Mini Ninjas

Moby ID: 42859
Windows Specs
Buy on Windows
$9.99 new on Steam
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Description official descriptions

An ancient samurai warlord returns and raises a new demonic army to subdue the world. But instead of hiring unreliable minions, he transforms innocent animals into fearsome warriors. A ninja master notices how every transformation destabilizes the balance of nature, causing storms and earthquakes, and decides to send out his best ninja disciples to restore the order. When none of them returns, he is left with his last choice: the young ninja Hiro and his blunt friend Futo. Players control the characters through different worlds using a third-person perspective with a relative amount of freedom to explore the environment. When lost, the characters can meditate to receive a hint and see an arrow that points into the general direction of the next objective.

During the course of the game, they will follow the steps of the other warriors and eventually free four of them to make them playable. The player can switch between any character at any given moment. Each ninja has different abilities. Hiro is an all-rounder and the only ninja who can use Kuji spells. Unlocked by finding and praying at hidden shrines, spells include fireballs, whirlwinds and the ability to enter a spirit form where animals can be taken over to have them fight. They also make it easier to spot items and collectibles in the environment. Animals are locked up in cages, but also appear when an enemy is defeated, and they return to their original form. Futo wields a large hammer and is especially useful to engage larger enemies. The other characters that become available during the course of the game are Suzume, a young girl with a flute that enchants enemies when she plays music, Shun, a master with the bow, Tora who thinks he's a tiger and has big metal claws to prove it, and the acrobat Kunoichi with a long spear.

Characters have basic attacks along with a defence breaker to stun enemies and the ability to block. Acrobatic moves include wall jumping, running along walls and hanging from ledges. All characters have a sneak mode where they can hide in the grass or the environment to cause more damage when attacking or to simply avoid confrontations. Health is restored by gathering fruit, and there are collectible items in the environments. When new recipes are bought, these items can be mixed into potions, bombs and power-ups. Characters level up to get better abilities, and they all have a different focus attack to cause more damage.

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Credits (Windows version)

272 People (243 developers, 29 thanks) · View all

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Reviews

Critics

Average score: 76% (based on 64 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 16 ratings with 1 reviews)

Leaves You Wanting More

The Good
Mini Ninja is a superbly developed and executed action-adventure game. It smoothly blends together action-platforming with the more cerebral, adventure-strategy quest. As an added bonus, the game has an ESRB classification rating for the entire family.

The Bad
My sole complaint is that this is a game that will leave you wanting more. Once you have successfully beaten the game, explored all of the levels, mastered the magic and found all of the hidden items, you will find yourself wanting more.

Alas, Mini Ninja is a game that has not really developed into a well crafted franchise. Giving the right approach and care this could be a very successful series. While the game's story, including the ending, lays out the possibility of many more adventures, it has not yet come to pass.

The Bottom Line
Mini Ninja is fun to watch, fun to listen to, fun to explore and just all-around a fun game to play. It skillfully avoids the "mature" content found in other action-adventure game titles, while still making it enjoyable for the young and young-at-heart. Hopefully, we have not seen the last of these brave warriors adventures.

Xbox 360 · by ETJB (428) · 2012

Discussion

Subject By Date
should be in the "games made into TV series" group creditsdude (42) Jan 20, 2021

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  • MobyGames ID: 42859
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Sicarius.

Macintosh added by Charly2.0. OnLive added by firefang9212. Browser added by Sciere.

Additional contributors: Sciere, Starbuck the Third.

Game added October 25, 2009. Last modified July 6, 2023.