The platformer genre has become overcrowded in recent years. Games like Spyro, Jak, Sonic, Ratchet and Mario all race for the coveted crown that will name them the supreme ruler of platformers. Because of all this high profile attention, it’s harder for the smaller and less exposed projects to be noticed when it’s their time to shine. I-Ninja is the perfect example of a charming game that may not get the praise it deserves. While it doesn’t do anything terribly innovative or different, it manages to be a solid and fun game that will keep most fans of platform games happy until their mascots release their next big blockbuster. Namco aimed high with I-Ninja by showing it as the numerous game expos that have littered the past year. This exposure has given the game much needed attention that will most likely gather a larger crowd. The main character of the game shows a lot of potential for future projects, if possible sequels manage to improve upon the small problems that faced this game. Its fun and action packed, but fails on a few elements that have become very important with games as of late.

 

The story is fairly simple as with most platformers. You play a Ninja who has accidentally killed his master (accidentally?) due to an uncontrollable power. So you spend most of the game taking hints from your ghostly teacher and uncovering the evil plans of the villain. That’s as much story as you will get from I-Ninja as this game is all about the gameplay. You will travel to different worlds completing tasks that allow you to reach boss battles and rise in the Ninja ranks. Whenever you reach a different belt color, your sword magically transforms into a much more powerful weapon, allowing you to dispose of more difficult enemies. The levels themselves are fairly straightforward, although none of them play out the same. One level may be a straight up action bash that has you chopping up Ninja baddies from point A to B, while another level may have you riding on top of an explosive barrel so that you can reach a locked cage. Some levels place you into mini games that will test your shooting or dodging skills. I found most of these mini games to pull me too far away from the action. The most engaging aspect of I-Ninja is the combat, and to be placed in these sometimes mundane mini games is a bit off the wall. The boss battle mini games however, are very fun and challenging. They are a true test of reflexes and attention. As I said before, the combat in I-Ninja is simply the best part. Throughout the levels you will see a red “spawn” ball that launches a horde of evil Ninjas at you, so that they meet the mercy (or lack thereof) your sword has to offer. While there are fairly limited combos and choices for battle strategies, the simple hack and slash mechanics proved to be effective. The action is fast and furious and you can even take on more than one enemy at once by using a spin or backward slash. This leads us to the main characters many abilities. He can spin, chop enemies in half and toss deadly shurikens. The shurikens are more of a novelty than a useful ability. They don’t do much damage, but they are fun to toss around and to create havoc with. There are another three abilities that are used quite frequently later in the game and were more useful than I would have imagined. The darts are used later on to start puzzles, open doors and shoot down aerial enemies, while the sword chopper is to glide over the larger gaps found in later levels. Then there is the chain linking and grinding. I really hated them towards the beginning, but they became much more intuitive to use later on. You basically run down a ramp and when a sound signals, you press the R button to launch out your chain and your ride along the spiraling tracks avoiding a red energy ball from behind (what?). Another fun portion of the game is when you go up against the stronger Ninjas. You are launched into the air and initiate a dragon ball Z style aerial battle. It’s simple, and far too easy, but they are still fun nonetheless. The game also features some neat puzzles like rolling a ball (super monkey style) to a checkpoint or as I stated before, rolling on tops of barrels or other objects. These help with breaking up the action far better than the sometimes annoying minigame missions. I-Ninja will take most gamers only a weekend to finish, but those who like aiming for high scores, will love the challenge that shooting for a higher score brings. The only significant problem with the gameplay I found would be pacing. The game uses a fairly straightforward path of progression. From action to a puzzle, to more action, so on and so forth. Some of the puzzle sequences can be unnecessarily hard or confusing, sometimes even frustrating. That is an area of the level design that could use some work next time around, but overall this is a fun action romp that is really worth a decent look.

 

Graphically, I-Ninja is fairly simple. Its environments are colorful, confined and don’t try too hard to impress. The game has a very artsy feel to it, reminiscent of the classic Goemon games of the generation gone by. The fluid particle effects and animation are clearly worth noting as they stand out in the sometimes typical landscapes. The only problem with I-Ninja in this area would be its sometimes inconsistent framerate. The game is clearly not doing anything the GameCube can’t handle, but the speed can dip down and effect the pacing of an overall fast paced game. I found the music to be quite upbeat and refreshing, yet the tracks did become repetitive as time went by. The music reflects the style of the games locales and visuals perfectly as do the sound effects. You will hear many Ninja cries and howls along with fairly realistic sword clashing. I feel that the game did take a hit in the voice acting department. They tried just a little too hard to express the upbeat nature of the game, and most of the characters came off as being too goofy including the main character. For a game that’s all about action and adventure, these two aspects of the game held up surprisingly well.

 

Namco has made an admirable effort with releasing I-Ninja. It’s fast, fun and harkens back to the simpler days of hack and slash action. If it had been a little longer and more properly paced, it would have been one of this years top contenders for the platform crown, but it falls just a tad bit short of glory. For all intents and purposes, I enjoyed I-Ninja and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a good time. I-Ninja delivers on many levels and if it is pursued as a franchise, I can only hope that it gets better and better from here.