Aren’t ninjas normally quite small anyway?

As you may have seen, Lorna and I got some time with the Mini Ninja’s demo pods at Edinburgh Interactive a few weeks ago. Since then I’ve had the chance to delve a bit deeper into the world of Hiro and his friends and what I have found is a game that could be one of many things depending on how you play it.

On the surface you have an action game with quick and easy combat, handing you point to point missions that you can follow through to completion. Look a little deeper and there is the addition of different spells and equipment that will heavily change how the combat and exploration gameplay work. Then you have your steadily growing team of pals, you’ll start as the classic (but cute) ninja Hiro but as the game progresses you will find and rescue more additions to your team. They all follow typical video game archetypes whose intended uses are more than evident from their appearance.

However, fun adventuring combat aside, where I really think Mini Ninjas will find its hardcore audience is within one of two groups. Firstly kids will adore this game. It’s bright and beautiful, the running jumping gameplay is instantly rewarding while still forgiving of mis-timed jumps. Also you can become a bear (or just about any other animal you can find) and in the words of Ready Up Junior Max that is ‘Really Awesome’, as is Hiro’s time stopping Power Attack. The second group who will find themselves still playing at 4am are the obsessive collecting gamers. There are tonnes of collectables in this game, all kinds of things that have all kinds of uses. All the flowers, mushrooms, scrolls, potions, hats and totem dealies you could ever want or need.

Presentation wise the game, even in its unfinished state, is quite a joy. Everything is clean and cartoony, bright and pretty. Sound effects and music backup the visuals perfectly and to top it off we have some enjoyable voice acting.

I think Mini Ninjas will entertain different people in different ways but it should most definitely not be overlooked as just a kids’ game.

Keep an eye out for our review of the final game next week!