‘No one trips over a mountain; it is the smallest pebble that causes you to stumble’
That’s the premise we find behind Mini Ninjas, the latest release from Eidos Interactive, announced today. The studio behind games such as Tomb Raider now brings us pint-sized heroes with a little more than just punch.
In Mini Ninjas you play the role of Hiro battling, with the assistance of your trusty friends, a magical army of evil Samurai in a bid to restore harmony and balance to the world. Using a combination of ninja skills and Kuji magic you must battle to the Fortress of Doom for a final confrontation with the Samurai Warlord.
Mini Ninjas is the perfect example of a ‘broad-appeal’ game, it has the cuteness and fun needed for its PEGI 7 rated entry point while maintaining the depth of feel required by the older end of the market. The game’s release on multiple platforms (Xbox 360, PS3, DS, Wii and PC) shows that a significant amount of thought has been given to the accessibility of the product. This will, I’m sure, promote more than a few school-yard and office kitchen conversations about playability and experience on each. For me the game has the Pixar-appeal to it and as a result will most certainly end up in many gamers’ collection.
Neils Jorgenson, General Manager of IO Interactive, one of the Eidos publishing houses and the power behind Mini Ninjas, has nothing but praise;
“Mini Ninjas represents a truly special game for us, the whole team is very excited about it, because it is unique in so many ways. From the art style to the characters and the depth of the game – Mini Ninjas has that exceptional appeal.”
And I think he’s right! The visuals are stunning, the concept engaging and the execution looks pretty perfect.
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January 19th, 2009 at 10:39 am
I think “stunning” may be a bit far.
January 19th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Looks great! I do like a good 3rd person action game and this one eventhough it has the cutness, looks like it has the potential :)
January 19th, 2009 at 11:52 am
Reminds me of Kung Fu Chaos :)
January 19th, 2009 at 11:54 am
The backgrounds look quite a bit like Kung Fu Panda, that said it does fit rather well.
*prepares his mini pirate army*
January 19th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Seems like one of those things that could go either way. It looks a little simple, which alongside the releases on damn near every system makes me think the demographic will be fairly broad and as such the gameplay won’t be very sophisticated.
Then again it could be I-Ninja (was that the name) done completely right. I at least love how excitedly happy that ninja looks just to be walking on a wire.
January 19th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Looks fairly promising, fairly nice looking graphically and if you’re like me (and I know I am) I actually love a bit of platforming from time to time.
Xander I see your point it’s not likely to be an especially sophisticated title in order to not exclude the younger demographic…but if the Lego franchise has taught us anything it’s that simple can be bloody good fun.