Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Game
Game2022
Ganryu 2
Developer Storybird Studio
Play as Miyamoto Musashi in this beautiful 2D platformer and travel through a 17th century fantasy Japan, from north to the island of Ganryu-jima where everything happened between Musashi and Kojiro. The game is inspired by the story of Takezo Musashi from the famous novel “The Stone And The Sword”. From the Steam store page
69 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest Jun 2, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
60
Fresh
38 positive · 25 negative
95% range 48–71%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 38 | 25 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
6 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Mixed
86 of 139 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 69 · most liked firstHow I love when classic titles up to decades get a sequel or a remake, a pleasant surprise for any retro gamer whether you were lucky enough to grow up in that retro era or have the pleasure of playing these retro games in the present, or both! Ganryu is one of those titles that was released just before the turn of the millennium for the Neo Geo MVS. (Later also on the dreamcast) watch my first gameplay of Ganryu 2 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUwv1-g91N0 Most of the gameplay in this…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Review by [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/34633003-Gaming-Masterpieces/lists/] Gaming Masterpieces - The greatest games of all time on Steam. Is this game a masterpiece? No. The game design is 30 years old - a side-scrolling action platformer with dumb enemies that run along their pre-programmed path without noticing you (doesn't apply to all types of enemies). Enemy hordes attacking from the left, right and above. But this is ok, the game is made for fans of such old…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I cannot recommend anyone to play this game in this state. It's filled with bugs and has several broken achievements that have intense requirements such as beating the game without dying. No one can convince me to the statement that this game has been playtested properly before release. I've listed [url=https://steamcommunity.com/app/1856910/discussions/0/3275815819064332651/]bugs that I've encountered while playing and here's…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Walkthrough: https://youtu.be/VmKJspmvQ8s Gameplay: Good Graphics: Good Audio: Decent PC Requirements: Potato Difficulity: Not so easy
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I didn't encounter the bugs that others did, but I still can't recommend this game. The difficulty is just absurd, minimum lives, no continues & you must start from the beginning every. time. Dev knows the game has difficulty spikes but band aids it by hiding extra lives at some spawn points so you can have unlimited retries. Why are SOME sections of the game deemed okay to try over & over (the cart scene) but the rest of the game you don't have enough lives.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really disappointed with how this game turned out. While the game is indeed a fun and a nostalgia trip to platformers of old ala Shinobi. It also has a great artstyle , soundtrack and pretty challenging ride throughout. The only thing I wasn't a fan of was the wall jumping. It honestly felt terrible but this is probably the least of their concerns when the game barely works properly. I'm not joking the game is riddled with bugs which outright hinder your progress, doesn't register your…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I picked up Ganryu 2 on Steam last night on a lark since it was on sale, and surprisingly, it kinda whips? Despite being technically the sequel to a Neo Geo game, it's very obviously a tribute to Shinobi 3. I'll have more to say in a Backloggd review eventually, but absolutely worth $4.49.
unlabelledView post →Old blog post time! Let's look back at Ganryu 2, the unexpected 2022 sequel to the 1999 Visco arcade game. A distinct lack of polish and arduously long levels make this game frequently exhausting and tough to learn, but when it works, it really works!
unlabelledView post →Check out our [url=store.steampowered.com/curator/36364102-Horny-Hentai-Festival/]Steam curator , [url=www.youtube.com/curatorhhf/]YouTube channel and [url=twitter.com/hhfcurator]Twitter! The sequel to Ganryu(武蔵巌流記) released in 1999. Like the prequel, severe and familiar control, nice feelings especially for old arcade pals. Could not re-map the key bindings unfortunately, wait for the update.Fixed.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hitboxes are off, dodging leads you into damage. Guys appear from off screen and damage you. Youre supposed to just spam run and attack. Wall jumping and platforming is finnicky especially with spikes on walls. Some bosses you will dodge but still get hurt. You dont keep life and other pickups. But you only get 3-4 lives to beat the ENTIRE GAME. I get its old school but its just dumb as you replay the same levels, usually die while learning new bosses patterns and die cheap deaths from the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Quick Score: 3/5 Notes: The game is overall decent but has its issues. Would only recommend on a big sale. #1 starting on level 4 your character's sprite just becomes lightly messed up for the rest of the game #2 for some unknown reason sometimes you will just lose the ability to jump, dashing usually fixes the issue #3 bosses are cool in concept but a bit simplistic and easy overall, if their attack cycles were just like 2x as fast it would make them much more interesting. But as it is you…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Decent side scrolling action platformer with ninjas. Continuation of previous game from the arcades. Controls are solid that's all you need to know. Quick slash, dash and throwing darts are available. 5 stages divided into acts with powerful boss at the end. Levels are nicely made with different environments but each holds Japanese style. Visuals have nice retro pixel feel. Music is great. Main con - no visual filters like CRT effect. Difficulty rather high so play at your own risk.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Choke-full of bugs, I cannot believe how many I found playing the game. I completely lost the mood playing the game due to bugs. This game still need a lot of work. Sad because the game could be a lot of fun to play. Anyway before purchasing I strongly advise to read the community page and see you can endure the tons of bugs that the game have to offer. Big no from me for the moment.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game design is good, but there are just bugs in the input handling and/or character state that cause inputs to become unresponsive. So you will occasionally just lose the ability to jump for example. If the developer fixes these bugs, then I would change my review to positive, but until those bugs are fixed, I just can't recommend it. I am not going to go to the trouble of decompiling the code or anything, but if I had to take a guess from seeing the input issues multiple times already, I…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Super fun game, but unfortunetly can't recommend because of a game breaking bug where jumping becomes unresponsive.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I did not play the first Ganryu on Dreamcast, but I guess this game could be nostalgic for the 'older' gamers. This is a styleful 2D platformer with fast action. So it is ideal for speedrunners. This is my gameplay with the first 2 stages and bosses: https://youtu.be/lcP1yyDpprs
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ganryu 2 92% Off (1.2€) on Fanatical (Steam) At this price, it's a great choice if you're into old-school action platformers. 🔗 www.fanatical.com/en/game/ganr...
unlabelledView post →Sometimes the jump button randomly stops working
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game glitches so bad its the only thing that makes it hard. Cannot jump when need to because it will just stop working until you hit the dash button or what the ♥♥♥♥ ever it is... This would be a great game but the dev has their head up their ass.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →mixed reviews largely because of git gud, rather than bugs. Sad to see, but inevitable when you are faithfully recreating a punishing genre of game. If you know your stuff, this is that tall sprite, quick stuff. Precise and challenging. Like back in the day when you didn't just burn through a game in an afternoon and moan online about variation and ng+ You just die, play again. Get literally an inch further, die, play some more. And enjoy it. Before long it won't be possible to do games like…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is a glorious love letter to classics like Ninja Gaiden and Shinobi — written in beautiful calligraphy, folded into a paper shuriken, and then thrown directly at your face. The gameplay is smooth... until it’s not. Let’s talk about the bug. Somewhere in your journey of slicing and dicing, your character will just randomly forget how to jump. That’s right — no jump, no hop, not even a sad little bunny skip. Just dash to fix it! (Until that stops working too, right when you're…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you are a fan of any of the Sega Shinobi games this is totally the game for you!!! I give this one two thumbs way up!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a spirital successor of "Shinobi" game series - gameplay is neat, pixel art is good, boss fights are mostly great... but there's ooone small issue - it's buggy, sometimes buggy as hell due to which the player cannot complete the stage on the first try (for example - you will occasionally just lose the ability to jump). And that's a shame because I was planning to beat the game in second time with zero deaths. I cannot understand why game came out in this state because it does everything…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just starting Ganryu 2 and probably won't get a lot of playtime out of it. Don't get me wrong...the game is actually great. But i got it in a bundle for $1.80. I know i can get my money's worth out of it for that. But $18? No chance. It is good but way overpriced for what it is. So if it is on sale and you enjoy action games like Shinobi or Rolling Thunder...get this!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →From Stage 1-3 the game is just ok, I mean its too simple come to think of it,you might feel like it would be better if the difficulty was a bit higher but after stage 3 from stage 4 I don't know what got the developers, probably the game director switched, from stage 4 the game will force u to memorize the stage obstacles to overcome them. I just simply hate to do so.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is wildly punishing. I know it evokes the feeling of original arcade side-scrollers, but having limited lives, health, and few check points means that you'll be playing the same part of the same level over and over and over. If that isn't for you, you won't enjoy this game. Games have changed over time for a reason. Let me start at Act 2. Let me walk backwards to pick up extra lives before I fight the boss (it won't let you pick them up). The game is mechanically sound (why is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's good but the difficult gets unfair at the last couple of levels, for this reason I abandoned it before finishing it. Also, I experienced the bug affecting the jump multiple times...
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The minecart level is terrible, combat feels like it has no impact, the levels are kinda OK but I guess it's all just about enemy placement memorization. There's no way to turn off the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ screen shake. Who releases a game like this in 2022? Didn't groove with me. I did like and finish the original Shinobis (arcade and Mega Drive) so it's not like I don't enjoy this type of game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →31 year ago I thought: I wish I could choose when Shinobi uses his sword and when he throws his kunais. It took a while, but my wish was fulfilled. This game perfected all aspects that I could imagine in a game this genre. It took me about 13 hours to beat this game. Its is very skill driven and demands good memory!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Lots of games hit you with an old-school aesthetic but this one has a genuinely old-school sensibility, down to expecting you to really practice the stages and beat them as a unit. It is not easy and it's pretty buggy (do not let it go into the ultrawide mode; it is literally impossible to play) but this game is definitely fun.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →🏮 It's weird. A fast-paced action that's a spiritual successor of its little-known arcade original, but heavily inspired by the «SHINOBI» series. It only has five levels (two sections each), but it's no walk in the park — it can be genuinely HARD at times. The problem is that the devs have stopped patching it. People complain about tech and visual bugs, but they don't prevent you from completing the game; the real problem is balance. Lose all your lives and you restart the entire level, which…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm trying to have fun, but I hate the controls. The in-game config greatly limits how you can change them. It can't recognize triggers and it has you assigning buttons to actions instead of actions to buttons. The pause menu also doesn't consistently pause gameplay. It can even still register inputs for gameplay while navigating the menu.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Amazing secuel of Ganryu from the old amazing Neo Geo.. beautifull game, tons of fun!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →best game ever great job...
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Nice looking 2D Pixel art, Ninja Action Platforming like its 1995? What's not to like? Well maybe especially the last stage seems a bit buggy / glitchy. But still a likeable experience.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's now a month since the game has been released. The developer did not manage to integrate an option to switch the language within the game and no way to remap the to buttons on the controller. This is extremely poor and should actually be standard by now. I will change my review once these things have been implemented and I am able to actually play the game how I want it to play.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really like this game. It feels great. Ninjas are cool when they run. However, the keyboard settings cannot be changed. The default key position is anti-human. Please repair it as soon as possible. I really want to have a good experience.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ganryu 2 is a cool throwback to older games like Shinobi and other 2D arcade platformers. It's not a long game, but there's a good amount of variety in stage locales. The definite highlights are of course the boss fights which can be tough at first until you learn their patterns. Very simple controls (used a Xbox One controller) but I definitely feel like the Kami powers were extremely underused simply because you hardly ever get it filled it and when you do it's primarily saved for cheesing…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ganryu 2 is a sequel which has taken 20+ something years to arrive. It's a game which has a fair few flaws with it that stop it from being a GREAT game to just a GOOD one. It takes many inspirations from past Ninja games like Shinobi, Ninja Gaiden and Stryder and whilst it carries over some of the good things of those franchises it also takes with it some of the bad too. The MC handles/controls like the human fridge freezer at times instead of being a nimble warrior. The controls are also…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →HOLY SMOKES! this game is a blast to play there is really no excuse not to buy this game if you're into retro side scrollers because this is an excellent one and it SLAPS! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7fE2gM7r9w - quick gameplay video because I don't want to spoil, first stage completely played, 2nd stage half played. BUY it yourself though great game to vibe out too.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There are a lot of bugs in the game, the developer apparently forgot about its existence, the most empty and uninteresting product.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The menus and such leave a bit to be desired but the game is pure 2D action platforming gold!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ganryu 2 is a Fast Paced 2D Action Platformer about Musashi and built around the famous samurai Takezo Musashi from Japanese Edo Period. The game offers 5 intense stages of platforming and fast paced action where you only have 5 HP points, however there are lots of food items that you can find during the stages to keep you alive till the end of the stage. Each stage is divided into mid stage boss and end of stage boss with each offering a challenging strategy and dodging speed to beat. The…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't usually let mixed reviews on those 2d games influence my decision and I'm usually right. In the past i've found myself enjoying many "mixed reviewed" games - people complained about sluggish controls etc, when it was just part of game design and made the game really enjoyable. i like to master game systems. So when I started playing this game, sure, i died a lot, but i improved and managed to pretty much run through stages that manhandled me earlier. I even thought the game got too…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →No amount of language options will fix the brutal, bug-infested mess that is Stage 5 in its entirety. What a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ending to what otherwise would be an okay game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While intense difficulty in a game can turn me off dedicating the time needed to “git gud” and complete it, there’s one new game that feels difficult, but fair. It punishes me, but I learn and get better with each attempt. I’m talking about ‘Ganryu 2’, from developer Storyboard Studio and publishers Pixel Heart and Just For Games. Ganryu 2, as the name implies, is the sequel to Ganryu (Musashi Ganryuki in Japan) a side-scrolling arcade game loosely based on one of legendary Japanese swordsman…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I think I want a neo geo now.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Finally got around to playing Ganryu 2, ended up beating it. I can't think of the last game I've played where the controls were just that messed up. Phantom inputs, locking the ability to jump until I dash randomly, getting pushed through walls randomly, ability to infinite jump if you are running,
unlabelledView post →I would recommend this game on the condition its on sale. The game has some bugs that start showing up after the halfway point of the game. The jump button just stops working randomly, it might be related to some collision bug or something since I notice it happens usually after I run into certain enemies or a wall. You can fix the problem by dashing but that might not be possible and might lead to your death. The game is not very difficult, its not very easy either. If you are better than I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I got it for like $1. It looks awesome. The character has cool moves. The difficulty is a little unforgiving though, I feel like some QOL improvements would make ths game more enjoyable. You can't save the game after every stage. The minecart level kept going and I am still on level 1 so to get to level 2 I have to play through all of level 1 again, everytime which means this game is going to the backpile and i'll play it when I have a day specifically for Ganryu 2. It's fun to play…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Only played this for a little bit but I'm surprised how good it is. It's similar to Sega's Super Shinobi games. Controls, graphics and sound are really nice. The wall jump is awkward and could need at least some dedicated animations but that's my only complaint. But beware: Once you are out of lifes you are reset to the start of the world (or even the game?). I'm too old for that but I recommend it to Shinobi fans who are fine with this.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A buggy, messy, glitchy game that was developed with passion... alas, passion, in contrast to love, fizzles out eventually, as evidenced in Ganryu 2 - once released, the game saw very little to no support, so the bugs/glitches exist still as of today. Aside from clean-cut, yet bug/glitch-infested gameplay, there is very nice pixel art, some mediocre music, and god-awful story that made me seriously question my purchase as a fan of narrative - it is cheesy, badly-written and cringe-inducing. I…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game, but with broken dash. The gameplay experience is potentially frustrating and only worth the price if it's on sale. Developer probably leaves it that way. Really disappointing. :(
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I absolutely LOVE this game. I can't fault it much, other than it's a serious arcade type challenge without continues. I must admit 1 or 2 continues wouldn't have hurt, but I guess maybe the developers thought that would allow finishing the game too quickly. I mean right now I know the first level back to front, but continues would have allowed me to make my way through say 2 and 3 and learn those and make a 1 life run through the first 3 levels easy, then so on and so on, and I am presuming…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While initially I had a lot of fun with the game it goes sour the more you play. The game ends up having SO many bugs it just kills the experience. What a shame! This game could have been great too! Bugs -Unable to jump sometimes. NOT helpful on a falling stage. only way to "enable" jumping was to do the dash against a wall then wall jump...which does not work on a falling level very well. -wall jumping seemed to not work sometimes -super move would not work on controller, only on…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →https://youtu.be/CymAkYBqvck
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a Great Modern Classic Ninja game. We're able to play slow or speed run. Feels good, Looks good!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →WARNING: there is a very sudden spike in platfroming difficulty in Stage 4. If you're not used to NES era-style platforming-related instant deaths, that stage will become your hell. There is also a bug where you will die instantly if you jump too far beyond the screen's top boundary. Cheetah*cough*! Besides that, this is a very solid arcade-style game, so far, I like it quite a lot. The grapichs are great, and the character controls are good, except for the somewhat fiddly wall jumping.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Never played The Original, but ive played alot of old school side scrollers and this is very much akin to them. As a side scrolling beat em up, 9/10. Only con is Some of the AI is a little cheap, which to be honest is old school in of itself. lol
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fantastic action platformer. Feels like the devs wanted to make a new Shinobi (many nods to the franchise, mostly Shinobi 3), but had to settle for the Ganryu license. Either way, a great sequel to the Neo Geo original and a worthy addition to the long list of 2D ninja action games. Amazing that games like this are still coming out in 2022.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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