Ninjatown (Nintendo DS) - Review by jofra01

Introduction

Ninjatown is the latest title from Venan Entertainment that is exclusively for the Nintendo DS. Ninjatown sees you, the player, controlling Ol' Master Ninja in this comical game, through the dialogue of course, trying to defend the town from waves after waves of enemies.

Gameplay

Ninjatown isn't your typical tower defense title as it is one that contains humor while offering a fulfilling rich gameplay experience. Although the game doesn't offer many levels it will have you replaying the same levels over and over again, not because you want to but due to the difficulty causing you to lose constantly.

The gameplay that Ninjatown does offer is quite simple, which may cause it to be overlooked by many gamers, but it is a title that deserves to be noticed by the casual gamer. Each level sees you needing to create buildings that create Ninjas for you, or ones that make the Ninjas improve. Some buildings and Ninjas need to be used within the right environment and only some Ninjas can attack certain enemies.

As players do progress through the game the game will get harder, new enemies will be introduced, new Ninjas join you, new abilities and much more. Due to that fact it does give the player reason to play and continue so that they always have a challenge before them and new Ninjas at their disposal.

Controls

Using the stylus and the D-Pad you must learn the ways of the Ninja. The control setup is quite simple to understand and doesn't require an extensive tutorial for you to memorise everything. The stylus is used to choose where to build certain buildings, where your Ninjas stand their ground and to choose other on screen options. Not once while playing this game did the controls actually mess around on me and it seems like the developers made sure this wouldn't happen for any gamer.

Graphics

Most tower defense games are known for heavily detail environments, soldiers and enemies but Ninjatown is a simple detailed 2D game. Level designs and environments are very simply detailed and are easy to navigate and tell the difference among things. Ninjas and enemies also have been simply detailed in 2D form with Ninjas probably being the least detailed and only being told apart from their different abilities due to their color. Both the Ninjas and enemies have a comical look to them, especially the Ninjas, that makes each of them seem like they have a certain style and attitude.

Sound

Ninjatown doesn't really contain much within the sound and music department, containing only a few background tunes which aren't really noticeable due to the fact the player will be engrossed within the game. Ninjas also produce sound but only when an attack of theirs hit an enemy, which isn't really that exciting.

Dual screen

Use of both screens is done well within this game, the top screen has a map of the whole area that shows you were enemies are, Ninjas, buildings and multiple paths are. The bottom screen of course is where all the Ninja business is at as that is where you set up buildings and Ninjas to combat the enemies.

Final comments

Ninjatown is going to be one of those games that will most likely be overlooked by many gamers due to what it looks like however this is a game that will suit the casual gamer and will offer great gameplay. The game does put a spin on the whole tower defense type gaming adding unique humor but still keeping the real gameplay elements within its place.

Pro: Fulfilling Gameplay, Humor Used Well, Contains Ninjas
Con: To Short, Can Get Difficult
Final score: 8.5

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