Bonzuko

Team Bonzuko finished playing Mini Ninjas a while ago, but haven’t gotten around to posting our sage opinions on it till now.

In general, Mini Ninjas is a lovely game, with a simple yet pleasing plot, and user-friendly gameplay. I had read a while back that it’s designed mainly as a children’s game, and it’s apparent. But the things that make it kid-friendly are precisely the things that make it a good game for anyone to play. Here are a few reasons why:

1. the cartoon-like art. The characters and sweeping landscapes of different climates are gorgeous–definitely the sort of environment that allows for pausing and enjoying the scenery.
2. the exciting parts. A few white-water ninja-hat-rafting events, a treacherous ninja-hat-sledding bit, the searches for the secret shrines, having to figure out how to defeat the big bosses…all of these are just difficult enough that you get satisfaction from victory, not so hard that it’s frustrating, nor so easy that it’s not an enjoyable brain tease.
3. the cute humor. One of the bosses is a giant samurai that sends deadly farts your way–you have to dodge his gas bombs as you figure out how to defeat him. The many cute animals throughout are delightful, and the sparse dialogue often gives a smile.
4. the combat. This is the big one for us. Sure, you have a sword as main character Hiro (and other weapons as the others, like a hammer, a flute, and a bow-and-arrow), and you do have to hack and slash your way through hordes of tiny samurai, but! you’re not killing them. Nope, you’re freeing woodland creatures from an evil spell. Every time you defeat a samurai, they disappear with a popping sound and become the animal they used to be. This nonviolent approach is revolutionary–you don’t miss out on any of the sweet ninja fight action, but you’re not slaughtering either.

The thing about Mini Ninjas is that it’s got all kinds of real ninja lore as well as action: from tengu mentors to basket-headed priests to walking on strings of red lanterns for sneaking up on enemies, to big bosses that are embodiments of elements. We aren’t sure if anyone who doesn’t know a lot about ninja legends and mythology would dig it as much as we do, so if any of you lovely lurkers fall into that category and play it, let us know what you think.

Team Bonzuko played this game on the Xbox 360, but it’s available on PC and Wii as well.

The Bottom Line: Mini Ninjas (on PC, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii):  **** out of *****