Customer Reviews

Mini Ninjas

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Over the last 10 years, the video gaming industry has tended toward releasing ever more gussied up versions of Doom. Typical selling points have been realistic gore and hardware pushing eye candy. Mini Ninjas is a great break from that world!

The back story in Mini Ninjas is a simple one. You are among the last of the ninjas left and you must find out what has happened to the others. It is a bit predictable, right down to an "evil master", but the simplicity actually helps. The world of Mini Ninjas is basically Kung Fu Panda meets Lord of the Rings. You travel through a fantasy land filled with forests, rivers, mountains and valleys, but also peasants, villages, dojos, and temples. There is a bit of mild humor as well as a tad bit of stereo typing ancient East Asian (Japanese) culture, but not so much as to offend. The graphics are well done and in a 3d animation style reminiscent of Pixar. The story and play evolve just enough to keep a general player interested without creating confusion. In a move of genius, the IO Interactive managed to temper any violence in the game with back story - enemies a player defeats do not "die", but rather revert back to their innocent animal selves right in front of the player. This greatly broadens the age group the game is appropriate for and may also be appealing to the older gamer who is simply looking for some clean fun. There are trophies and optional side quests - some rather difficult. The control configuration is easy to pick up and intuitive if you are playing on a console you are familiar with.

That said, there are a few blemishes. The MSRP for PS3 and Xbox is a tad higher than deserved, however, the street price (~10 USD less at the time of writing) is justified. This is also not a game for speed players. It's possible to race through the levels (mostly) and ignore the game play. If you are that kind of player, you will be bored inside of 15 minutes. Maybe most detrimental blemish is that this is a single player ONLY game. That's a shame really, since the game begs for two person play.

Last word is that Mini Ninjas is a great representation of its genre and can be enjoyed by everyone from ages 8 to 80 - despite the ESRB 10+ rating. This is a solid 4 Star game.

Review is based on 5 hours of play (multiple sessions) on a PS3, but there is no reason for the Wii or Xbox to play differently. In fact, this game fits the Wii platform perfectly.

NOTE: When it comes to video games, don't just trust the reviews. Video games are expensive and trade-in values are typically low. Most top end games have Free Demos available for download for your computer or console - Try Before You Buy.

I admit I was at first turned-off by the somewhat childish cartoon graphic style this game employs, but thankfully I was interested enough to download the demo of this game, and after playing it only a few minutes, I knew I had to buy it. After having bought it and played it through, I can not find anything significantly wrong with this game, so I'm going to call it essentially perfect.

Pros:
It has a perfect control scheme, which I don't really see anyone else talk about, but which I consider very important, so let me describe it briefly:
Left stick controls your character, as in many other games
Right stick controls the camera, which I really like, and has option to invert, which is even better
Square is normal attack
Triangle is special attack
X is jump
Circle is sprint which consumes energy to run fast
L1 brings up a quick character selection menu
Holding L2 makes the character sneak
R1 brings up a quick item/spell menu, that selects which item/spell is activated by pressing...
R2 activates selected item/spell (can include shuriken, spells, potions, bombs)
R3 toggles the hat-boat item

I've been playing games since 1980 on the Commodore Vic-20, and my favorite games of the past have been Mario and Maximo games, but this game is easily as good as those games, in my opinion. It has a perfectly balanced play control scheme, well balanced difficulty that is fun, but not too hard to frustrate the player, with the default game difficulty being perfect for non-gamers, and the Hard mode preferred for players with more experience under their belts (though even that mode isn't too hard).

The most similar game this should be compared to is the Ninja Gaiden games, but this game has two significant differences with those games:
1) This game is much easier, so no experienced gamers banging their heads against the wall trying to kill frustratingly hard bosses.
2) This game is far more innocent in presentation, with no real killing involved, and defeating opponents merely "frees" animals, with no blood or guts or brutality or anything normally considered offensive to some. This makes the game much more enjoyable to children and those with an appreciation for good, clean fun.

One other game I'd like to compare this to is God of War, which has some very noticeable contrasts as well:
1) As with Ninja Gaiden, God of War games are a whole lot more violent and potentially offensive (with nudity and lots of brutality) content than Mini Ninjas.
2) God of War has a large number of complex moves available that make it hard to master, but you can't do some very basic things, like move your camera! Mini Ninjas has a very good control scheme (as described above) and most importantly, does not define itself by a near-endless supply of the same many-hits-to-kill enemies separated by a few head-bangingly hard hand-eye-coordination test puzzles, but rather distinguishes itself by brilliant level design and player experience [one mild exception to this is a rather annoying single level where you control a snowball going down a mountain, but it's not enough of a problem to take much away from the rest of the game]. I just enjoyed playing this game about 1000x more than playing God of War.

Cons:
No game is truly perfect, so, yes, there are a few minor gripes I have with this game, which I would change if I could:
1) I really dislike Quick-Time events (time-limited button-press prompts), and I wish the designers had stayed clear of them.
2) This game is so perfect for being family-friendly, that it would have been really, really nice to allow for a two-player co-op option like the Lego series of games are making popular now, which would let older gamers play with their own kids.
3) This game could have done just fine without the downhill snowball level...

Conclusion:
I have been waiting for a game like this to come out on the PS3 for years, and it is a delightful departure from the Assassin's Creed, Ninja Gaiden, and God of War type of game that is currently filling the landscape of A+ titles. Finally a perfectly balanced action game for players that don't necessarily want to be frustrated endlessly or to push the envelope of what is socially acceptable behavior.

But don't take my word for it, by any means, just download the demo and judge for yourself. But definitely don't pass by at least playing the demo on this game, it is a masterpiece and should not be missed!

Bought this game for the kids & hubby after they rented it for a few days. They are all enjoying it. My 5 yr old likes it so much he kept asking to play it but with limited screen time it took him a little while to work his way through the game. I don't personally play but I watch and I also think the way the Samari say Mini Nijas is funny. :) Enjoyable game. Not too complicated but hard enough to teach a lesson to the kids to keep trying something even if they aren't good at it.

This is a really well made game. I bought it for my wife and she loves it. It's an open environment, so you can go at your own pace which makes it great for just relaxing and playing. You can literally play this game for hours just roaming around the beautifully rendered countryside looking for hiddent items. This is also a good game for kids as the animated voilence is very mild, and after you defeat a foe, it turns into a furry woodland creature (or amphibian, etc.) We have not beat the game yet, but we are already happy we invested the money into such a fun game. I actually like it better than Ninja Gaiden mainly due to the open end environment. Think a cross between GTA and Ninja Gaiden, but with no violence, and humor added. That didn't make any sense? Well, buy the game and see for yourself.

I bought this game because I wanted an adventure game. It's somewhat marketed as a kid's game so I decided to play on 'hard' skill level. And let me tell you, I died a ton of times in this game which is a good thing for me! I did not want an adventure game that was a cake walk and very easy to finish. I enjoyed this game because you have three basic fighting styles to pick from. There's hack and slash, third person shooter, and stealth. Although I chose to use all three, you really don't have to in order to get through. I also liked that I had 6 ninjas to choose from and all 6 served a purpose.

There are two problems I had with this game. The pointless snowball level, and the low variety of enemies. Like many reviewers stated, the snowball level added nothing to the game and was unnecessarily difficult, it really hurt the overall experience. Kid's game or not, I need to see a large variety of baddies. I think you should see different looking enemies with each level. There were only a handful of enemies throughout the game. Samurai with a sword, bow and arrow, exploding bow and arrow, staff, medium samurai, large samurai, and a ghost. And they all pretty much looked the same (except the ghost).

In all, I thought this was a really fun open world game that you will have trouble putting down once you get into it. It's quite a steal for the price Amazon is charging!

My 4 year old son loves this game.... Mostly I play the game while he holds the second controller. But it's great to hear him say, "let's save the animals from the bad guys, dad." and seeing the ninjas jump and flip makes him very excited about doing his gymnastics and karate.

The game isn't all that violent due to no blood gore, which is a change in todays gaming world. I do hope the makers make a part 2.

In sort, it a great game much like the original, "Zelda". game.

I grew up playing Nintendo games, including my addiction to Mario games. But when the PS3 came out, I bought it for the Blu-Ray player and could not find a game to learn the PS3 controller that was easy, fun, and a beginner game like Mario used to be for me. Mini Ninjas is definitely that game for the PS3.

The gameplay is adventurous but leaves a lot of room for exploring the different levels, levelling up with different powers and new characters that can be inter-changed. The game is your typical adventure and save the world game but you'll focus on the levels and laugh at all the quirks...and even some of the crazy bosses. The graphics are gorgeous on this game and just make the experience all the more fun. Like any Mario game, the levels get darker as the game progresses, bosses get harder, and you learn which characters are the best for certain enemies and situations. The final boss is not easy but is not impossible to beat either. There's also the ability to re-play levels to collect certain items as well and multiple save points that can only be used once are great but also can be used strategically.

I'd recommend this game for families but also for all gamers for its fun and the nostalgia you might have about old games and now to see the equivalent on the new systems like the PS3.

This game is the best the PS3 has to offer to the pre-teen age group, bar-none. But surprisingly, even in my 20's I find this game very addictive and fun. Mini Ninjas is a refreshingly simple yet fun action/adventure game that leads you to beautiful landscapes and intriguing possibilities.

You take control of 6 ninjas in all, but the main one, Hiro, is who you will be using predominantly. There is a lot of criticism that the other ninjas are useless or at least close to, but I've found that nearly every ninja serves a purpose. Besides the main one, there is one who specializes taking out the bigger enemies, one who uses a surprisingly useful bow as a weapon, and one or two others have a trophy linked to them, so that makes using them more appealing. The first two I mentioned along with Hiro are the ones I use predominantly, but each has their own style. Still, Hiro is the only one who can cast magic which makes him much more useful than the rest.

The game takes you on a marvelous journey from expansive forests to dark graveyards to icy peaks and even a variety of looming castles where enemy bosses lay in wait. The bosses are quite humorous typically, and the crazy rants of the average enemy make this game very entertaining along the way. There are many ways to get past certain situations, so it just depends on your playing style. A word of warning to hardcore gamers, however: since this is a game aimed at a younger audience, the difficulty isn't exactly high by any means. I'm about through the game my first time on hard, and I've only died maybe 3 or 4 times at most.

So if you want a game that's fun for anyone in the family, or you just happen to like ninjas, then pick up this game. This was somewhat of an impulse buy for me, but I was happy I listened to that little voice in my head instead of the reviews online. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

Mini Ninjas a great game to play with little children around. Considering when you defeat an enemy they turn into animals. The game is not too difficult to play kids yet it's still challenging enough for most older gamers. Graphics are good and sound design is top notch. It's nice to play a game that is suitable for kids and not such a "kiddie" game, especially on the PS3.

I bought this game because the PS3 demo was so very compelling. I completed it in three or four days. It is cute, hilarious, fun, and intriguing. I would recommend this game to anyone who likes to play video games. I most enjoyed the little touches that make the game so good. For example, Hiro the Hero can use his hat as a boat while in the water. He can also fish for sushi fish while riding in his hat. The game is challenging but not too difficult. There is a minimum of reflex button press sequences, and they are all well timed, so as to not be too difficult.

Most of the game is completely free roam, and there are lots of secrets to discover. The game play is broad with different fighting styles, magic, and strategy.

The concept of saving your ninja friends while traveling and discovering troubles through out he land is simple and compelling.

My wife who is of Japanese ancestry was slightly annoyed at the engrish style voice acting at times.