenarios where someone thought the 3D display would help, but it really doesn't.

Nevertheless, I was impressed by Shinobi 3D. It looks to be one of the best 2.5D action-platformers on the system. I don't have much nostalgia for the Shinibo series, but this is a fun game with interesting level designs and potentially challenging combat.