Mr.Ninja Review

By , on April 7, 2011


Mr.Ninja
Download on the AppStore
4 out of 5

PROS

  • Smooth difficulty curve; ramps up the difficulty as you progress without any obvious glass ceilings.
  • Tight controls; simple one-finger setup to jump and double-jump.
  • Multiple modes; Super Chain and Impossible add their own twist on the basic gameplay.

CONS

  • Limited appeal to those already sick of repetitive time-wasters.
  • Unlockables limited to additional modes; easy to complete in a handful of attempts.

VERDICT

Mr. Ninja transforms a fairly well used vertical climber concept and transforms it in to the sort of skill-based high-scoring title the 'Mr.' series has become synonymous for.


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The 'Mr.' series from PONOS has already become synonymous with fun, quality time-wasters that always end up being far more addictive than a first glance would assume. Mr. Ninja is no exception and time will simply drip away as you attempt to beat your high-score 'because like, I shouldn't have died there, I know I can do better, I'll just play one more round... no seriously, just one more'.

It should be said that Mr. Ninja could easily become the target of the angry mobs who come out to defend certain games with reckless abandon as the gameplay is quite similar to many endless vertical jumpers. However instead of simply focusing on how far you can get the emphasis is shifted towards high-scoring by increasing your 'chain' of kills as you jump between spinning wheels. Strings of aliens act as handy guides for where to aim your shot, but the further you progress the more challenging each vault becomes as you blindly jump in to the void or attempt to curve a shot to land on a tiny wheel after being on a gigantic one.

It can take quite some time before the normal mode becomes challenging for regular gamers, so it's no surprise to see two additional unlockable modes that ramp up the difficulty significantly. Super Chain mode gives players a limited amount of time to rack up the largest chain possible, making use of a special power-up that allows you to keep your chain even if you miss monsters while jumping. Lastly, the Impossible mode starts you off with large jumps and fast spinning wheels (along with a few other twists) to seriously test your skills.

Everything about Mr. Ninja feels tight and purposeful, like a streamlined missile packed with addictive fun. While the concept isn't entirely unique, the simple controls and smoothly increasing challenge make it a hard game to put down again. If you enjoy your skill-based arcade titles, definitely take time out to check out Mr. Ninja.

Screenshots

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