Kombo's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What the Game's About
Mini Ninjas for the DS has it all. It's got fun platforming segments, RPG elements that give you a sense of progress, interesting and unique boss battles, and large, aesthetically pleasing environments... So how could it have possibly been such a bad game? Let me put it like this: spaghetti, french fries, and milkshakes are all my favorite foods, but throw them together in a blender and you're left with a mess that nobody wants to touch.

What's Hot
Mini Ninjas for the DS starts off with a very promising introductory video that made me very excited to play the game. It was shot in a style reminiscent of the older cartoon, Samurai Jack, which got me pumped. If you've ever seen the show Samurai Jack, you know what I'm talking about. This video sets the mood and explains the overarching storyline of the game in a manner on par with some of the top games on the market.

After you dive headfirst into the game and complete the first chapter, which is essentially one long tutorial, you're rewarded with some beautiful environments and the occasional unique platforming tasks. At the end of every chapter you'll also face an interesting boss that must be beaten in a particular way, similar to the style of Ocarina of Time (not that Mini Ninjas should be held on the same level as Ocarina of Time, mind you). This is a great way to wrap up the chapters and help you feel like you've accomplished something. There are a series of really neat mini-games that take place in the "Plane of Spirits," which require you to solve some fairly simple puzzles using your stylus to get past an obstacle. I really wish there would have been more of the game which took place in the Plane of Spirits.

Unfortunately, that's about all there is for the "What's Hot" section...



What's Not
Toward the end of the introduction, after that wonderful Samurai Jack moment, you find out that this quest you're on has been attempted by countless ninjas before you, and you're the last hope for the world. I don't mean the good kind of last hope, like Bruce Willis in the movie Fifth Element... No, you're the bad kind of last hope. All the other ninjas were sent because they were skilled fighters while you stayed home because you're incompetent. Not the best way to motivate someone to play a game.

After the introduction video your master explains to you the more immediate needs of your local village, essentially starting a tutorial for the game. This tutorial is short and doesn't provide a very good foundation for all there is to know in the game, and there's a lot to know about Mini Ninjas. In fact, there's so much to digest that I didn't fully understand what I was doing until the second-to-last chapter. Mini Ninjas has you completing so many random odd jobs that it's hard to grasp what it is you're actually supposed to be doing. The game's presentation is obviously most suited for younger players, but the gameplay is better suited to hardcore gamers who know the ins and outs of your standard platformers and RPG games. Not that it's a particularly hard game, but it doesn't fully explain to you what you're supposed to be doing, who you need to talk to, or what your purpose in a particular area is.

There's a map that you can access at any time which is supposed to tell you where to go next, but I found the map to be almost totally useless. It doesn't show you which direction you're facing, and there's no compass, so it's hard to even tell what you're looking at. On top of that, the label that's supposed to indicate your position on the map isn't accurate. It just shows up kinda sorta near where you're standing. Cherry on top: the objectives the map indicates for you aren't always correct, sometimes it tells you to go somewhere you've already been to do something you've already done.

Even though there are some really beautiful and open environments in the game (by the DS' standards). There are also several copy+pasted areas and lots of claustrophobic and ugly spots. To make matters worse, in these tight spots your camera has a really hard time giving you a good angle. Add to that the fact that the movement controls don't function the way they do in most platforming games and you've got yourself a royal mess. There's a segment in a snowy mountain where you're in tight corridors and a lot of times you can't even see yourself. Oh, there was a death-hungry chasm right in front of me? Wish I would've seen it...

Final Word
Mini Ninjas for the DS has its good moments, but it has a lot more bad ones. Every once in a while you're handed a fun platforming segment, but more often you're thrown into repetitive fights with the same boring enemies you've been fighting the whole game. You'll spend a lot more time wandering around not sure if you're doing what you're supposed to than you'll actually spend having fun, and segments that might have been fun otherwise are dragged down by awkward controls and glitches. If you enjoyed a console version of Mini Ninjas then you might consider renting the DS version to compliment it, but other than that this game isn't worth playing.