Metareview -- Ninjatown (DS)

by Justin McElroy { Nov 26th 2008 at 1:45PM }

We have a tendency to miss metareviewing portable games, especially when they're caught up in the mad flood of holiday releases. But Ninjatown has been getting such good scores we figured it deserved its moment in the sun, especially since you'll be able to pick it up for $15 on Friday. ... And yes, OK, it's kind of a slow news day. So sue us.

GameShark (91/100): "Ninjatown has 'sleeper hit' written all over it. It certainly looks innocent enough on the outside – it's cute and goofy, and oozes sugary sweetness, as it's actually based on a stuffed toy line (the Shawnimals, created by ex game journo Shawn Smith). But underneath that fluffy exterior is a seriously addictive tower defense game that is as hardcore as it is adorable."
Game Informer (90/100): "Don't let the cutie-pie exterior fool you - Ninjatown is a gamer's game through and through. The units in this tower-defense title are versatile and useful, enemies are diverse and deadly, and there are enough power-ups and options to keep things fresh. Best of all, levels don't seem to have a preset way to beat them, unlike many tower-defense games on the market."
1UP (B+): "Ninjatown's layered in a coating of sickly sweetness that no amount of scrubbing will ever get out of your DS slot, but this obviously wasn't a game rushed out just to peddle Shawnimals merchandise. If you can get past the saccharine coating of the Ninjatown world, you'll find a surprisingly good tower defense?style filling hidden inside the hard candy shell."
GameDaily (80/100): "Once you're done admiring the charming and colorful artwork that encompasses the Ninjatown box, you'll soon realize there's a deep, addictive and challenging game for your DS inside. Ninjatown takes the fast-thinking, reactionary gameplay of tower defense and combines it with simple real-time strategy elements, creating one of the more compelling and unique games in recent memory."

Tags: metareview, ninjatown, shawn-smith, shawnimals

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

McWeen @ Nov 26th 2008 2:01PM

Nice scores for a smaller title. It certainly looks cute enough.

Marty @ Nov 26th 2008 2:05PM

"And yes, OK, it's kind of a slow news day. So sue us."
Haha, well at least you're big enough to admit it, Joystiq.

Linkdead @ Nov 26th 2008 2:21PM

WTF is this BS! Ninjatown scored better then Chrono Trigger DS...

McWeen @ Nov 26th 2008 2:22PM

Chrono Trigger is a direct port. They could have put it on Virtual console for $8 but they wanted more cash so $40 DS game we get.

Bass Masterson @ Nov 26th 2008 2:32PM

The Shawnimals? Jesus Christ.

Dopple Boppler @ Nov 26th 2008 2:40PM

The demo of this on the Nintendo Channel was really cool; I was thinking about picking it up, and if it's not sold out by the time I get to Best Buy on Friday I will definitely be willing to part with 15 dollars for it

Markez @ Nov 27th 2008 12:40AM

Would you care to indulge me as to how you got the demo? I haven't indulged much into the Nintendo channel to know how thingy worky.

Dante G @ Nov 27th 2008 10:25AM

From Wikipedia:

The Nintendo Channel allows Wii users to watch videos such as interviews, trailers, commercials and even download demos for the Nintendo DS. In this capacity the channel works in a similar way to a DS Download Station. ... The Nintendo Channel is updated with different DS game demos and new videos every week, the actual day of the week varies across different international regions.

For America it updates on mondays like the wii shop. The demo was available back in october for a couple of weeks IIRC. The demo of this game came with 6 stages which made it a pretty good demo since it took about an hour to beat it.

From my experience the demo could be available once again soon, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Puffles @ Nov 26th 2008 2:43PM

What's with some game reviewers automatically saying that it's horrible for games to be cute? (Look at the 1UP review above.) It's worked for every Kirby game in existence.

lorddshadow2 @ Nov 26th 2008 5:16PM

worked for lbp too. they just think they're less macho if they just play fps.

BPMOmega [gamertag] @ Nov 26th 2008 2:44PM

I've been eyeing this... Guess I'll add it to my Amazon wishlist... Heheheh...

Stavros @ Nov 26th 2008 2:50PM

Seems to be multiple listings of this game on Amazon... there's this one for $21.50: http://www.amazon.com/Ninjatown-DS/dp/B001KW8CES/ref=pd_bbs_sr_5?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1227728821&sr=8-5

But then this one for the standard $27: http://www.amazon.com/Ninjatown-Nintendo-DS/dp/B0011606OW/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1227728821&sr=8-1

Pick 'em up! =)

D-5 @ Nov 26th 2008 2:53PM

This is going to sound ignorant (And it is as I've been out of the loop in general these past few months), but am I the only one who heard the title and saw that picture and thought this was a shovelware game? Glad I read the post because this game sounds quite interesting!

Morning Toast @ Nov 26th 2008 2:57PM

I have to admit that Ninjatown is a lot of fun. I would have initially written it off as just cute crap, but it's a great spin on Tower Defense. And it is...well...cute. Cute doesn't usually get me in the door, but some props in a mag made me give it a try. Afterall, ninjas can't be all bad, right?

Solo is fun and challenging after Level 2. The multiplayer is a little different, it's just a don't lose first competition with both on the same map.

This will certainly be a nightly staple in my house along with Word Jong and a few others.

WilhelmThe1st @ Nov 26th 2008 3:20PM

Is it just me, or do you guys never actually link to the metacritic page when you do these?

Saria the Cat @ Nov 26th 2008 3:21PM

Consider my interest piqued!

Lee @ Nov 26th 2008 3:36PM

Looks like I'll have to get this then.

Roto13 @ Nov 26th 2008 3:50PM

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i27/rotothirteen/ninjatown9000ng3.jpg

Dante G @ Nov 26th 2008 4:01PM

I played the demo and it was really good. Definitely worth a look.

Vaitork @ Nov 26th 2008 6:47PM

It's a cool game. A bit easy when you think about "Tower Defense", but I liked it a lot. Wish there was a higher difficulty setting though.

Also, hardest level: NTSE Plaza. It's funny because that's level 11 out of 32 i think.

Domineque @ Nov 26th 2008 9:19PM

This game is awesome...it's in the top 10 best games for the DS. Currently at 50+ percent and i'm loving every ounce of it.

Hardly play my DS but i play this game atleast 2 hours a day.

eight @ Nov 27th 2008 1:17AM

I picked up this game when it came out and I am extremely glad I did. It is a perfect title for the DS. A quirky fun, easy to pick up and play game that wouldn't have worked as well on any other platform and has made a very nice home for itself on the DS. While I wouldn't call it "teh bestest game evar" it is a solid title and I'm glad there are other people in this, the world of shooters, to see that.