Ninjatown (Nintendo DS)

With only two reviews, and both unclear about how you play the game, I was unsure about this one, but as they had both given 5 stars I thought I'd try it anyway. If anyones ever played Bloons online then its sort of like that...

Basicly for anyone who maybe wants to know what its about, there are lots of different levels with entry points and exit points. Monsters come through the entry points and you have to strategically place different types of ninjas to prevent them from getting to the exit.

I really don't do this game any justice by explaining how to play it. Its addictive, fun, cute and simple yet genious. I recommend it to anyone. Only piece of advice is hide it from others until you've played with it enough or you won't get a chance to play it! (I learned the hard way)

Based on the incomprehensibley awesome Shawnimals creatures and universe, this game takes you through 36 levels of ranging environments on your quest to stop the evil minions from taking over the island! '

By now you will most have all heard of the "tower defence" genre of games where you are tasked with building 'towers' to 'defend' against enemies getting to their goal. While most tower defence games leave the story on the sideline, Ninja Town is punctuated with short and sweet cutscenes between each area (made of 4 levels, 3 main, 1 boss). This game is much more structured than other tower defence games since nearly every other level, new buildings, ninjas and enemies are being thrown at you, among new mechanics which appears time to time in which you may be tasked with controlling cannons to keep the enemy ships at bay while you concentrate on the foot soldiers.'

The basic gameplay revolved around you having to build huts which contain ninjas who do your bidding. Ranging from light and heavy ninjas, to ranged ninjas including sniper, freeze and fire ninjas. These can be upgraded as you gain more 'cookies' which are the currency you use to build your defences through defeating enemies.'

While you do not have direct control over your ninjas, you have a number of powers that you can fire down to the battlefield to even the odds, my favourite being the 'wind' power where you have to direct and blow into your ds microphone to push the enemies back and give your ninjas more time to destroy them. Other powers include 'super ninja's' and the magical 'wheel of efficiency'!!!! Of course, all your ninja huts can be upgraded to increase all of their occupants stats from power to health, but you also have the ability to place modifier huts which give the huts in the near vicinity upgrades such as better range of health.'

Most levels take in the region of 10-15mins to complete and are very well paced with waves of enemies which get tougher as you go!'Overall, this game is a lot of fun and can be had for less than £10 at most stores. With the variety and replay value, this is a must for any tower defence fan, or even for those who haven't dabbled in this kind of game before. Other similar games to this include Plants Vs. Zombies (another personal favourite) and Fieldrunners!

If you've ever played tower defense games online, you'll understand the concept of Ninjatown straight away.

Essesntially, you have to defend an area from waves of sieging monsters by setting up Ninja huts from which little fighting Ninjas emerge to assault your attackers. It sounds simple, and slightly odd, and it is definitely both of those things. But don't be fooled; this is an excellent game - funny, charming, strategic and satisfying to play.

The graphics are brilliant - it doesn't attempt to be lifelike but rather adopts a "cute" style. You will not be able to help chuckling as you see a Ninja wearing a tie. The game is definitely humourous with the bumbling mayor and exasperated advisor trying to save the city. This all combined means that even if you're not into fighting or defense style games, it will appeal.

Like all my favourite games, as you progress through the story you become more powerful and have more defense options available. However, the difficulty quickly builds up and it has plenty of challenges.

Even once you've completed this game you might want to go back and better your score to get an A grade on each level. In fact, even as I'm writing this review I'm tempted to pick it up and play again...

I'd definitely recommend this game for anyone of any age.