As a hardcore gamer, I seek out new,
original and unorthodox games. But one man cannot play everything. Over the
years, there have been games that escaped me. Whether it was a lack of
promotion, unexciting screenshots or some other reason doesn’t matter – some
good games just don’t get played.
But as a journalist there have been
a few fortunate moments where those inconspicuous games made their way to my
consoles. Last year that game was Odin Sphere, an action-packed PS2 masterpiece
I had never heard of until it was time to cover it for GameZone. This year that
game is Ninjatown, a quirky, visually-happy strategy game (made exclusively for
the Nintendo DS) whose screenshots do not convey one ounce of what it has to
offer. Ninjatown is risky, challenging and played in real-time – and is very
rewarding as a result.
Fortress Constructor
Real-time strategy games tend to
focus on the control of individual units. Ninjatown centers on the creation and
management (not micromanagement) of ninja buildings. At just 1/6 the size of the
bottom screen, these buildings are fairly small and may be built anywhere that a
light green square (a specific area on the grass) appears. Each building
contains two ninjas, both of which will stand outside the building after its
construction is complete.
These ninjas cannot be controlled
directly by the player. You can’t tap one, select it, and tell it where to go.
Instead, these ninjas have a set area that they can move around (not far from
their buildings), and will move on their own when an enemy approaches. There are
a couple of attack settings – you may choose to have your ninjas attack the
closest or strongest enemy. Once special powers are gained, you may also tap
ninjas to increase their speed temporarily. Other powers include one-hit kills
(on the bottom screen, tap as many enemies as possible before the time runs
out), an enemy-burning magnifying glass, and the ability to stun enemies
temporarily by blowing into the microphone.
Regardless of these powers, ninjas
still attack primarily on their own.
The Colors of a Ninja
Ninjatown is entertaining – and
achieves a high level of addiction – by engaging the player in the aspect of
building ninja structures. This feature is amazingly deep, not only by the ninja
diversity (each building type breeds a different kind of ninja) but by the enemy
variety, which will affect every decision you make.
Wee Ninjas, the most basic type in
the game, are black suit-wearing hand-to-hand battlers that are good in the
beginning but won’t get you very far. The orange Anti Ninjas, however, are a bit
stronger, making them the ideal choice for many of the game’s battles.
However, that statement assumes
you’re fighting an average group of monsters. Flying monsters tend to be weaker
but also move much faster and may be too quick for a Wee or Anti Ninja to catch.
White Ninjas can temporarily slow down enemies by throwing snowballs that freeze
on impact. But the Sniper Ninja is far more effective, as their Wasabi Pea
Shooter (a powerful slingshot) allows them to attack aerial monsters with great
strength.
Then there are the Forest Ninjas,
who attack ground and aerial enemies with equal power. You’ll also build huts
for Business Ninjas, who are hyped up on caffeine and move faster (but attack
with less force) than Anti Ninjas. These are particularly useful for attacking
caffeinated opponents, who are likely to slip past a standard assault.
Mountain Ninjas are the only ninjas
who fight solo. Their immense strength makes them ideal attackers but with only
one ninja per mountain structure, it’s not wise to place them in areas with
heavy enemy traffic.
Lastly, the Lava Ninjas throw
fireballs to inflict heavy damage on both ground and aerial enemies. They are
extremely powerful attackers with only one drawback: one Lava Ninja structure
costs 80 cookies, compared to just 40 cookies for a Wee Ninja and 50 cookies for
an Anti Ninja.
Danger! Attack!
The need for multiple ninja types
comes from the differing enemies. As previously mentioned, if you don’t build
enough (or any) anti-air ninjas, you could be in a lot of trouble if the game
starts sending in a bunch of aerial monsters. Though you need to fight as many
monsters as possible, their destruction isn’t your number-one goal. Ninjas are
here to defend their land. The exact goal changes from mission to mission –
sometimes you need to prevent a certain number of enemies from escaping, other
times you’ll need to stop a bridge or building from being destroyed. In any
case, ninja structures must be built with the proper order and variety needed to
survive any oncoming assault.
That brings about one more
challenge: cookies (Ninjatown’s currency). Only a few cookies are offered at the
beginning of each mission, and you don’t earn much for destroying enemies.
Furthermore, all ninja buildings can be upgraded to increase the power of its
ninjas. That too cuts into your money. You can also purchase special buildings
that increase your ninjas’ strength, attack range, cookie awards for defeating
enemies, or one that provides some other bonus. However, doing so at the wrong
time may prevent you from purchasing ninja structures that are vital to the
outcome of the game.
Thus, you’ll have to work hard to
balance each aspect of Ninjatown. Without being able to direct your ninjas
manually, and without being able to move ninjas outside of their structure’s
range, Ninjatown can be a very frantic experience.
When It’s Over
After finishing the 18th and final
stage, you will likely feel the way I do right now and wish there were more
missions to unlock. With an average completion time of 10 – 15 minutes (tack on
another 10 – 30 minutes if you expect to achieve a perfect score in any of the
stages), Ninjatown isn’t a short game, but it isn’t a long one either. You will
scream at your DS and look for things to throw at the wall whenever a mission
goes sour.
But when the adventure comes to a
close, you’ll be angry in a whole other way. Ninjatown is an incredible strategy
game, one whose unique and addictive gameplay cannot be found every year, and
certainly not on every platform. No matter how frustrated you get trying to beat
the more difficult stages, this is not a game you’ll want to see end.
There are a few moments of
imperfection, like the way ninjas occasionally wait too long to attack or walk
out of their way before doing so, preventing an attack altogether. The power-up
system – which rewards players with items that can stun, damage or slow down
enemies, among other things – is a little annoying. While the power-ups
themselves are great, some stages practically require you to use them in order
to achieve a perfect score. If your inventory has run dry, the only way to
acquire new power-ups is to re-play old missions. That’s not a horrible curse –
Ninjatown’s replay value is very high. But it’s still annoying.
And yet, in spite of that, I’m still
aching for more. In the long term, the multiplayer mode (offering single and
multi-card play) should help ease some of the pain, but only after I can find
someone who can keep up with my mad ninja skills.
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Gameplay: 9.0
An impeccably refined and well-executed strategy game that differs from the
usual handheld offerings. Be warned: you will hate it when the game ends.
Graphics: 6.0
The simple visuals work well in Ninjatown, but that doesn’t make them at all
impressive.
Sound: 7.0
Quirky and distinctly Ninjatown. These sounds will stay with you, and will
likely be reiterated in a Ninjatown sequel (just as other classic games create a
distinct sound that stays with the series for many years to come).
Difficulty: Medium/Hard
If you’re the cursing type, you might want to start a curse jar. It should
have enough money in it to buy a new car (or at least a new game) by the time
you’ve achieved a perfect score in every stage.
Concept: 9
Ninjatown is one of those instant classics to which words alone cannot do
justice. If you love strategy games, forget about everything else and just
play it.
Multiplayer: 8.0
Single- and multi-card play are offered, with more levels being given to the
latter. Thus, you’d be wise to pass this review around and encourage your
friends to add this game to their collections.
Overall: 9.0
A must-have for strategy game fans everywhere.
