These mini ninjas offer a good-sized quest with plenty of exploration and fun in.
- Simple, yet fun combat with six different playable characters
- Plenty of fun exploration
- Charming art style and visuals
- Fantastic battle music and enemy voices
Negative
- Annoying and uncooperative camera especially in combat
- Repetitive combat and sometimes tedious
Mini Ninjas for the Wii is a refreshing, simple but fun game that appeals to just about anyone. To be honest I didn't have high hopes for this one and one of the reasons was because of the fact that it's a multiplatform game. But for me previously like Muramasa and Red Steel 2, Mini Ninjas is extremely fun and addictive that will absorb you throughout an enjoyable quest to rid the world of evil.
After an Evil Samurai Warlord was defeated, and a time of peace followed for more than 300 years and people had long forgotten him. One day suddenly terrible storms and floods and nature disaster struck and the Ninja Master knew something was wrong with the world. The Ninja Master knew nothing what was going on. But after that long period the Warlord returned and is regaining control of his old, now abandoned castles and sending his man hunting and capturing animals that uses forbidden Kuji magic to turn them into his mindless samurai army. The Ninja Master sent his trustworthy students to seek the cause of the storms, but none returned. Until two were left; Hiro the protagonist and his best friend Futo. The Ninja Master was unsure of this decision but these two will be the ones to decide the fate of the world. The story is set in the feudal Japanese era where samurai and ninjas live. The prologue and the backgrounds are interesting but overall the story could use a bit more tuning.
The gameplay adapts well enough to the Wii and is every fun, engaging and a little too simple for hardcore players. The overall combat is very basic, with the B button to attack with no real skill or strategy required to progress through most of the game. There are some really neat ideas which make the game stand out though. First of all, Hiro can also use the Kuji magic which gives him special abilities that you have to find in the game. Abilities include taking possession of an animal's body, detecting Kuji shrines and later in the game even slowing time. Out of the six playable characters, only Hiro can use Kuji magic. But the six characters play very differently. You'll start off with Hiro and Futo but through your epic quest you'll save the other missing ninjas and they will join you. One of them Shun is an archer and can attack from a distance, while Futo uses a hammer to attack. The problem may seem that you can only use a character at a time and not two or three fighting alongside you.
One of the ideas I liked most in the game is that every enemy you defeat transforms back to an animal. There are plenty of enemies to kill and different ones. For example small ones (which are repetitive) can be frogs or rabbits while really big ones are bears or pandas. On top of that the animals are really cute and adorable. If taken possession with Hiro's magic you can still attack the enemies but you only have one life and when you are hit Hiro has to leave the animal's body. Some animals are trapped in cages so you can free them, if you want. If fighting many enemies at ones you'll be seeing plenty of enemies around. Unfortunately they don't help you fight back.
The biggest part of the gameplay is spent exploring the game's big environments. The exploring is always enjoyable and very rarely monotonous. On top of that, most of the extra runs are optional to find the small jizo statues and maybe even the shrines which will unlock extra skills. There is one case where you need to find the shrine to get a particular skill to advance though. The environments vary between forests mostly, a graveyard, even a snowy region. Activities other than fighting consist of swimming or riding on your hat which you have to swing the Nunchuk down to use. Your "hat" (I don't know what it's called) can protect you from archers. The platforming of the game is pretty well done. There is wall hanging, some running across walls ala Prince of Persia style and some minor stealth which is often underused.
Very few bosses (5 of them) are found in the game but all of them are fun and unique. Unlike the common enemies these bosses are huge and have a pattern. Because of the fact that all your characters are mini ninjas you can't rush the boss with brute strength so you have to follow that particular pattern. One defect that repeats itself that in the end the bosses rely a bit too much on quick time button pressing and Wii Remote shaking to deal damage. At first the bosses may seem difficult and brutal but once you get how to deal with them it won't take you more than 5 minutes to finish them off.
Mini Ninjas is generally a positive game with plenty to offer but it is not without its problems. Surprisingly enough though the game's controls are quite good considering that this game is on next-gen platforms and not Wii exclusive. One of the major hindrances is the camera which is difficult to manage in combat mostly. You have a pointer on screen and you point it to the sides and press the '-' button to turn it in the desired direction. The game also has no lock-on function making the point almost total useless since the characters attack in the direction they are facing. The lack of map is not bad allowing some head down exploration which artificially may lengthen the game. It is probably this way on purpose since when pressing the + button the game tells you where you need to go, but it doesn't tell you where the shrines are. One of Hiro's Kuji magic locates the shrines but you need a special flower to unlock the skill.
The game is divided in levels which you are free to explore anytime if you quit the game. States are shown which include how many shrines you found but normally there are one or two sometimes even none in each level, how much coins you found, how many jizo statues you found, flowers found and how many animals you freed from their cages. None of these except the skills obtained from the shrines are important but those who love games which involve exploration will certainly play the game longer than others.
Visually Mini Ninjas looks good for a Wii game. The art style is charming, the animals are cute; well basically the game is cute. It's definitely for everyone since there is no bloodshed or brutal fatalities to enjoy here. The environments are big and fun to explore and there is no repetition whatsoever. The mini ninjas all look good and same goes for the enemies. Enemy variety is slightly repetitive. Another of the game's strength is the sound section. The battle theme will get you pumped up and the sound effect fit the game. There is some mixture of English and Japanese voice acting. Cutscenes have English voice acting but some of the Tengu may include some Japanese words in, just for show. Normal enemies talk in Japanese but their voices are incredibly good and fun to hear, especially when they say "minininin ninja or ninja ninja ninja. It's all good. I just love when they say it.
Mini Ninjas is successfully because despite being a multiplatform game it succeeds. It offers something for everyone but won't appeal to hardcore players which are slightly unfortunate. The combat may be simple, but it is still fun and addictive despite becoming a little tedious towards the end. The multiple difficulties ensure that the game never becomes too difficult but the unique and challenging bosses will block your way if you are taking it too easy. The exploration is very good and the presentation never lets down. Mini Ninjas is highly recommended to those looking for something less gory and more cartoonish, but even those gamers looking for a change of pace. This ninja game is quite good and it won't let you down.
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Graphics = 8.4
Very good for the Wii with plenty of different levels. Cute art style and animals. Enemies may be slightly repetitive but don't mind it.
Sound = 8.7
The battle music is engaging. English voice acting is good but the highlight is definitely the enemies charging towards you. Their voices are funny.
Presentation = 7.5
The only problem is the annoying camera. The controls work just fine and the production values are great. No complains for loadings and cutscenes. Maybe could have been funnier.
Gameplay = 8.3
The combat is easy, repetitive and a little tedious sometimes but overall fun. Six unique playable characters to use against armies of ninjas which turn into cute animals when defeated. Excellent exploration for those people who don't just plague though a game. Fun and big bosses to fight. Hiro's Kuji magic is good stuff.
Story = 7.3
A short game approximately less than 10 hours without exploration and around 12 hours including some good-sized exploration. There is no really reason to play again. Replaying levels is a good idea to increase replay value. Story's prologue is interesting, but the game could have done more to make things interesting.
OVERALL = 80 / 100
These mini ninjas offer a good-sized quest with plenty of exploration and fun in. It's also one of those games which will surprise you with its charm and appeal.