Xbox World has a fine history of duffing up cut-'n'-paste Wii-centric platformers seemingly made to cash in on an endless stream of forgettable CGI animated movies, before being puked onto the 360 with the motion control element stripped out. And every one of them had it coming. But, with an original title like this, we must use stealth...
Yes, we all know it's Hitman 5 that we're waiting for from Io, but we're also in need of a damn good platformer on Xbox, and not only is Mini Ninjas refreshingly free from Happy Meal connotations, it's also packed to the gills with charm. Indeed, Io have created and absolutely captivating world which is a real pleasure to explore.
Mini Ninjas
Official trailer
1:30Launch trailer
Mini Ninjas
Official trailer
1:30Launch trailer
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It's also true, however, that charm can only get you so far. Mini Ninjas is also out on the Wii, but this time you don't miss the Wii-mote quite so much. The real problem here is the staggering lack of ingenuity in the whole idea. Given the chance to create a fresh new gaming world, Io have delivered a very familiar tale of ninjas fighting a magical evil army, like a next gen Mystical Ninja packed with Naruto-esque moves, Sonic-style possessed animal enemies, Tenchu-lite action and a world that closely apes that unusually decent 360 movie tie-in, Kung Fu Panda. Frankly, it's a hugely missed opportunity - when the devs could have established a distinct new gaming franchise.
Crying over spilt milk aside though, Mini Ninjas' occasional flashes of jolly variety - taking control of a variety of cute animals, paddling around in your own hat, fishing for sushi - are very welcome, and the beauty lies in the details. Even the lowliest grunt can parry your sword-swipes and engage you in a decent scrap, and the lushness of the Far Eastern world makes it easy to recommend as a quality bit of inner-child 360 platforming.
Jem Roberts
// Overview
Verdict
A beautiful little game; just a shame that everything is so overly familiar.
Uppers
Charmingly designed world At least it's not Pixar...
I was just gonna say that. Its as if they played the game for 5 mins, made some notes and fired that out as a review. Though it does seem to echo other reviews i've read.
Still i did enjoy the demo so i might just pick this up if i see it on the cheap.
The chingrish that everyone speaks to you in does grate after a while. Decent enough review and its a fun little game from what i've played of it on the wii so far. i'd bump it up to an 8 on the wii simply becasue its more of a technical achievement as it doesn't look much different from the 360 version and it really tight controls.
Monkey, or anyone who has it, how would you rate it in terms of challenge? It looks like great fun and I'm in the mood for a more lighthearted and colourful game, but I don't want it to be like the Lego games where there is no challenge whatsoever.
I never took the opportunity I've had for the last 2 weeks to actually play the demo. Probably would have been a good idea...
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Charmingly designed world
