Price: $1.25
Ninjaken: Written Android App Review
Are you ready to tread the way of the ninja? Then get your blade up, fools. It’s time to play Ninjaken, the latest ninja-friendly Android app to hit our devices from Rexone Studios. This slasher title packs some serious hi-ya and plenty of color-coded action.
Gameplay
Reviewed by Valerie Lauer
There is no real back story for Ninjaken. All you need to know is that Shinji (this little ninja) likes to keep his katana sharp and his obstacles sliced. You control the ninja, who stands in a stationary position (at least in the first level) and fends off oncoming obstacles and baddies with his razor sharp ninja skills. Oh, and the big ole knife he’s holding, naturally.
It’s all about color coding in Ninjaken. You push the red button to slice the red objects, and push the blue button to slice the blue objects. And, as the game progresses, you will begin leaping to avoid oncoming obstacles and ducking to avoid air born dangers. Also, the game features two special attacks you can unlock by defeating certain objects in a certain way (see the game’s info section for a how-to) and collecting letters.
I’ll be honest, I’m a pretty big fan of ninja-themed game play. And I was kind of excited by the reverse-runner feel of Ninjaken. However, after playing for half an hour, I was unable to make it past the first round of the game. I also found it impossible to touch both buttons at once and have the game read it, and the special hold attack detailed in the game’s info section never worked for me either. Needless to say, I was a bit disappointed. The game sounded like it would be fun, if it worked properly.
Layout & Design
Ninjaken
Ninjaken is broken up into three distinct levels, each with its own background and theme music. I applaud the dev’s attempt to keep it fun and spice things up.
Unfortunately a lot of my player issues with this game stemmed from the frustrating user interface. The slash buttons simply did not respond correctly, so I’m going to have to dock Ninjaken a bit due to a faulty UI. Also, the help or info section could use a direct back to menu button. Instead it makes you scroll through several screens to get back home and, ultimately, start the game. A bit more thought needs to go into cleaning up this game’s design to really make it pop.
Overall Value
With a $1.25 price tag, downloading and giving Ninjaken a try won’t break the bank. As the game improves and the developers sort out some of the app’s buggy features, I could see this title being a solid value. For now, it’s a bit disappointing on the whole, although it does look nice. I’d love to get another chance to review this app once it’s working properly.
Ninjaken
Android Apps Review Details: Ninjaken Android app is free. This app is compatible with Android version 2.1 and up. You may download Ninjaken from the Android Market. A small expedite fee was paid by the developer to speed up the publication of this review.
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