Ninja Reflex

Cheat Code Central (4.3 out of 5)

Ninja Reflex is one of an increasing number of games designed to help you in life. While a game like Brain Age will try to make you smarter and a game like Cooking Mama will try to turn you into a chef, Ninja Reflex has a simpler goal: to train your reflexes. Though it may be a simplistic goal, Ninja Reflex is a great game to play in small increments to try to improve your reaction time. And while it does not give you specific ways to improve or certain recommended mini-games, it is nonetheless a blast to play. I would heartily recommend this game especially to families, as the multiplayer mode makes reflex training fun, and the meditation modes are something everyone can participate in. So what are you waiting for? Go hone your ninja reflexes!

Pokémon World / Pocket World (8 out of 10)

Great graphics on both consoles and a bunch of games that will really get your Wii or DS party going, all wrapped up in a ninja theme.

PGNx Media (8 out of 10)

Ultimately, Ninja Reflex accomplishes what it set out to do very well. The game makes playful fun at people’s obsession with Ninjas (including a name generator that takes two random words together to form your ninja name) and is overall a very charming, well-made game. Ninja Reflex is definitely worth playing but unless you’re planning on making extensive use of the game’s multiplayer mode, there isn’t enough content here to warrant the $40 price tag.

GameZone (6.7 out of 10)

While not exactly a training piece for Ninja Warrior, Ninja Reflex is amusing in the way it tests your hand-eye coordination. The fun is fair and the replay value is iffy, so you might want to rent this one before making it a permanent part of your reflex regimen.

Gaming Age (B-)

As is, Ninja Reflex is another game for the party crowd, and if this is the big reason you own a Wii, then I can recommend the title for you. Otherwise you are looking at a rental until it hits the bargain bin.

3D Juegos (6.3 out of 10)

Ninja Reflex nos plantea su peculiar camino del ninja a través de un título "party" simple, algo limitado, pero que cumple su objetivo de mejorar algunas destrezas como los reflejos o la velocidad de reacción. Nintendo DS y Wii ofrecen para ello sus innovadores controles, convenientemente aprovechados para que imitemos algunas de las habilidades de estos guerreros orientales, si queremos, al lado de otras tres personas. En definitiva, otro videojuego más para jugar en compañía que se suma al ya denso catálogo de planteamientos multijugador que intentan seguir el paso de Wii Sports.

Nintendo Life ( )

Overall Ninja Reflex is a neat little package, but there is one big problem; the severe lack of depth. Having only 6 micro games to choose from this title is sure to tire quicker than a 105 year old ninja master. This is a great example of what should have been available, at a more realistic price, via the WiiWare service coming later this year, perhaps EA should of waited.

GamesRadar (6 out of 10)

That leads into the one big complaint we have with Ninja Reflex. There are only six minigames included on the disc. Six. Granted, Wii Sports and Wii Play don't cram 'em in either, and everybody loves those, but $40 for six minigames still feels like a rip.

Console Obsession (6 out of 10)

There may only be six games, and whilst each one does have its variations to mix things up a little it’s still not enough to stop things from becoming as stale as an aged loaf of bread, but whoever said that ninja training wasn‘t repetitive? The same goes for the multiplayer, whilst fun as a rental or a budget buy, there’s just not enough content to justify the £29.99 asking price.

Deaf Gamers (6 out of 10)

Ninja Reflex for the Wii is, on the whole, quite enjoyable but there’s not a lot here when all is said and done. Priced at just under £30, Ninja Reflex is certainly not as good value for money as it could have been. You are only getting six mini-games after all and it’s fair to say that there is not a great deal of replay value here. The real disappointment however, is that it’s easy to see how Ninja Reflex could have been so much better. Many more mini-games were needed and better multiplayer options should have also been included. Ninja Reflex is certainly not a bad game but it’s too light on content and there’s not enough here to keep you coming back for more for long.

Worth Playing (6 out of 10)

You know it's a bad sign for a game when you enjoy the name generator and meditation mode more than any of the actual gameplay. It becomes obvious fairly quickly that all EA has done with Ninja Reflex is put out yet another mediocre minigame collection for the Wii's already-choked catalog, but gussied it up with a ninja premise in order to sell more units. This one is a weekend rental at best, and there's really no reason to ever buy, even once it's marked for clearance. Sadly, I am no more of a ninja now than I am when I started this game, and I'm beginning to think that I ate all that sushi and killed all those shoguns for nothing.

Gameswelt (60 out of 100)

Manchmal frage ich mich, warum viele Wii- und DS-Spiele mit denselben Problemen zu kämpfen haben. Die Spielidee ist wirklich witzig und auch Steuerung und Grafik sind ordentlich umgesetzt. Aber die guten Ideen gehen leider im Mini-Minispielumfang unter – bei ordentlicher Abwechslung hätte auch der nervige Sensei den Award wohl kaum verhindern können!

IGN (6 out of 10)

Instead of offering a more robust experience, however (even Carnival Games, also $40, has 25 minis) this feels more like a WiiWare game, and less like something that should be sold at nearly full price. Everything from the simple, charming interface to the basic – almost gimmick – nature of the games absolutely screams downloadable content, as there’s no reason to pick this up for anything more than $20 max. If Electronic Arts was smart, the company would start talking to Nintendo now about the option of putting this on WiiWare for launch, or at least start working on a sequel to deliver in downloadable format. That, or offer us a package that’s worth the cash. Ninja Reflex is a good idea, it’s fun, but there’s less depth here than in Raving Rabbids, Carnival Games, or even Wii Play. The line needs to be drawn somewhere on Wii, and hopefully consumers will do just that with Ninja Reflex.

Nintendo-Online.de (6 out of 10)

Ninja Reflex bietet für eine Minispielesammlung hervorragende Grafik, guten Sound und auch die Spiele an sich machen zu Anfang viel Spaß. Leider fiel der Umfang zu gering aus, um wirklich für langanhaltenden Spaß zu sorgen. Durch die Gürteltests wird man immer wieder dazu gezwungen, die gleichen Spiele zu wiederholen, was spätestens nach dem dritten Test langweilig und monoton wird. Zum Ausleihen ist Ninja Reflex also gut geeignet, nach einem Wochenende hat man alles gesehen, zu mehr allerdings nicht.

Officiel Nintendo Magazine (6 out of 10)

La progression proposée est telle, qu'elle suffit à nous scotcher dans l'espoir de décrocher la ceinture noire. À quatre, le jeu devient dangereux !

1UP (C+)

I fully expected EA to lay it on thick with the clichéd martial arts mumbo jumbo, but aside from oft-repeated comments from the sensei, the ninja theme is thankfully understated, and the clean visuals are more than adequate for the simplistic mechanics. Still, it's tough to overlook the question of value -- Wii Play may miss with some of its minigames, but it also comes with a Wii Remote; Ninja Reflex has no such hook and packs a similarly high price point. Despite such concerns, Ninja Reflex offers a pretty decent casual-play experience compared to similar titles on each platform. Just don't mistake it for a genuine black belt -- orange pleather seems like a better fit.

Gamesmania.de (55 out of 100)

Wäre Ninja Reflex ein bekannterer Titel würde es die Diskussion über die immer kürzer werdenden Videospiele erneut entfachen. 30 € kostet der Titel für Wii und DS und bietet euch dafür gerade einmal sechs simple Minispiele. Zum Vergleich: Wario Ware hat über 200 am Start, die dazu noch in einem irren Tempo präsentiert werden. Da mögen die sechs vorhandenen Minispiele auch noch so gelungen sein, nach spätestens zehn Minuten Spielzeit habt ihr alles gesehen. Wenn EA bei einem Nachfolger die Zahl der Minispiele verzehnfacht, können wir gerne über eine bessere Wertung sprechen.

Console Monster (54 out of 100)

Full of charm and delightful presentation, Ninja Reflex falls depressingly short by skimping out on more multiplayer options and even the single player leaves you feeling short changed especially when it hovers around the £25 mark. If you really want to earn the black belt in ninja mastery, you may have to make do with half the material and drooping trousers for your efforts as Ninja Reflex is painfully lacking that extra mile. A case of “Wax On…” and well… they have forgotten the rest.

The Video Game Critic (C)

The graphics and audio are a pleasant surprise. Despite what the generic box cover would imply, each stage offers gorgeous views of traditional Asian villages with dense foliage and colorful flowers. The traditional string music is also effective. Ninja Reflex is shallow fun, and if you can pick it up cheap, it's not a bad way to spend a few hours.

Fragland.net (50 out of 100)

When the singleplayer is boring, the multiplayer has little chance of recovering. Little chance is an understatement, let's just say no chance at all. Too bad, because Brain Training for ninjas could indeed have been fun. The game has potential; the graphics are very simple but nice and the effects prove that there is some professionalism here. We just haven't seen it in the rest of the game.

Game Tap (5 out of 10)

Nobody expects a minigame collection to offer hundreds of hours of entertainment, but with only six short-lived games on offer, Ninja Reflex gives gamers the short shrift, even compared with its less-than-stellar brethren. The games themselves might just be entertaining enough to maybe make this worth a quick rental for some brief family fun, but anyone who drops $30 or $40 on this hollow shell of a game will be sorely disappointed.

Game Informer Magazine (5 out of 10)

For all of the disgust Ninja Reflex slowly draws up from the pit of your stomach, it should have been branded Gag Reflex instead.

Play.tm (50 out of 100)

Ninja Reflex, whilst being for the most part competently put together, will leave both solo gamers and party players at best cold, and at worst hot under the collar. Pass this title by, silently and unseen in your black pyjamas.

PAL Gaming Network (PALGN) (4.5 out of 10)

To put it bluntly, even a good dose of pirates with the ninjas couldn't save this one. In fact, most would probably opt to walk the plank than grimace their way through the back half of the game. And, to add insult to injury, the inclusion of only six minigames for your dollar is downright laughable, especially given that Wii Play comes with nine and chucks in a remote. However, and more to the point, when your nearest competitor is Wii Play, it's probably time to re-evaluate your design processes. And get rid of the fireflies while you're at it.

UGO (UnderGroundOnline) (C-)

Really, the only thing wrong here is the price. There are downloadable games - be they on Virtual Console, Live Arcade or PSN - which feature more content than Ninja Reflex...considerably more. While those titles primarily go for no more than $20, the retail price for this release is $40. There's no other way to put it: that's downright insulting. Gamers are smarter than this and they deserve better. Wait for Ninja Reflex to walk its inevitable path to the bargain bin and then look for it used to truly get what you're paying for. Now excuse us while we give publisher Electronic Arts the universal "shame, shame" hand signal.

videogamer.com (4 out of 10)

It's really hard to understand how anyone thought such a meagre selection of mini-games and a lacking single-player component warranted such a high price tag. Had Ninja Reflex been released on Nintendo's forthcoming Wii Software service for a price equivalent to your average Xbox LIVE Arcade title the lack of content would have been a lot easier to take, but as a full retail release it offers awful value for money.

GameSpy ( )

We don't doubt that Ninja Reflex will improve your reflexes and bring you some small level of coordination. On the other hand, you could probably achieve the same effect with a fighting game or shooter, and have twice the fun.

411mania.com (4 out of 10)

The games vary in their appeal. The Shurikan toss, the Koi catch, and the Fly Chopstick challenge are all fun games, while the Katana and Nun chuck games are ackward and frustrating. Unfortunately, even the better games are worth little more than a few plays. Ninja Reflex is a good idea that sadly, is little more than a sloppily produced cash grab to capitalize on Wii fever. There is nothing here that is even as good as anything you find on Wii Sports or Wii Play. The games range from being mediocre, to sloppy and hard. If you like good mini-games for a you and your friends, go for Wii Play or even something like Carnival Games.

DS-x2 (4 out of 10)

Well, ‘Dangerous Plum’ is officially a purple belt, and he doesn’t feel any faster than before. He’s got an aching arm from fending off enemies, he’s frustrated from trying to catch ‘the superfly’, he doesn’t move like the tiger, and he doesn’t strike like the dragon. He’s also thoroughly bored of this game.

Nintendo Only (4 out of 10)

Weer een spel dat uit minigames bestaat, dit keer een variatie: ze gebruiken het woord Ninja. De minigames zijn in het begin véél te simpel, waardoor je er meteen op uitgekeken raakt. De moeilijkheidsgraad stijgt wel, maar als je dát wilt bereiken heb je ontzettend veel uithoudingsvermogen nodig. De multiplayer wil ik niet eens laten zien aan mijn vrienden, we hebben er na een minuut toch alweer genoeg van. Op de details is wel gelet: mooie stemmen, voldoende graphics, en een goede sfeer. Toch maakt dat de enorme fout niet goed en kan ik niets anders doen dan een onvoldoende geven.

Eurogamer.net (UK) (4 out of 10)

None of that is enough to justify the GBP 29.99 price tag and nor are any of the mini-games. Even if you knock the price down by a fiver, as most Internet shops seem to be doing, Ninja Reflex is a rip-off. The games are neither entertaining nor plentiful enough to keep you playing for long. That applies to the multiplayer as well as solo mode. Consider also the fact that at no point do any ninjas flip out and cut off heads without even thinking about it, and you've got plenty of good reasons to give Ninja Reflex a miss.

G4 TV: X-Play ( )

If you absolutely need to have every single collection of mini-games for your Wii, at least the content in Ninja Reflex is entertaining. There just needs to be a lot more of it to justify the price.

FileFactory Games / Gameworld Network (40 out of 100)

Even at the budget price Ninja Reflex is an avoidable title. The only value this game could have had would have been to bundle it with a much more superior product.

The Wiire (D+)

In the sad reality that Wii games can be made for a quick dollar, Ninja Reflex is no surprise. While utilizing some nice controls, minus the awful motion-swinging sword game, there's little to no replay value. Top that off with barely amazing graphics for the little in the game as it is, and you're left with a big pile of D rating. Rent only if you're really bored.

4Players.de (25 out of 100)

Da gesteht EA-Chef John Riccitiello, dass man die Leute mit seinen Spielen zu Tode langweile und mehr Qualität anstrebe und dann veröffentlicht man mit Ninja Reflex die wohl langweiligste Minispielsammlung, die Wii-Spieler je über sich ergehen lassen mussten. Gut, entwickelt wurde diese fernöstliche Schlaftablette, die angeblich eure Reaktionsschnelligkeit trainieren soll (tut das nicht jedes Spiel?), von Nunchuck und Sanzaru Games. Erschienen ist das Ganze trotzdem unter EA-Flagge. Vielleicht dachte man sich angesichts der eher enttäuschenden Geschäftszahlen, lass die Jungs einfach mal ein paar kostenlose Flashgames kopieren, sie hübsch verpacken und dann Geld dafür verlangen. Am Ende hat man aber gerade mal sechs primitive, todlangweilige sowie technisch unausgereifte Fuchtel- und Tastendrückereien hin bekommen, die man einfach immer und immer wieder vorgesetzt bekommt. Bei einem Verkaufspreis von 30 Euro macht das quasi 5 Euro pro Fingerübung - eine absolute Frechheit!

Game Revolution (D-)

What makes the ending for Ninja Reflex the worst of all time is that it’s intentional. It would have been better if the Wii had glitched, or if the memory card had burned, or if I was sucked into an inter-dimensional space where memories die. Perhaps the only thing worse is that Ninja Reflex actually manages to make a game about ninjas not cool. It doesn’t really matter that some of the mini-games can be played in a multiplayer mode and can be fun for a half an hour. I can do much the same by watching anime video game ninja skits with friends, and that never grows old.