Nintendo DS Review: Ninjatown

A simple storyline and progressive learning curve make this Tower Defense-style game fun for all ages. Ninjatown concentrates on progression and systematic fighting format. You must ward off demon attackers and other elements to defend Ninjatown, home of the stealth…hug and fists of tickle fury. This game's combat elements concentrate on protecting important community institutions, like the sugar exchange, which are vital to the local economy based on the Ninja Star Cookie currency.

The learning curve comes from constant short tutorials and helpful, comic dialogue between Ol’ Ninja Master and the ninja consultant in cutscenes, which can be skipped. The consultant files are available any time in the pause menu (hit Start). These heroes must contend with a four-eyed antagonist monster, a nearby active volcano, plus other entities from the Dark Forest like Dark Syrup and Dark Tree. The villainous titles seem scary but the colorful, family-friendly visuals ensure a wide audience can play this game.

Use the currency to build base huts, which generate environmentally and socially themed ninja troops. You also upgrade the huts and can acquire special structures like hospitals, watch towers and tea bistros but like any good thing, you have to know when to stop or else the funds run dry quickly and you’re defenseless as the demons pass you by. Besides the cookies, each level has hearts, which decrease each time a demon gets past your customized defenses. Sometimes you can recover by adding ninjas to catch the slippery devils near the end of a map with long roads because you get extra funds when defeating a new wave.

Once you memorize the pricing, plan each spending frenzy carefully so you use all your funds during battles. You can save your funds for big ticket items like the special structures, while creating a well-balanced collection of ninjas. Use your troops wisely while contending with the equally evolving baddies and maps, which hit you from all directions, but can be easily segmented and contained with some careful strategy and special powers prompted by the master’s three-tiered stick meter on the top left.

Article Author: Tall Writer

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