What is a Ninja? For many years the ninja’s story has been told in many ways through many different languages. The fascination with these mystical warriors have amazed people through out the ages, since their first debut in Japan against samurai. They’re complete opposites which make them a far more deadlier foe because of their stealth and knowledge of secret weapons. However there has yet to be a story told of the little ninjas that saved all of nature against the evil demon samurai clans. I present you with this review of Mini Ninjas!
The story follows five kid ninjas, each with a different story lead by their sensei whose task are to save citizens from the Samurai that have invaded their village on a conquest. Now these are not your ordinary samurai; which come in all shapes and sizes on the verge to kicking your butt all the way back to Osaka! Now the question you might ask is “What makes this guy so evil?” Simple he turns animals into these evil samurai that you have to face. You start off the game with Hiro who is the main elite ninja of the story and as you venture off learning your abilities; you gain your comrades on the way. Each will have their special ninjitsu that you will unlock. The other characters are Suzume, Tuto, Kinochi, Shun and Tora. So pretty simple defeat the bad guys and save animals from becoming evil samurai!
Now that the story explanation is out of the way lets kick into the game play aspect! The controls are pretty linear, you can say this is a plat-fomer since you will have to solve puzzles and it has that nice kiddie feeling towards it. You will use your primary attack weapons for each character and a stun move to finish off the adversaries. However, only Hiro can use the ninpo magic to posses other animals and use element magic as well. The interesting part about your magic abilities is the fact they are found through out the game. Use the shrine detection magic to seek out other spells to add to your menu, but you will need a special flower which is usually close by as an offering to the shrine to obtain that magic.
Some wonder about the graphics of the game , I frankly say pictures are worth more then words. The visuals are stunning for this particular game; especially the artistic loading screens. Since this game is rated for all ages it fits the bill. To be honest there are not many decent plat-formers out there for the more “Adult Systems”. This game definitely fitting for the younger audience.
In closing I hardly see anything wrong with the game, to be honest you travel to different areas discovering items and fighting bad guys which some would say is repetitive. But when you think about it, not supposed to be a difficult game to make you frustrated. It is simple, cute, action oriented and of course fun. I have to say Mini Ninja’s will receive 4 ninpo scrolls out of 5. Look out for Mini Ninja’s out now for Xbox360, PS3, Wii and PC.