Mini Ninjas for Xbox 360 Reviews by Gamers

The graphics are cute, the fighting is as easy as Fable 2, and, in many ways, equally complex. There's magic, there's varying weapons (projectile and melee), and there are platforming moves like wall running and cliff clinging. The game provides some Zelda-like qualities by allowing you to use your hat as a boat and fish from it. Unlike Zelda, however, the game's story isn't quite as deep and rich as you may like. You are commissioned to rescue six other ninjas who, once found, become playable with their own unique set of skills and movements.

What won't you like? We'll, it's rated E10 for a reason. My young girls love the game, and so might yours, but your older boys may not fiind it as appealing. The controls are not tight as the developers thought using the "a" button to jump and interact with items was a good idea.

Overall, if you like Mario and Zelda, you'll probably like this.

When I think of ninja, I think of stealth. While there is the ability to hide in this game, the vast majority of this game is just going around in the open field and slicing through a bunch of enemy samurai and archers (oooh how I loathe those archers). Misnomer or otherwise though, there is fun to be had in this game.

You start off with one ninja but along the way you find/rescue 4 more to bring your party to five. Sounds nice in theory but for the most part there's no reason to use anyone other than Hiro, whom you start with. The only reason to use the others is for their respective achievements. Hiro's power attack (Y button) far outclasses all of the others', especially once you level up some.

As with any game, this one is not without its faults. The camera for the most part behaves nicely, controlled with the RS. There are some places (namely the second to last level) where the camera can go a bit wonky which can really screw up the platforming. Next, sometimes (namely when trying to jump a gap) it seems like the controls are late to register (and this you plummet to your demise.) The variety of enemies.. well.. there is -no- variety. You'll be fighting the same guys the entire way through.

There are 5 bosses to be dealt with amongst the 20-some-odd levels and all but the last boil down to quick time events. While some of them are... imaginative.. I found myself just not having fun with them. I'll chalk that up to this being E10+ though.

The art is nice but not breathtaking. The story is basically nonexistent. It's your basic "Evil has resurfaced, go vanquish it!" scenario. Why can't evil ever stay dead anyway?

All in all it's a quirky little game that'll keep you well occupied for 15 hours, but is only worth a rental.