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- Price: $1.99 (Download here)
- Version: 1.0
- Official Site: Venan Arcade
Once upon a time, there was a rather lovely tower defense title on the Nintendo DS smothered in happy colors and cute ninjas. It featured Wee Ninja, a sort of ‘standard tower’ in the world of TD gaming.
Wee Ninja was not content to be just another ninja, however, and to prove exactly how much better he was than all the other shinobis of war, he decided to climb some trees. Not just any trees, of course — we’re talking trees of dooooom!
Ninjatown: Trees of Doom plays out in a similar fashion to the likes of Doodle Jump and Canabalt. There is no way to “win” the game as such; rather, you’re looking to achieve as high a score as possible before biting the dust.
Ready and willing between two never-ending tree trunks, Wee Ninja jumps and climbs his way past obstacles and enemies which gradually become more and more difficult to dodge. Touching the tree he’s currently clinging to tells him to scramble for his life, while tapping the other tree causes him to spring across and grab on. The longer you hold your finger, the bigger his jump will be.
Our hero only has one life, so touching a single enemy results in loss of grip and a game over. Unlike the aforementioned Doodle Jump and — more prominently — Canabalt, there is no sense of urgency in Wee Ninja’s world. When there’s no danger present, he can simply hang around and take a deep breath before tackling the next hurdle.
Progression relies on timing, dexterity and a little bit of patience. Each obstacle requires a different approach — clinging to slippy sap on the tree for too long is generally a bad idea.
Working out the path each floating enemy takes before sneaking past is crucial; aiming to land on bouncy tree fungi rather than the “dark syrup” calls for precise aiming — you get the idea.
There’s a number of pick-ups to grab too, although most of them give the same effect — firing the ninja further up the tree. It has to be pointed out, however, that this is (probably) the only game in history which allows you to ride on a giant moustache.
Yes, Ninjatown’s world is incredibly cute and silly, with Wee Ninja himself smiling casually the entire time. Even when you lose, Ol’ Master Ninja simply picks you up in his hot-air balloon and both characters enjoy a good old laugh about it.
All this makes for an entirely enjoyable experience, especially as you reach further into the sky. Gradually over time, the sun goes down and the beasties’ red eyes glow menacingly, adding a little tension to the otherwise comic look and feel of it all.
Eventually, the volcano in the background starts erupting, spitting out fireballs which fall in Wee’s general direction. The difficulty definitely ramps up, but as mentioned previously, between obstacles there is plenty of breathing space, so you never feel hurried or stressed with a situation.
As you’d expect, there’s an OpenFeint-powered leaderboard for the highest climbers to scale, and plenty of achievements to collect. Ninjatown: Trees of Doom is wonderful fun, with plenty of variation in content that’ll keep you coming back for more.
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