The first impressions of Mini Ninjas was pretty good, it seemed like a fun little title with solid gameplay and interesting fighting mechanics. However, sitting down with the final build has changed the perspective a bit. It should be noted that this review has been written by a different editor than the one who wrote the preview. To get started, yes, playing Mini Ninjas can sometimes give me the impression I’m playing a Ninja Gaiden game but there is something awfully wrong with the game that I can’t explain.
Mini Ninjas has a cliche story. Don’t expect anything huge or epic here. When you first start the game, you are given some exposition and back story. Basically an evil samurai was banished 300 years ago and is back for revenge. The samurai committed horrible deeds like throwing off the balance of nature and turning the forest animals into his evil minions. Now the samurai is back and is planning on destroying the world. It’s up to Hiro, the smallest ninja in his village, to rescue his five ninja friends and stop the samurai, thus saving the world.
We just explained you the story and now, it’s time for the HOTS and NOTS of the game. Let’s take a look:
HOT
Presentation… Great Graphics w/ Great Voice Acting
The presentation in this game is phenomenal. The character animations and backgrounds are top notch and look incredible on an HD display. Characters are clearly detailed and cutscenes feel more like a cartoon than a video game. The sound effects and voice acting are also well done, and fit the game just as much as the graphics.
Ninja Skills are awesome
There are a decent amount of skills and Kuju magic that can be learned throughout the game. To attain new skills you have to seek out hidden shrines. The shrines are scattered throughout the world, so finding them is a nice challenge in itself. One skill that I loved was being able to tranfer Hiro’s soul into an animal, sneak up on the enemies, and launch a full on surprise attack.
Up to Five Characters can be used
Your quest to find the five missing Ninjas is one of the main objectives. Each character you find will join you and become playable Each of them has their own unique abilities such as using two weapons or attacking long range using a bow. This is really helpful when it comes to taking down certain enemies that Hiro cannot defeat.
NOT
Repetitive Gameplay
Yes, Mini Ninjas does control similarly to Ninja Gaiden, but that’s about where the resemblance ends. The gameplay here just feels annoying, unlike Ninja Gaiden. With Ninja Gaiden, you get a nice amount of moves and combos that keep you engaged and in the game. Mini Ninjas however suffers from one button syndrome, meaning you’ll mostly be spamming the same moves over and over.
Same enemies throughout the game
From start to finish, the enemies you’ll be fighting are all samurai. It gets boring seeing and fighting the same guys over and over again. Sure they can sometimes are bigger, wearing red armor, or have a spear but the point is, you will fight the same type of enemies again and eventually you’ll get sick of it.
Easy Boss Fights… No Challenge at all
This game is not for hardcore gamers. By the difficulty, it’s clear this is meant to be a more casual game. The boss fights are very linear and easy to beat. Each boss has a pattern, the hardest part is figuring out what that is, once you do you can pretty much take them down with very little effort. At times you’ll have to do a QTE(Quick Timing Event) but these are few and far between, and don’t offer much more challenge than any other fight.
Boring Story
Evil Demon up to destroy the world and its up to the little hero that no one expected to stop him and save the world. Point is, this story won’t be winning any awards for it’s originality
VERDICT
MINI Ninjas is not for the hardcore gamer. After only a few hours I was bored and looking for something else to play. Do not expect a deep Ninja action in this game but rather expect a fun and easy Ninja adventure. If you are a looking for a refreshing game and a break from being too serious in gaming, Mini Ninjas is one of the games that will give you that break but beware of its repetitive gameplay!
Mini Ninjas is available for the XBOX 360, Playstation 3, and Nintendo Wii. Completed under 10 hours.
Awwwww, very disappointed to hear that. This has been on my radar for a while – but I’m still willing to give it a rental. It may end up appealing to the child in me.