PlayStation 2

I-Ninja

Namco is on a roll with more quality releases in the past few months than most companies see in an entire year. I-Ninja is their latest multi-platform offering and introduces what might quickly become their biggest and most loveable corporate mascot since Pac-Man.

Here's a question for you, who carries a sword and chops up the bad guys, can run up walls and swing across ledges, moves like lightning with little sound.......and is only 2 feet tall? I-Ninja!! He's quick, he's strong, and the little girls on the playground think he's just the cutest little thing. Ok, I'm embarrassing him a little now. Let's talk about the world of I-Ninja and just why Namco developed a video game about him. But I would love to know why they named him "I-Ninja". Well, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that Namco has put together a really good new action platformer that is fun, and a little bit on the innovative side. Let's grab our throwing stars and enter the land of the mini-ninja.

I-Ninja, Think Different Namco's slightly heralded hero has reached gamers in time for the holiday season with not much fanfare, but perhaps this game can accrue cult status if not the joys of a sleepy hit. In I-Ninja, you take on the role of the angriest ninja ever. Along the way you will battle inside a fifty foot robot, slay a robotic fish inside a giant bomb and even find yourself on the moon all while unleashing your ninja rage upon the menacing O-Dor's army of Ranx robots. I had always perceived ninjas as being cunning and calm, coolly maneuvering in the shadows to dispatch foes with silently efficient strikes. I was wrong.

Sure, many of I-Ninja's elements have been used before (Prince Of Persia's wall-scurrying springs immediately to mind), but Argonaut have cleverly glued everything together into a package that feels fresh. It mightn't be everyone's idea of ninja cool, but there's already a warm place for it in our affections. Top stuff.

Does anyone else remember when games featured basically the same kind of action for the entirety of their playtime? I'm exaggerating slightly, but my last few reviews have all involved rapidly-switching gameplay dynamics, or minigames that kick in at the drop of a hat, and I'm a little woozy. I-Ninja is the case in point.

NINJA GAMES HAVE COME back into vogue recently. Titles such as Shinobi have shown that the ninja, with their almost super-human abilities, fit well in a gaming environment. Argonaut Games, previously working on such games as the Croc series for PlayStation, have seen this and combined the more traditional ninja with a platforming mascot to create I-Ninja.

Just two years ago, Namco was the kind of company you could totally predict. It brought gamers three kinds of games, racing (Ridge Racer), fighting (Tekken and Soul Blade) and arcade flight games (Ace Combat) -- with rare sprinklings of Klonoa and Tales of Destiny thrown in for good measure. If you had taken a two-year sabbatical and returned to look at Namco's lineup this year, you might find yourself a little shocked.

He looks like a large, round-headed Lego character, but you don’t want to see him mad … He is like the eye of the storm – calm and focused, while about him chaos reigns.

Että yhteenvetoa. Mitään täydellisen raivostuttavaa I-Ninja ei sisällä, ja elämäntapatasoloikkijalle se lieneekin aivan kohtuullinen välipala. Tosin erittäin helppo ja pikainen sellainen, sillä kenttien uudelleenpeluuttamisestakin huolimatta lopputekstit rullaavat jo siinä vaiheessa kun 90-pisteen pelissä on päästy vasta alkuun. Uusi kierros ei kuulosta kovin mielekkäältä, mutta kaikkien kuudenkymmenenneljän tehtävän läpäisy palkitaan sentään yhdellä uudella areenalla, jossa saa piestä vihulaisia niin paljon kuin sielu vain sietää. Suosittelut varauksella, varmaa on vain se, että tämän lähemmäs Ninjaa ei meikäläisen pärställä pääse.

For most of the tenure of modern electronic entertainment as we know it, ninjas have been a staple theme. Though I-Ninja, Argonaut's new third-person action game, features a ninja protagonist who fights swarms and swarms of evil ninjas, the ninjitsu is not taken terribly seriously. Even the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles present a more somber take on the hidden art, and this Namco-published game has more in common with the likes of Super Monkey Ball and Ratchet & Clank than something like Tenchu. The quality of the game is largely dictated by its influences, though, luckily for I-Ninja, it chose some good games to imitate.

The PS2 is hardly suffering a platform game shortage. Over the past few months alone we've seen the release of Jak II: Renegade, Ratchet & Clank 2 and Prince of Persia, all of which raised the bar in different areas, and all of which any self-respecting fan of the genre either owns, or has marked down on their shopping list just above toilet paper and Doritos. Looking further back, there are plenty of other, equally indispensable platformers available on the system, some of which have even made it onto the budget PS2 Platinum label, removing yet more of the barriers to purchase.

I-Ninja is a melding of the platform genre with some minor puzzle, fighting, and action elements presented in a rich environment that presents its only downfall in somewhat stagnant gameplay. Still, those looking for a good rental, or a game to take a break from blockbuster after blockbuster should look at this game for just such a diversion. It won’t win any awards for originality, but the fun factor will keep you interested all the way through.

Au final, I-Ninja avait ce qu'il fallait pour être un soft plein de qualités et attachant, pas un super hit mais un bon jeu bien sympathoche. Malheureusement, c'est le cas typique du jeu plein de bonnes intentions mal concrétisées. Pas assez précis dans ses commandes, incohérent dans certaines phases, parfois horripilant et pas si drôle que ça. Dommage.

Bubble-headed progeny of Shinobi stars in this lackluster, by-the-numbers platformer from the same studio behind other hop-heavy fare like Bionicle and the surreptitiously canned Malice. Guided by the spirit of a mortally challenged ninjutsu master, your character, a hopping little Cuisinart referred to only as ?Ninja,? stalks shipyard hub worlds, jungle playgrounds and amusement park factories while sticking it to evil ninjas, giant bugs and flame-spitting Dobermans with an assortment of airborne strikes, and spinning attacks. Not content with merely running along surfaces, our little chop-socky elf one-ups Sega?s wall-jogging shadow warrior by grinding rails, scooting up and down half-pipes, riding barrels and manning turrets while pausing for occasional submarine duel and giant robot brawl mini-games.

Med ett smakfullt yttre, musik som faktiskt gjorde ett seriöst försök eller japanska röster istället för de löjliga amerikanska hade det hela varit lite, lite bättre. Men som det ser ut nu är det bara ett förvirrande spel som jag inte förstår mig på. I-ninja försöker vara allt, men blir i slutändan ingenting.