When I first saw screen shots of Ninjatown, it didn't look very good. The visuals looked cute and charming, but it didn't look like there was much to gameplay. As it turns out, there isn't. This is a simple tower defense game that's accessable to anyone, regardless of their experience with games, and provided that you like the genre even a little bit, you should have a heck of a time playing Ninjatown.
You control a bunch of ninjas, protecting their town from monsters who have invaded after a volcano erupted. There's not much to the plot, but you're treated to some fun cutscenes and plot developtment scenes with the Ol' Master Ninja. The writing is good, and I found myself laughing a few times when reading what everyone was saying. This is a game made by a gamer, for gamers and not some quick cash-in on the ninja fad that's been going on for a few years.
To play the game, you deploy huts that house different types of ninja. Regular ninja attack at a standard speed and deal standard damage, while Business ninja attack very quickly but don't deal as much damage. You have different kinds of close and long range ninja to use, and as you defeat enemies, cookies (the game's currency) are earned. Cookies are spent to upgrade huts and buy more. Also, as you defeat monsters, your happiness meter increases, and once full enough, you can call on the Ol' Master Ninja to help dish out some damage with a variety of attacks, like his trusty magnifying glass that he uses from a hot air balloon to fry monsters quickly.
Needless to say, the game can get a bit crazy at times. The first couple of levels have you doing standard things, but as you progress, different obstacles and enemy movements come in. Sometimes, monsters will try to get past the gate in boats while you're attacking other monsters on a bridge. So you'll have to use cannons to take them out while paying attention to what's going on elsewhere. Your ninja aren't invincible either- they take damage just like the enemies do. But instead of being defeated, they just rest for a few seconds to recover their HP, but they won't be able to do anything during this time. With the wide variety of ninja types, there's a lot of different ways you can compelte levels, and you'll have to use each type of ninja to complete a level in time. Don't be surprised if you find yourself constantly building and selling huts just to take out one wave of enemies because you bought too many of one type earlier in the mission.
Ninjatown also features a nice multiplayer game. You can both play using one copy of the game, which is how I played. I don't know if things are different if both people have their own games, but if it's the same, then the multiplayer mode leaves a bit to be desired. Don't get me wrong- it's fun since you both play the same level, trying to defeat enemy waves faster than your opponent. But you don't have access to all the ninja classes, and there are only a few levels to play in. It's fun, but I'd never play more than 4 games in one sitting because I'd get tired of seeing the same level and enemies.
Visually, the graphics are very simple and if it weren't for using the stylus to place huts and confirm options, this game could probably have been done on the GameBoy Advance. It still looks good, and there was only a little slowdown here and there. The soundtrack isn't very memorable aside from the main theme, and it seemed like only 5 or 6 tracks were played in the whole game.
For the price, you can do a lot worse than Ninjatown. It deserves all the praise and awards it got, and I'm glad to have played through it. It's definitely one of a kind, and if we're lucky, maybe a console version will come out with more options for multiplayer modes. It's got a good single player mode though, and will take you a couple of hours to get through everything, but probably longer because of trial and error. Give it a shot!Get more detail about Ninjatown.
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