One man’s lifelong quest to defeat a Sega Megadrive videogame - and how it finally was achieved…

This article comes fromDen of Geek UK.

The year was 1994, and the Nintendo v Sega console war was still going strong.

You also mug adorable little sprites and steal their potions, which feels a bit mean in hindsight.

Plus, the awesome soundtrack.

Dear God, the soundtrack.

Not because its a long game, mind.

In fact, a skilled player should be able to crack it within an hour.

The problem is that the game is hard.

Too bad, the boss hit you and you lost a life.

Boo-hoo, into the bottomless pit with you.

Run out of shuriken?

Guess youd better fight that giant ninja one on one then.

Hard as it was, it never felt cheap.

If you lost it was because you messed up, so you swallowed defeat and tried again.

It always found new ways to surprise you.

The key to success was memorising attack patterns and adapting to the level design.

This took some getting used to, and the game gradually increased the difficulty with each new stage.

It never let you get cocky, and made you fight for every victory.

Eventually, my skills improved enough to reach the last level and fight through the labyrinth maze.

Victory was close, I could smell it.

Then the final boss would always,alwayswhip his hair back and forth and dash my triumph.

Again, this was before the internet could provide you with that winning strategy.

Like a brave soldier, Id keep trying, and die again and again and again.

Ultimately, I just stopped trying.

It was time to accept Id never win, and there were other games to play.

Years passed, the Megadrive was set aside and the notion of returning toShinobidisappeared.

Cut to 2016, and the old Megadrive has been sitting in a drawer for a long time.

I replayShinobiand having been spoilt by years of modern games being gentle I get my ass kicked.

Then the old instincts kick in, and once again I sink into the rhythm of it.

I reach the final level, make it through the maze and there he is.

I die a couple of times and then the weirdest thing happens; a clear strategy emerges.

I still expect to lose, but its nice to see Im finally getting somewhere.

Then he explodes, my jaw drops and the realisation hit: I finished it.

After twenty bloody years I actually did it.

It was an odd experience.

Its hardly a life altering feat, but the warm glow of pride still felt nice.

I still have one, very important question: who the hell planted all those bombs in the crates?