Mini Ninjas

Mini Ninjas

Get ready for more stylised Far Eastern frolics, this time starring a team of tiny assassins. Though targeted at kids, the idea grows old rather quickly.

The studio behind Hitman is trying its hand at something much cuter, though cannot resist the old stealth gameplay trappings. Whereas Hitman is deadly serious and deserving of its mature PEGI rating thanks to scenes of bloodthirstiness and cruelty, Mini Ninjas is relatively harmless cartoon violence. The Ninja Turtles are way nastier.

Players can ultimately select between six uniquely skilled ninjas to hunt down an evil Samurai warlord - initially you have just an apprentice one called Hiro. Excuse the second Ninja Turtles reference here, but the combat system is very similar to the old TMNT Arcade game available on Xbox LIVE, or the updated Turtles In Time across LIVE and soon PlayStation Network. Frankly this means old school button-mashing mechanics that are fun for an hour but soon after that become tiresome even for the younger kids at home.

The game does have its moments, with magic ‘Kuji’ spells allowing lead protagonist Hiro to slow time in order to nail multiple targets. It’s worth experimenting with Hiro’s sidekicks Tora, Shun and Kunoichi for their respective hand claw, bow & arrow, and spear techniques. However as with GI Joe, that we admit to growing fond of, there’s only one character you’ll ever need – in the case of GI Joe this was Duke, here it’s Hiro, whose sword and shuriken topple the Samurai warlord’s hardiest soldiers.

Some missions place more emphasis on stealth, where your little ninja dude turns invisible to sneak between bushes and along the rooftops – ala Tenchu. However this idea isn’t developed much despite plenty of hide and seek potential.

The lack of co-op gameplay really is the most astonishing omission from Mini Ninjas, considering the game’s target audience. We might’ve forgiven the lack of online gameplay modes, but to offer only a one-player experience in scenarios that boast multiple heroes is a huge missed opportunity.

What you get is polished, and often very beautiful. The animation is very movie-like, as are some of the locations. At times it reminded us of Kung-Fu Panda. Sadly we suspect corners have been cut because the concept has much more potential. We expected Hitman team to deliver something with greater depth and perhaps this is what they were aiming for but couldn't quite replicate that Legend of Zelda magic within the deadline.

In the end Mini Ninjas is big on personality but short of much needed gameplay variation.

3 out of 5